The Men’s A Event winners hold their trophy with pride. From left to right are; Al Pratt, Shaun Everest, John Surovy and Leo Rivera (skip)
The Eastlink Curling Centre was the scene last weekend of the 7th annual combined bonspiel hosted by the Oliver Curling Club.
In all, 32 rinks competed – 20 men’s and 12 ladies.
The event has reached famous stature with rinks coming from as far afield as Midway, West Kelowna and Chilliwack, as well as the usual contingent from Oliver, Osoyoos and Penticton.
There was a lot of good curling, some very tight games resolved by a draw to the button, and some final games resolved by an extra end of play. In the end, the Ladies A event winner was the Pat Wycherley rink from Osoyoos. The Cathy Pidduck team from Oliver was the highest finishing local team, finishing as runner up in the B event.
The men’s side A event was won by the Oliver rink skipped by Leo Rivera, with John Surovy, Shaun Everest and Al Pratt helping out. A notable thing about this rink was that both Leo and John are stick curlers. Even though they cannot easily get up and down from the hack any longer, they can still play a very competitive game.
The C event was also won by an Oliver rink – Bruce Schroter skipped his team to a thrilling last end victory over Cornie Zacharias, also of Oliver. See the Oliver Chronicle website for photos of award winners.
The Men’s B Event Winners, from left to right Barry Barisoff, Mathew McCrady, Scott Baratelli and Jordan Kiss (skip)
The Oliver Curling Club wishes to acknowledge the valuable assistance of sponsors and volunteers. Event sponsors were Crucetti’s Family Restaurant, Eastlink, Constellation Brands, Oliver Super Valu, Cam Rob Construction and Gerard’s Equipment. Our talented ice crew of Norm Card, Dennis Magoffin and volunteer Bob Kozuback provided us with an excellent surface for play.
Such an event is not possible without volunteers, and we had many. Perennial volunteers Joyce Kuzyk and John Chapman took responsibility for overall organization. Cathy Thompson and George Hagel made up the rules committee. And the ever-important bar contingent was comprised of Ron Pidduck, assisted by Max Uhlemann, Janet Uhlemann, Lisa Antes, Deb Ellis and Kathy Pidduck.
The downstairs concession was managed by Mike Ryan with the able assistance of Stephanie Ryan, Ray Minshull, Roberta Dodge, Bill Rinsma, Irene Ramsey, Wayne Danbrook and Barb Larson.
Men’s C Event winners, from left to right; Dave Arnold, Bruce Schroter (skip), Bruce Ramsey and Fernando Anjos
The Saturday night banquet was managed by Donny McKay, with Polly McKay, Foster and Gloria Doering (the potato purveyors). Other volunteers were Phyllis Wilson, Linda Schroter, Dave Arnold, Roberta Dodge, Aline Campbell, Wayne Ross, George Hagel and Wanda Casorso.
Many club members contributed to the Friday night snacks (actually a gourmet meal in little pieces). Phil Ramsey, Bruce Ramsey, Fernando Anjos and Jack Fontinhas kept all the competition in order on the ice.
Terry Einarson
Special to the Chronicle
