A dozen teams competed in the 100 Mile House Curling Club Ladies’ Bonspiel from March 1-3.
Joining eight hometown teams were four from across the Interior, with two coming down from Williams Lake, one from Kamloops and one from Clearwater. Club treasurer Maria Hamilton, who also competed in the tournament, said the bonspiel was a huge success.
“The theme was the letter Z, and all teams donned costumes for dinner on Saturday night. We had ziplock bags, zoos and zookeepers, Zorros, zigzag rolling papers, zens and zombies,” Hamilton said. “The party was a ton of fun with the Markabillies playing and the dance floor full. Dinner, bartending, ice and organizing of the event was done by the men of the club and they did a great job.”
On the ice, Hamilton remarked that the out-of-town teams proved competitive dominating two of the three events.
In the C Finals on Sunday, Kamloops’ Team Pritchard faced off against 100 Mile House’s Team Ney. The game started off close with the score standing at five to four for Pritchard after four ends. However, Team Pritchard managed to steal three points in the sixth end winning the game nine to four.
“We would like to express to the 100 Mile Curling Club and all of its members, how much we enjoyed curling there. Your hospitality is excellent and we really appreciated all the volunteerism. Thank you very much,” Team Pritchard said in a statement following their win.
It was Williams Lake’s Team Shiach that came out on top in the B Final winning against Team JongBloets, a group of hometown curlers. Hamilton said the game was tight with the two teams alternating with scoring a single point per end until Team Shiach got the hammer and was able to score two points in the final end.
Finally, in the A Event Hamilton’s own Team Hamilton came out victorious over their rival Team Menzer. Hamilton said the two teams play against each other often during regular league play, so their games are always competitive.
“Team Hamilton stole two in the first and another in the second when the skip, myself, did a long raise to the button against five,” Hamilton said. “But Menzer came back swinging and took three in the third end, tying it up. A few points went back and forth after that and it was nine to five after the seventh end for Hamilton. In the eighth, the Menzer team ran out of rocks.”
Each team that won their event received cash prizes and team jackets sponsored by local businesses including Rod Dillman Contracting, Tim Hortons and Ney Construction Ltd.
Hamilton said that the bonspiel marks the end of a very successful year of curling in 100 Mile House. She thanked all the volunteers for their hard work this season.
The 100 Mile Curling Club will be holding their annual general meeting on April 12, she added. Doors will open at 6 p.m. for drinks and appetizers with the meeting getting underway at 7 p.m. Next year Hamilton said the club plans to improve its ice quality even more by improving the rink’s ventilation system to reduce humidity.
