Karen Sotvedt

With only one week of curing left in this year’s season at Middleton Curling Club, everyone is making the most of every opportunity to play.

The weekend of March 25 the student curlers participated in a youth funspiel in Berwick, open to teams around the Valley. MCC had four teams in the event; three in the under-12 age group and one in the under-14 group. The results should assure Middleton club members that the future of curling in the area is bright – MCC teams played for the one and two spots in the under-12 division.

The winner of the playoff was Team Sawler with Cole Sawler skipping Matthew Newman, Adam Newman, and Bryce Smith who had a perfect score for the weekend, playing six games and winning every one – an enviable record.

Second place were their clubmates Team Bezanson with Tess Bezanson as skip for Chaya Diggins, Hannah Johnson, and Wyatt Boyd.

The Sawler team gets lots of practice as three of them curl with the adult league on Tuesday nights. This paid off in Berwck where they not only played consistently in winning all their games, but also were able to display some of their specialty skills, drawing to the button, performing runbacks, and delivering the rock after a 360-degree spin.

Tess Bezanson’s team had to work a little harder for their playoff position. In the semi-final the score was a tie after the last rock, with a measurement having to be made on the ice and the two opposing rocks being identical.

In a real nail-biter the team had to do a draw to the button to decide who would play in the final against the Sawler team. Final Week

In the final week, all leagues had a closing event of some sort. The Afternoon League celebrated another year of social curling under the co-ordination of Jean Fry with a pizza party on Wednesday, their last day of curling.

The Tuesday night Western Draw always ends their year with a potluck of finger food, and this year Bill Eaton has expanded his end-of-year evening funspiel to three nights. Teams will play Monday, Thursday, and Friday for the coveted silver Wimbledon-style (dollar-store) plaques, presented after Chase the Ace on Friday night.

Then on Saturday, the final event. Curl for Kids, in support of Big Brother/big Sisters, is a one-day funspiel with everyone playing two six-end games, with a stop for lunch.

Another year of curling is over. More events can be found at www. middletoncurlingclub.com