Lennoxville Men’s and Senior Men’s Bonspiels
Aweek of curling came to an end this past Saturday evening with Lennoxville Curling Club's teenage sensation, Greg Cheal, overcoming a strong Sherbrooke foursome skipped by André Garceau in an exciting final match to win the 86th anniversary of the John Nichol Trophy. Playing with Greg Cheal were Spencer Richmond, Hayden Richmond and Todd Rivett. The runners-up in this bracket were André Garceau, Michael Daigle, Patrice Baril and Martin Arsenault.
In the middle event, sponsored by the family of Bill Smith, Matt Mccrea's Danville four outlasted a determined Lennoxville squad skip by Marc Richard to take the Smith Trophy. The rest of Matt's team included Ethan Leibrecht, Chris Lodge and J.P. Tremblay. The rest of Marc Richard's team included Ghyslain Richard, Simon Collin and Robert Léveillé.
The Mooney Trophy for the third event was taken by a team from Otterburn Curling Club consisting of Bruce Derry, Steve Upton, Rob Derry and Marc Auclair. The Derry rink defeated a group from Danville skipped by Richard Webb and included Terry Patterson, Jason Bowering and Alex Major.
Running concurrently with the three Men's brackets were two Senior Men's brackets. The main event trophy, The Global Excel Trophy, was won by Ritchie Harnish of Thetford Curling Club. His team consisted of Normand Gagnon, Michel Labbé and Claude Nadeau. The Harnish foursome defeated a Sherbrooke rink of Pierre Corbeil, Richard Pinette, Gaston Guilmette and Daniel Ayotte. The consolation event, The Clarke & Sons Trophy, was taken by Yvan Labrecque, Jeff Bromby, Jean-paul Brillon and André Jean who defeated the Lennoxville's Rollie Dionne foursome of Jeff Bailes, Denis Singher and Michel Bérard.
At noon on Saturday, the contestants in the bonspiel were entertained at the annual "Pie" Banquet prepared by members of the Lennoxville Curling Club and held in the basement of the United Church. A highlight of the banquet was a speech given by columnist and guest speaker Ross Murray who humorously highlighted his difficulties in his attempt at giving up alcohol. A presentation of a plaque by Jim Thompson was given to Roy Billings for his dedication to curling and to the Lennoxville Curling Club.