Beaver Sports
Napanee and District Curling Club is celebrating its diamond anniversary this season with plans to reflect back on 60 years in the community.
Using research put together by Eleanor Ramshaw gathered from Napanee Beaver clippings and Lennox and Addington County Museum archives, the club plans to highlight its book of records. This includes previous bonspiel winners and the various directors who have served the club over the years.
Each week they’ll focus on a different aspect of curling as they lead up to a weekend event, such as their annual Ladies Bonspiel in November. That will include trophy displays and information sheets as well as a “bring a friend” night during the week of the bonspiel.
Their year long celebration also happens to coincide with an Olympic year, which traditionally leads to a spike in national interest in curling. NDCC will look to capitalize on that as they look to grow the sport in the Napanee community at all skill levels. On Nov. 12 the club will host a new Curl Ontario program known as Try Curling Now. Registration for the event is now online at www.trycurlingnow.ca.
Instructors will be on hand from 9 a.m. to noon that day to teach the fundamentals of the sport. Later that afternoon there will be an open house with a chance to socialize, meet and greet club members.
That will be followed with a special presentation and displays that cover NDCC’s first 60 years in the community. If the stars align, they could also be watching one of their own in Scott Chadwick at the Road to the Roar in Olympic pre-trials. A member of the NDCC growing up, Chadwick is now lead with Greg Balsdon’s rink, who is attempting to qualify for the Winter Games in South Korea in February. They’ll find out in November if they qualify for the Road to the Roar, which are set to take place in Summerside, PEI.
Along with their added festivities, the NDCC has a busy schedule, starting with their annual Swing and Sweep, golf and curling combined event on Oct. 14. A full list of their bonspiels can be found at www.ndcc.ca.