It may be cold out, but MCC hosting January Thaw Jan. 13 & 14

The quiet of the holiday week at Middleton Curling Club got an unexpected extension with the much-hyped “weather bomb” that cancelled play for the Thursday Mixed League.

The week was a short one anyway, with New Year’s Day interrupting the Monday night games. Just for good measure, some unexpected days of snow squalls reminded everyone that we really are Canadian and that this really is winter. With any luck, and in between snow and wind events, there are some milder temperatures in the forecast, just in time for the club’s aptly-named annual January Thaw bonspiel.

Last Friday was the resumption of Chase the Ace and despite the difficult driving conditions and frigid weather, a good crowd attended to start off the New Year. Allen Morris won for the evening but did not manage to coax the Ace from the deck.

Club activity continued over the weekend with youth coordinator Dawn Spidle at the club on Sunday afternoon with four teams who will be competing in the Earl Mackinnon Classic in Kentville. These teams of students willingly gave up their Sunday afternoon to get a couple of hours of coaching specific to the event and with their own teams. The Youth Program takes place on Monday afternoons, but with the much larger number of attendees, individual instruction in more difficult. This year, there will be three Little Rock teams and one junior team in the Kentville event at Glooscap Curling Club.

On Jan. 13 and 14, MCC hosts the January Thaw, a 12-team, two-day event that will welcome eight mixed teams from outside the club. Games will take place all day on Saturday and on Sunday until mid-afternoon, when the championship starts at 1:30 p.m.

Mixed bonspiels are very social events and the Thaw is only the first of a “doubleheader” as the following week MCC is the site for the Provincial Club Mixed, which is three days and has 14 teams. The club will have three teams in this event.

As with all curling at MCC, the public is welcome – no, make that encouraged – to come and see live curling in a cozy atmosphere. There may be lots of curling on television but the immediacy of watching real people on the ice only a few feet away is much more entertaining. Everyone is allowed to be an armchair coach and all the teams are competitive and challenge every shot.

Chase the Ace will continue as usual and during the Club Mixed, there will be the added bonus of some on-ice entertainment.

Information is available at www.middletoncurlingclub. com