Christmas Fete, auction, and glow curling at MCC
It was truly all fun and games at Middleton Curling Club last weekend. There were two very busy days with the annual Christmas Fete and Funspiel on Saturday, and the Juniors participating in a day-long skills "camp" at the club with two coaches from Halifax.
The club opened early on Saturday for the Fete ticket auction and since the curlers did not start until 10 a.m., the first visitors were community members who came to see the gifts and craft items on display this year.
To the background of Christmas carols and happy chatter, regular attendees to the auction came in early and were greeted as good friends. The bake table was groaning under goodies and, in fact, was not big enough to hold everything. Luckily enthusiastic shoppers loaded up on baked goods and the table kept refilling like the pot that never empties. Once the curlers started to arrive the energy level kicked up another notch and curlers and shoppers good-naturedly dodged each other.
All the curlers knew how funspiels work, and skips organized themselves and their teams according to the schedule and even made an early start which helped keep the day from running late. Once the first two draws were done everyone enjoyed a lunch together as part of their entry, and the second set of two draws began on time.
The club really had the atmosphere of a social centre, with spectators watching curling and the dining hall busy with folks chatting and meeting friends while they sorted their auction tickets. When the curling ended, some waited to see the awarding of prizes. First place went to Dave Coulter’s team with Marilyn Crooks, John Chafe, and
Dan Praught.
GLOW CURLING
In the hour before the auction draw began, four teams took to the ice to play a draw of glow curling, with the spectators seeing a game that looked like a photographic negative. Out On the ice the game was brighter, the circles and markers on the rocks glowing, and a purple background light picking out other details.
Some curlers had outfitted themselves with glowing lights and they shone in the relative darkness. All the spectators had been very curious about how it worked, and it was gratifying to have two full sheets of curlers willing to try something completely new.
The auction draw proceeded with a party-like atmosphere, cheers and groans greeting names as they were drawn and those attending, either pleased or disappointed. Everyone who won had received a call by Sunday morning and all agreed that it was another very successful start to the holiday season.
Also on Sunday morning the Juniors were back in school – this time curling school – with Halifax coaches who ran alternate classroom and on-ice training sessions for the day. Each teaching session would last 20 minutes or so and then the young curlers would be back on the ice to work on the skill which had just been part of the session. Of course, there were breaks for snacks and lunch, but even so, it was great to see the enthusiasm to learn with a full house of young curlers.
Photos of the Christmas Funspiel winners and all the teams are on www.middletoncurlingclub.com or look on Facebook.