A Busy Weekend by Rick Lomore

This weekend saw the reappearance of a Ladies Invitational Bonspiel on the Pembroke curling scene. Ten teams went at it with axe and crosscut through three games each, reaching a climax on Sunday. Crews from Pembroke, Richmond and Renfrew each tried to be Bull of The Woods in the first annual Lumberjill spiel. When the wood chips finished flying, the last woodswomen standing were Sherri Gauthier (skip), Diane Corrin (vice), Marlene Gloster (second) and Vicky Burnison (lead) who walked away with the premier win. Reports reaching this scribe tell of fun and frolic as the Lumberjill theme was carried out fully with all competitors in woodsy costume, looked after by a hunky crew of volunteer lumberjacks. Congratulations go out to the organizers and helpers, including chairperson Laurie Fraser, Jane Duff, Pat Snell, Liz Reid and Vicki Burnison.

On the male side of the sheet, a team from Pembroke ventured up the Ottawa to take on 31 other teams at the second annual Assante Senior Men’s spiel held at North Bay’s Granite Curling Club. Starting Friday night, the rink skipped by Emile Robert, ably backed up by Peter Copis, Rick Duncan and Rick Lomore fought their way through 5 games and came out on top of the pack as “A” division winners. It was a sweet victory for the crew at the home of Pembroke’s Scott Patterson whose curling exploits are remembered at the Granite with banners and pictures. This was a well-run and thoroughly enjoyable event, which will see the Robert rink returning next year (God willing and the arthritis don’t bite) to defend their title.

As for regular curling, the Club leagues are in full swing with a number of teams sporting perfect records. Monday’s competitive draws see Jeff Faught and Shawn Patterson on top of the “A” grouping, Tony Martin leading the “B” group while Mike Thompson heads the “C”. Tuesday’s Ladies competition has teams skipped by Laurie Donovan and Marjorie Walker out in front, while Wednesday’s mixed leagues are headed by Ron Mutrie, Ron Pederson, Mike McCarter and Harv Robertson. Sunday churchgoers are lead by Dennis Lafreniere’s rink.

The major coming event is the Club’s Fall Cashspiel, held November 15-18. There might be room to squeeze in a few teams- call Carl Zieroth (1-800-930-6322) to enter or see the Club’s website (http://pembroke.ovca.com) for a detailed flyer. Plan on dropping by to see some good curling if you’re in the area.

Until the next column, good curling.