Free tickets to Brier were icing on 80th birthday cake
Ontario couple unable to make it so they gave ducats to woman from Moose Jaw
One of the Brier’s biggest steals occurred away from the Brandt Centre’s pebbled ice surface.
Annette Wallace, who turned 80 on Feb. 8, enjoyed the first seven draws of the Canadian men’s curling championship for the low, low cost of $0.00.
She received two free ticket packages from Good Samaritans — Lynne Simone and Dave Furness — as a belated, but remarkably thoughtful, birthday present.
“It’s the best gift anyone would like to get,” said Annette, who resides in Moose Jaw with her husband Larry.
Wallace’s road to her first Brier was paved by her daughter (Tara Day) and daughter-in-law (Michelle Wallace), both of Regina.
“Mom has always been a big fan of curling,” Day explained. “For her 80th birthday, we wanted to do something special. We decided on Brier tickets.”
There was only one problem. “We didn’t realize we should have purchased Brier tickets a really longtime ago,” Michelle Wallace said. “We couldn’t find something suitable for her to see and hear, so we went on Kijiji.
“It seemed too good to be true. There were tickets for the full opening weekend for $200. The seller was from Ontario. We wanted to pay for the tickets, but we wanted to make sure they were real tickets, so I messaged (Simone) and asked her to call me.
“We chatted for all of two minutes. I was thinking, ‘This woman is amazing! I’m going to send her money!’ I said how excited we were that we’d found these wonderful tickets and what a surprise they would be for my mother-in-law.”
Michelle promptly sent Simone an e-transfer for $200. The e-transfer was promptly declined — but in a good way.
“When I hung up the phone, I was very touched that the two girls wanted to do something special for Annette, so my husband and I just decided to pay them forward to someone who appreciates the sport as we do,” Simone said.
“My husband and I are curlers and absolutely love the game. We have two all-week passes for the Brier and originally had decided to come on March 2 and leave March 12. We had forgotten that we had made a commitment with friends to curl in a three-day bonspiel, so we changed our plans to arrive on Monday the 5th instead.
“With this change in plans, there were 14 tickets that would not be used. I didn’t want them to go to waste so I looked online and figured out the cost for the tickets and decided to put them on Kijiji at an attractive price.”
Sold!
“It would have been a smokin’ deal for $200,” Michelle said. “I was very excited to find it. It was just incredible what they did.”
Michelle took a screen shot of the email from Simone and sent it to Day, with the message: “Wow! Who does this?”
Lynne Simone and Dave Furness of Flesherton, Ont.!
“When Mom got the tickets, she yelled out, ‘I’ve always wanted to go to the Brier!’ ” Day recalled.
“She’s such an avid watcher of curling,” Michelle added. “When curling comes on TV, everything stops. For her to be able to go to the Brier, it’s amazing. For them to do that for her, it makes it that much more special. You can see that she’s tearing up.”
“I am tearing up,” Annette said, wiping her eyes and managing a smile.
Icing on the cake was provided when the tickets arrived in the mail — along with a birthday card from Simone and Furness.
“We couldn’t believe they would do all this for a couple of strangers,” Day marvelled. “Who are we to them?”
The initial plan called for Simone and Furness to arrive in Regina for the Brier’s eighth draw, on Monday night. However, the snowstorm delayed their arrival.
“We’d like to get in touch with them while they ’re here and maybe take them out to dinner,” Day said.
Annette, however, has already savoured the main course — her first Brier. “It’s wonderful,” she said. “Just wonderful.”
When curling comes on TV, everything stops. For her to be able to go to the Brier, it’s amazing.