A Belated “Welcome to 2014 at the Whitby Curling
Club”
It sure has been an interesting winter. The snow….the
ice…. the cold! I must say that it’s not too often that
you go ONTO the ice to warm up! Not sure if you
were aware but the club did not come out of the ice
storm unscathed. Power did to go down for a while.
On the good side, it did not impact on any events at
the club as we were closed during that time. On the
bad side, it did impact us with the seasonal ice melt.
Jamie and Stephanie were forced to temporarily sus-pend the process, and then try to catch up once they
had the ability to actually melt the ice. Their efforts
were very much appreciated as the ice was back in
place for the annual Skins Game just before New
Year’s.
Speaking of the Skins Game, we had yet another suc-
cessful event this year. Thanks to Ryan Slobojan for
stepping up and taking on the event. And a special
thanks to former members Jim and Joan Cushnie, who
ran the event so well for so long (and were even will-
ing to do again this year!). It was nice to see them
finally get a chance to play without worrying about all
that math. We had a special treat this year. A team of
junior curlers from South Korea were in the GTA for a
month looking for opportunities to play. My team was one of the lucky ones who got a chance to play against
them, and we had a terrific game. It proved all the
more special when my daughter Melissa got to play
them in a junior spiel in Bradford a week later. I don’t
think I’ve seen a happier reaction to a raffle prize win
in my life than when their coach won a bucket of beer,
gratefully donated by the Cool Beer Brewing Compa-
ny.
Overall the club is doing reasonably well this year.
Membership is up slightly from last year notwithstand-
ing a slight decrease in certain leagues. We continue
to attract new members. Plus I know that some of the
members of our Novice League have expressed inter-
est in joining certain leagues. On a personal note, I took over the Novice League this year from Malcolm
Macaulay (the brains behind the idea) and have thor-
oughly enjoyed the opportunity to work with the new
curlers. The slides might not be there quite yet, but
the spirit definitely is! It’s been a very rewarding expe-
rience and hopefully we will continue to grow the
league to develop new members.
Revenues are also up slightly from last year. To all
of you I say thank you for your support and “keep
drinking”! With that in mind we have several up-
coming events that I would like to remind you of.
There’s the new Olympic Spiel on February 8th
(thanks to the Cavanaugh’s and their team for
stepping up on this one), our annual Silent Auction
on February 28th, a new club Euchre Tournament
on March 1st (thanks to “Ben and Jerry” for taking
on this one) and the generally low-key Shamrock
Bonspiel on March 15th (once again put on by Jo-
Ann Jordan and her squad of misfits). Oh, I should
mention that Ben and Jerry are actually Ben and
Kyle, new Friday night curlers who have embraced
the spirit of the Whitby Curling Club (and some-
day hope to also master the art of curling). As I
have espoused many times before, none of this
would be possible without the support of many
volunteer members, and we remain eternally
grateful. Keep an eye on upcoming announce-
ments to get your volunteer hours from Casey.
Finally I would be remiss if I didn’t talk a little bit
about the ice. As I mentioned earlier the ice
storm did interrupt our seasonal ice melt and re-
freeze. And notwithstanding Jamie and Stephanie
did get the ice up and running in time for the next
draw, they have never been happy with the result.
I know they’ve tried many things over the past few
weeks. Unfortunately, with the continuing cold
weather they have not had much success. Hence
last week a reluctant Jamie came to the Board and
asked if we could give them 48 hours to redo the
melt and freeze. Our apologies and thanks to
those leagues that were impacted by this; however
we felt that this was the best thing for the club. I
know the membership will appreciate it in the long
run.
Signing off for now, I wish you all “good curling”.
Andrew
President’s Message
Your Board of Direc-
tors are:
President: Andrew Gray
V ice Pres iden t : Tracey
Macaulay
Member at Large: Vacant
Treasurer: Mike Elmhurst
Secretary: Sheryl Tavoularis
Bar & Kitchen: Malcolm
Macaulay
Property & Ice: Paul Slean
Advertising & Marketing: Janice
Brooks
OCA Liz Winters
Curling Development: Jeff
Whelan
Membership: Bryce Jordan
Fundraising: Ian Cavanagh
Inside this issue:
OCA 3
Friday 4:30 Mixed
Curling 3
Women’s Club
Championship 5
Business Women 5
Senior Men 7
2014 Olympic Open
House
7
Fundraising at the
WCC 10
Volunteers Needed 10
Notes from Casey 11
Monday Night Men 11
Marketing & Adver-
tising 11
WCC Youth Curling
Program 13
Mixed Curling 14
Page 2 January 2014
Page 3 January 2014
Happy New Year A reminder to all: All of the OCA information has been posted on the OCA board which is located at the south end of the club as you go out to enter the ice. I have also posted one in the La-dies Locker room. Please check the calendar for your event, or go on line at: http://www.ontcurl.com/Images/up_images/z6%202013-14%20Comp%20Poster.pdf to find any events you may be interested in. All entries must be submitted prior to or on the Zone Closing Date on the Calendar posted here. There are a couple of important changes to be aware of. All entries must be done on line and paid for at the time of entry. Another change is all players, coaches and chaperones must provide the OCA with a signed waiver form. I have left copies of the forms on the OCA board. This form needs to be completed only once by each person participating in an OCA event for the club. I have also left an information sheet there with a web link, my e-mail address and in-structions for sign up. If anyone would like me to e-mail a copy of the information to them please contact me at [email protected]. Please copy any of the information you may need but please remember to return it to the board for others to refer to. Don’t forget to copy me at the time of registration so I can confirm the information the OCA requires. We had 1 men’s team enter the Intermediates for the Club the weekend before Christ-mas. Thanks to: Skip – Gary Downs, Vice – Tom Worsley, Lead – Blayne Pascoe and 5th man – Bob Win-ters. We had 3 men’s teams enter the Fairfield Marriott this past weekend. Thanks to: Skip – Ian Jackson, Vice – Sean Jackson, 2nd – Dennis Jay and Lead- Steve Crabbe Skip – Steve Tooze, Vice – Bob Fick, 2nd – Todd MacNutt and Lead – Ryan Slobojan Skip – Ian Cavanagh, Vice – Jeremy Way, 2nd – Matthew Bennett and Lead - Dave Way I have not personally heard from the players so I will guess that a good day of curling was had by all.
Friday 4:30 Mixed Curling
January 11 we are hosting the Bantam Boys and Girls Zones. There will be 4 girls teams and 4 boys teams. We have one boys team entering out of Whitby: Ben Mitchell and his team, Ryan Mitchell, Scott Mitchell and Noah Mitchell. Good luck to all the curlers. Good Curling everyone Liz Winters, OCA Rep, WCC
This league started off successfully with 12 teams and many spares. It was great to see many familiar faces and have new members join as well. The winners of the first draw were: First Place -- Ian Jackson, Gayle Jackson, Ray O’Toole, Betty O’Toole Second -- Ted Birchard, June Boon, Doug Suter and Donna McIntyre Third-- Bob Winters, Liz Winters, Ruth Middleton, San-dra Gough Congratulations to all! The 4:30 Mixed has enjoyed many fine and delicious meals from our 3 caterers, served Fridays at 7pm. The attendance has been great and a reminder that all mem-bers and friends are invited to attend.
Page 4 Rock Talk
Winner to represent our club at
Dominion Club Curling Championship
What an exciting year in curling! Enthusiasm is always
greater during Olympic years! While we may not be at
the Olympics in Sochi this year, we have an opportunity to
represent our club at the Dominion Club Curling Champi-
onship this fall in Cornwall, Ontario. To ensure you have
an opportunity to represent the Club at this event, you
will need to participate in the WCC Women’s Club Cham-
pionship!
Are you: A full or one league female member in good
standing of the Whitby Curling Club? Have you played
2/3’s of the draws or the full season of Sunday Night La-
dies during the season of the playoffs? If you answered
YES to these questions, then you are eligible to partici-
pate !
Forms are available outside the Managers Office and are
due by March 1, 2014 by either hard copy or email, to the
Playoff Coordinator, Sheryl Tavoularis sher-
[email protected]. If you do not have a full team but
are interested, please sign upon the board in the Ladies
Locker Room and the committee will attempt to help you
find a team.
The 2013/14 Women’s Dominion Curling Club Champion-
ship Representative for Whitby Curling Club will be deter-
mined by a playoff on April 5 & 6, 2014. The winners will
participate in the Dominion Zones in October 2014 (dates
WCC Women’s Club Championship April 5 – 6, 2014
Tuesday night Business Ladies League had a wonderful first draw which wrapped up in December just before Christmas. The draw winners were Team Arbour (Laura Arbour, Terri LeDressay, Aileen Walton and Belinda Solly). In second place was Team Esselink (Jackie Esselink, Denise McMillan-Cavanagh, Joanne Arbour and Cailan McDougall). Team Tavoularis captured third place finish (Sheryl Tavoularis, Karen Bemister, Janet Graham-Davison and Kelly Taylor). Congrats to all the winners. We finished 2013 with our annual Christmas dinner and charity loonie auction. The ladies had so much fun throwing their loonies into the bowls and trying to remember their draw numbers. As expected, bottles of booze and the Men of Curling Calendar made the most money. We stockpiled nearly $700 in coins in this Fun-raiser, a portion of which we have donated to the Durham YWCA womens' shel-ter. The remainder will be returned to the club at the end of our Curling year. The League's second draw started again in January with 12 teams. We are looking for-ward to our COLOUR MY WORLD Bonspiel on March 1st which should add a bright splash of colour to our white winter. There are some spots available in this bonspiel so please contact Belinda Solly soon if you are inter-ested.
to be confirmed). There is no entry
fee for playoffs. All entry fees to
the Dominion will be paid by the
WCC. The date for Provincials has
been set for October 31 – Novem-
ber 2, 2014! Please note, if you
participate in the Club Champion-
ship you must be available to rep-
resent the Club throughout the
Playdowns in the fall.
Looking forward to your registra-
tions! Should you have any ques-
tions about the event, please feel
free to contact members of the
committee: Sheryl Tavoularis, An-
drea Lawes, Sarah Gray, Tracey
Macaulay, Karen Bemister
Business Women’s
Page 6 Rock Talk
Senior Men
Whitby Senior Men are continuing to enjoy this season’s curling. The second Special Event for this season was a “skins” game on Thursday, December 5th. This event was fully booked and included a delicious hot lunch upstairs in the dining room. There were two teams tied for first place, winning all their skins! The third Special Event was on Tuesday, January 7th and the curling rules were modified for the popular “3-2-1” game. The winning team was clearly outstanding. The fourth Special Event is scheduled for Thursday, January 30th with more crazy curling rules. These events make curling more interesting and you still have to make your shot! Wednesday Interclub curling also continues to attract many senior men to experience curling in other area curling clubs. The teams that win their game get lottery ticket prizes. Just recently, one team from Whitby won $900 in their lottery ticket winnings. Congratulations. Senior Men competitive Friday morning team curling is now starting their third draw. A number of teams have moved either up or down into another division based on their team curling performance. To discourage slow play, competitive teams now play under the clock and, yes, some teams actual-ly get dinged by the bell. The Senior Men’s website continues to be an extremely use-ful source of information on all Senior Men’s curling activi-ties. This includes current schedules, team standings, special event results, updates and photos on various programs. The Senior Men again collected cash and cheques for the Whitby Salvation Army’s Christmas Food Hamper Project. It was a very successful program as it raised $3,300 for the less fortunate families right here in Whitby. An actual sample food hamper was put on display at the club on several occa-sions showing what these families would receive for their Christmas dinner. Well done, Men. We encourage all mem-bers to assist this local charity with food and toys, not only at Christmas, but all year long. To assist the Senior Men in becoming more aware of the health and safety features provided at the club, a “Defibulator” training session was organized. A good turnout got to see the club’s Defib unit and how it actually works. On December 19th the Senior Men enjoyed their annual Christmas luncheon in the Club’s Bradley Room. The meal was excellent and more than 75 members attended. The next major event for the Senior Men will be the Gus Brown Bonspiel to be held at the club on Friday, February 7th. Welook forward to a lot of exciting competition right here in our home ice. That is all for now. See you on the ice, have a good time and curl safely. Submitted by Peter Watson, Senior Men’s Curling
Page 7 Rock Talk
In February, the eyes of the world will be on the Winter Olympics in Sochi Rus-sia. Many of those eyes will witness something they see only once every four years…Curling! For those who are curious to learn more about our game and our club, we are providing the opportunity for them to experience both. On February 15, 2014 the Whitby Curling Club will be holding its Olympic Open House from 1pm to 4 pm.
Our doors and our ice will be open to all members, their guests, and the gen-eral public, 8 years of age and older to experience curling and the hospitality of the Whitby Curling Club. :We will be providing:
some instruction
the opportunity to play a few ends
skill shot competitions; and
our usual hospitality.
Please invite your friends and family and come out yourself to take part in, or help out with any or all of the events. The more members who can attend to act as hosts, the better the experience will be for our guests. Also, look to sign up for competitions as the date approaches.
For more information, or the volunteer to help out, please contact Bryce Jor-dan, Director of Membership.
2014 Olympic Open House
Thanks to all of our curling club sponsors. If you need
a product or service, please check them out first!!
Page 8 Rock Talk
Page 9 Rock Talk
Wow do we have the Best Curling Club…our
Members sure know when to help out.
Here are some of the Fundraising ideas that
have been going on at the Club so far…
In Late Nov and Dec, we had our Poinsettia
sale and raised $1177.00. A big thank you to
Tracey Macaulay and her team for their hard
work.
Karen Bemister found something unique for
the Club this year, the Men of Curling Calendars and I
Think the Ladies loved them. The Club purchased 35
and all of them sold making the Club another $363.
Another popular Fundraiser is the Golf and Leisure Cou-
pon books. The league reps were busy promoting the
books and so far we have sold 32 books – Total raised
$512. BUT we still have more to sell at the Bar. So don’t
miss out on some great savings for Golf but some other
leisure activities and restaurant coupons that are in the
book.
Here are some upcoming Fundraisers for the Club in the
coming Year: Feb 8th – Olympic Bonspiel – ever wanted
to be an Olympic athlete but without ALL that training,
well here is your chance! We are hosting an Olympic
“FUN “spiel. $240 per team or $60 per person includes a
light breakfast, lunch and dinner, Prizes, Raffles and a
whole lot more. Contact Ian Cavanagh at ian-
[email protected] for more details.
Page 10 January 2014
Fundraising at the WCC
Sunday February 23rd to Friday February
28th – WCC Silent Auction – Need to get rid
of some stuff that has been “hanging”
around your house BUT could find a better
home? Maybe do some Christmas
“re”gifting? Do you have a Cottage that you
could give up for the weekend? A Special
Car? Maybe you would like to donate your
time for making something special? Wood
working? Baking? Get creative! Perhaps
you can get your hands on other items that
can be put on the table... prints, gift certifi-
cates, Leaf/Raptor Tickets, appliances, fire
hydrants, stop lights. Any new item is ap-
preciated! Contact Casey in the office or
Ian Cavanagh at [email protected] for
more details. March 1, 2014 - the Big Eu-
chre tournament- Enjoy playing Euchre but
this time for money? For $20 you can,
check out the posters that are in the lounge
or Contact Ben Aldridge 905-616-3515
[email protected] or Kyle Shul-
man 289-979-9000 kyleshul-
[email protected] for more details.
March 15, 2014 – Shamrock Spiel –
Get your Blarney on! More details to
follow.
As always we are looking for volun-
teers to help out with these events or
creative ways to come up with more
Fundraising ideas…if you have any
please contact Ian Cavanagh, Fundrais-
ing Director at [email protected]
Volunteers Needed
Hello WCC members, I am the new Director of Fundraising for the WCC and I want your help! We have a few fundraising events planned for the upcoming year and are looking for volunteers to assist in organizing these exciting activities! If you are looking for opportunities to become involved in your club, have some fun and fulfill your volun-teer hours, this is your chance! We require volunteers for the fol-lowing events: 1. Silent Auction – Friday February 28th, 2014 2 Golf Tournament – Summer 2014 These committees will be meeting ASAP to begin planning these events. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for any of the events please contact Ian at [email protected]
Marketing and Advertising
Thank you very much to The Whitby Day Ladies who have donated the entire amount of the carpet replace-ment - $1,388.41 in the arena.
Winner of Movember - Art Tavoularis 50-50 Winners
Sherry Howard $128.00 1st week, Pauline Albert $673.50 after 4 car-ryovers, Bryce Jordan $279.50after 1 carryover Andrea Lawes $272.50 after 1 carryover.
A much appreciated thank you to Stan Senkowski who has spent the last 5 weeks painting the ceilings in the lounge and bar area - it has really freshened and cleaned up the space
Page 11 Rock Talk
The first two draws of the Monday Night Men’s League wrapped up early in Janu-ary. Several teams were in a tight race to take the draw with Mark Reid, Kevin Ca-navan, Mike Gillen and Len Kormos taking the first draw and Jamie DeHart, Paul Slean, Ryan Crowley and Todd Crowley
Notes from Casey
Monday Night Men’s League
taking the second. The other division winners from Draw One were Bob Winters, Adam Baton, Bert Goodfellow and Alan Parsonson in A, Steve Tooze, Steve Smith, Todd MacNutt and Rick Hibberd in B and Tom Worsley, Stan Sen-kowski, Michael Walton and John Lenar-duzzi taking C division. The additional Second Draw winners were Brent Collett, Dave Barton, Rick Shchepanik and Jacques Leblanc taking A division and Jeff Whelan, Bob Fick, John Prisciak and Nico Morin taking C. The Third draw is underway and the com-petition looks fierce again with 18 teams looking for playoff berths. It will be fun!
It has been a very busy time for the marketing and advertising team with companies calling in to our club looking for opportunities to work with us. This is fantastic as it provides us with support for some of our bonspiels as well as for the club in general. We are currently working on following up with all of these leads and hope to be able to bring in some more Ice Cap Spon-sors very soon. Speaking of our Ice Cap Sponsorship program, since we are now half way through the season, we are offering our pack-ages at 50% off the posted rate. This provides new sponsors with an opportunity to give us a try for half a season at a very afforda-ble rate. If you have your own business or know someone running a business in the Durham region, please con-sider talking to me about our Ice Cap Sponsorship program or the many opportunities to support a bonspiel. Thanks again to all of our wonderful sponsors for this season. Remember to take a look at their products and services to show your support to them! Janice Brooks Cell: 905-706-0280
Page 12 January 2014
Page 13 January 2014
Our young curlers are having a blast curling both at WCC and all the other clubs in the GTA and beyond. Every week we see them improving in their skills and understanding of the nuances of the game. It is quite rewarding. Our annual Bantam Ca$h$piel was held on Novem-ber 9th. We welcomed teams from Uxbridge, Osh-awa, Annandale, High Park, York, Scarboro and Richmond Hill. Congratulations to Team Stoner for their second place finish. Well done boys! First place honours went to Team D. Leung of Scarboro. Whitby CC hosted the Bantam Zones on January 11th. Team Mitchell won the Boys ‘A’ side to go on to Regions on January 18th at the Weston CC. The boys played well, making it to the ‘B’ side semifinal. Congratulations to Ben, Ryan, Noah and Scott, as well as their coach Jason Mitchell. Thank you for representing us so well! Mixed Zones will be held on February 22nd at the West Northumberland CC. In anticipation of this, a couple of our teams headed to Cobourg for the club’s first bantam cashspiel. Congratulations to Team Stoner on winning the event. Team Lavery played very well, finishing ¼ out of the money. The girls did receive recognition and prizes for best combined score in their games, skills competition and curling quiz. Congratulations to both teams! A quick recognition to Sarah Gray on the successful completion of her evaluation to become a Compe-tition Coach - Certified. Well done! Bantam Provincials Please take a moment when you see Lindsey Ma-caulay (or Tracey & Malcolm) to offer congratula-tions and good luck. Lindsey is curling with Team Jones out of Galt this year. The girls have had a very good year and are off to Provincials in Coldwa-ter on February 5th. All the kids at Whitby are cheering for you Lindsey! Congratulations and good curling!!
WCC Youth Curling Program
Melissa Gray, Victoria Lavery and Laura Meadows
Ben, Ryan, Noah & Scott Mitchell
The Fall Draw is al-ready in the books and congratulations to the draw winners who are now entered in the March playoffs.
They are: Wednesday: Ian Cavanagh, Denise McMillan-Cavanagh, Paul & Teresa Mikolich Friday A draw: Jeremy Way, Jackie Esselink, Tammy & Al Par-sonson Friday B Draw: Malcolm & Tracey Macaulay, Doug & Astrid Schnurr
Our Christmas theme night was a success with a special appearance from Santa who was checking to see who was naughty and who was nice. Our next Theme night will be "Valentines" February 12th and 14th. We look forward to see what the bar will offer to pair with the chocolate! Soon the committee will get started on the mixed closing awards evening, dinner and dance. This year’s theme will be “At the races”.
whitbycurlingclub.com
Mixed
Curling