After nearly two years of being closed, the Allenford Curling Club is dusting off its brooms and getting back to the game its members have dearly missed.
Club Secretary Rodger Dougall says a $26,400 grant was presented to the club by Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Conservative MPP Bill Walker and Ontario Trillium Foundation volunteer Val Fleming this week.
“Without this grant, we wouldn’t have been able to open because our resources were— after last year, even with the couple of fundraisers we did have, pretty well exhausted and this gave us a boost we needed at the beginning to just get everything organized and buy what we needed to buy,” says Dougall.
He adds, “It was just a lifesaver, as far as the club was concerned.”
Walker, who presented a cheque on Wednesday says in a statement, “I’m delighted to see that members will be able to participate and return to such activities as part of COVID-19 recovery, and help ensure the availability of this vibrant community which will benefit everyone for future generations to enjoy.”
The money will help them finally reopen with pandemic safety measures in place including plexiglass at the bar and kitchen as well as sanitizing equipment, but the biggest ticket item, putting in the ice, is now covered with the grant.
Dougall says that’s welcome news because the club hasn’t held its usual fundraiser events over the last couple of years. He says there were no bonspiels or dinners to raise money because of the pandemic, noting, “When we had to shut down because of COVID, all of our traditional fundraisers just went right out the door.”
He says they had wanted to reopen in the fall of 2020, but with a resurgence of the pandemic, he explains, “It would have been too expensive to start up and then stop,” adding, “A lot of our costs are in the starting up– getting the ice in and getting the club all organized. It’s quite a front-end load.”
Dougall says curling is due to start back up on Monday (Nov 15). He notes the club is only accepting members who are double vaccinated against COVID-19.
The hope is, the grant will also hopefully help them to restore their membership to pre-pandemic levels.
He says they’re looking for curlers of all ages from as young as 5 to 100, “You don’t have to have experience, we’re more than happy to help people develop the skills they need to play the game and all are welcome.”
Dougall notes, the club’s membership is about 60 people which is on the low side of what are considered viable numbers, so they’d love to have more.
“It’s a great sport. It’s a very friendly sport because other curlers are quite happy to help you learn the skills. It’s not fast paced, so you don’t have to be in top-notch shape to do it. It lends itself to social distancing because you’re in a big arena-sized space with a relatively small number of people,” says Dougall.
“It’s one of the few things you can do around here in the winter if you’re not a skier or hockey player. We have daytime leagues, we have evening leagues.”
If you’re interested in joining, Dougall says to give him a call at 519-422-0875 or email him at rodger.dougall@gmail.com
You can see more about the club on Facebook.
The curling club is currently holding a homemade Christmas cake fundraiser with the option of a dark fruitcake, a light fruitcake or a gum drop cake. There are roughly 1 lb and 2 lb sizes that are $10 and $20, respectively. Call Mary Dougall at 519-422-0875 to order a cake before November 26th.
