This is a drawing taken from the Osoyoos Museum archives depicting the original Osoyoos International Curling Rink when it was built and opened 60 years ago at the site of the current Osoyoos Museum. The curling club is inviting current and former members to its 60th anniversary celebrations on Sunday, Nov. 16 from 3-7 p.m. (Photo supplied)
There is sure to be a lot of reminiscing and bragging about the great shots that took place many years ago when members, past and present, gather for the 60th anniversary of the Osoyoos International Curling Club.
Longtime club members Betty Steinbart, Nancy Katerenchuk and Carol Dingman have spent plenty of time organizing the 60th anniversary celebration, which will take place on Sunday, Nov. 16 from 3-7 p.m.
“We’re asking anyone who has belonged to the curling club in the past to join us on this special day,” said Steinbart. “This will be a celebration of 60 years of curling in Osoyoos, but will also act as an opportunity to bring some old pictures and share some stories from years gone by.”
The local curling rink held a hugely successful 50th anniversary celebration 10 years ago, so a committee was organized several months ago to hold a similar celebration in 2014 to celebrate six decades as a club, said Katerenchuk.
“We decided at the beginning of last year that we would put something together to celebrate 60 years of our club and 60 years of curling in Osoyoos,” she said. “We think it should be a fun day and great way to celebrate how important this club has been to this community all of these years.”
According to the club’s website, local legend has it that curling was first played in Osoyoos on the frozen water of Osoyoos Lake by Dougall Burpee, who had built his own set of rocks.
Burpee and his friends would curl on the lake or other frozen ponds whenever the weather was cold enough to form ice.
Dick Topping from Oliver also had his own set of rocks and was curling in an outdoor rink in his backyard.
It wasn’t until the early 1950’s when a group headed by Topping, the club’s first president, spearheaded a drive to build an indoor curling club in Oliver.
The new rink would be the first curling club ever built in the South Okanagan.
Unable to raise the necessary funds in Oliver, Topping sought the assistance of interested curlers from Osoyoos, Midway, Rock Creek and Oroville, Wash., hence the name Osoyoos International Curling Club.
Osoyoos residents Chuck Emery, Pat Fraser and some friends came on board to raise funding through the sale of $100 memberships and $50 bank notes to construct the new curling club on the lakefront in Osoyoos.
On March 17, 1954, the Osoyoos International Curling Club opened its doors to the public at the current location of the Osoyoos Museum with Burpee throwing the very first rock at the grand opening.
Curling took off from there as members drove as far away as Midway and Keremeos to play league games during the week and on weekends.
Bonspiels back in the early days would attract as many as 100 teams and curling would continue around the clock in the four-sheet rink.
Recognizing the need for a more modern facility in the early 1970s, the board of directors, led by Lyle Dawson, Bud Fraser, Howard Engel and Doug Weeks, a Washington resident, raised funds to build a new curling rink.
They secured funding through member-backed bank notes, a government grant and some popular car raffles.
In 1975, the new club was built next door to the Sun Bowl Arena, which it still operates to this day.
This location allowed the club to share the cost of ice making with the arena, reducing the normally huge operating and capital expenditures the old club had.
Another advantage to this arrangement was the ability to maintain ice during the summer months.
While the arena was being used for summer hockey schools, the curling club decided to hold a summer bonspiel.
In 1978, the Osoyoos Mid-Summer Mixed Bonspiel was born and has become an extremely popular event ever since.
More than 60 teams would enter the summer bonspiel in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In the summer of 1979, Norm Propp brought the Four Foot Curling Camp to Osoyoos. Junior curlers from Japan, Korea and all over North America have attended this event.
Curl BC recently has held technical courses on ice making, coaching and the business of curling between summer events.
Today, the current board and volunteer members are striving to continue with the spirit of curling that pioneers brought to this community so many years ago.
Even to this day, the best rocks at the club are the blue granite stones Dick Topping curled with in his backyard more than 50 years ago.
For more information on the 60th anniversary celebration, contact Steinbart at 250-495-8166 or Katerenchuk at 250-495-4008.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
