A grand success
Event deemed an overall success
Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling drew large crowds to Pictou County Wellness Centre.
WESTVILLE ROAD, N.S. — The thunderous sound of curling rocks hitting curling rocks is over for now at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.
“The crowds for the weekend were better than we could have hoped for, to be honest,” said Jim Nix, who co-chaired the in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event with Donalda Buckingham.
“We didn’t have a seat to sell for the final game.”
He said the event exceeded the ticket revenue budget and added that Sportnet, the national sports network that owns and manages the Pinty’s brand, were pleased with the way the week went, especially since the PCWC has two arenas.
“They said they’d be happy to come back if the opportunity arose,” Nix added. Thegouykl 260 volunteers were key to the event, Nix added.
They showed up and carried out their roles with passion. “The interest from the volunteers was through the roof, everything from ticket-takers, the (courtesy) drivers, everything we needed to do.”
In front of another packed house on Nov. 10 – there are approximately 1,660 seats at the PCWC, and standing room above the swats – Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., beat Brad Gushue’s rink from St. John’s, N.L. in a 6-4 final. Jacobs’s title netted his squad $30,000.
In the Tier 2 men’s division, Korey Dropkin of the U.S. edged Tanner Horgan of Winnipeg 5-4.
On the women’s side,
Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg defeated Manitoba’s Kerri Einarson 8-5 in the Tier 1 final, while South Korea’s Team Min-Ji Kim captured the Tier 2 title.