TRY CURLING

Low impact exercise. Social. Fun.

THINKING ABOUT CURLING?

This is what is GREAT about Curling:

• Social Sport: Curling is a very social activity, both on the ice and in the clubhouse after the game. Weekly league play and countless special activities during the season give club members the opportunity to meet many people and make new friends.

• Manageable Exercise: Curling is as much exercise as you want it to be. It can be a way to develop and maintain your flexibility or it can be a great physical workout ... It's your choice! A number of our curlers use a stick for delivery rather than sliding out from the hack thus avoiding all that bending.

• No Age Limitations: Children can begin curling when they are as young as 10 years old. At the other end of the spectrum, TCC has active members beyond 80 years of age! Curling is an activity that you can enjoy for your entire life ... It's never too late to start curling!

• Easy to Learn: It takes about an hour of instruction and practice for most people to become comfortable "on the ice". 

Photo (L-R): Henry Puhr, Property Director: Travis Fanset, Ice Maker; Diane Kleer, President; Lori Van Opstal, OTF Volunteer; Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford.

On Friday, local MPP Ernie Hardeman met with members of the Tillsonburg Curling Club (TCC) to learn more about the $19,000 Capital Grant from the Ontario Government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). The funds were used to purchase an Ice King Monarch Ice Scraper which will allow the club to offer consistent ice throughout the curling season. It will address a community need by replacing the club's old ice scraper that has become unsafe and inefficient to use, keeping our facility open for the community to enjoy.

“This grant from the Ontario Government to the Tillsonburg Curling Club to replace their ice scraper is great news for the people of Oxford,” said Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford. “Having the ability to provide consistently good ice will allow the club to continue offering the many leagues and events that have drawn people here for decades.”

Curling wouldn’t be possible without good ice. The important component of good ice is to achieve consistency and predictability. During installation ice freezes unevenly with high and low areas throughout. To attain a uniform playing surface the ice technician must consistently ‘hone’ the ice by scraping it several times during installation, shaving high spots so the area is somewhat level, taking it to a ‘bare ice’ state. That is the threshold. Throughout the season the ice must be taken back to ‘bare ice’ using the scraper as often as needed. It is essential to have a consistent playing surface and the new Monarch Ice Scraper allows the TCC to achieve this.

“The old scraper failed a lot during the previous season becoming a challenge for the club’s ice maker to produce a consistent and predictable playing surface,” said Diane Kleer, President for the Tillsonburg Curling Club. “The club’s 40+ year scraper was also becoming unsafe to operate. The new ice scraper is a welcoming asset to the club.”

The Tillsonburg Curling Club is a not-for-profit organization offering the sport of curling to all ages in Tillsonburg and surrounding areas since 1954. The club offers leagues for Juniors, Seniors, Men, Ladies, Mixed and a Recreational curling. The club is used by our local elementary and high schools, as well as the Tillsonburg Thunder Rock Special Olympics team.

The curling club offers numerous curling bonspiels and competitions during the season attracting local curlers as well as other curlers from across the province. The club’s longest running bonspiel is the Community Service Bonspiel, co-sponsored by Good Redden Klosler LLP and TCC. For the past 66- years this bonspiel has been open to community service clubs who donate their winnings back to local not-for-profit organizations in the community.

“Non-profit organizations across Ontario deliver programming that makes a difference,” said Neil Lumsden, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. “That’s why funding that my ministry is providing through the OTF is so important. Our government wants to ensure that these programs and spaces remain the heart of communities across our province.”

The Ontario Trillium Foundation’s (OTF) mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario. As an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, last year, OTF invested over $110M into 1,022 community projects and partnerships. Visit otf.ca to learn more.

The Tillsonburg Curling Club is a volunteer organization. Most of the work to run our club and keep the doors open is performed by members volunteering. Each year, we like to acknowledge one of our volunteers. This year will we be recognizing two because we could never thank one of them, without the other.

This year we are thanking Les and Nora Peter for their many years of volunteering their time for our club and the sport of curling. 

Les and Nora’s curling life began at the Manitouwadge Curling Club in the fall of 1974 where they learned to curl and began their many years of volunteering. They returned to Southwestern Ontario in 1982 and became members of the Tillsonburg Curling Club.

Over their many years of curling, Nora served as the president of the Ladies Division. She was the convenor for the ladies Bronze Broom Bonspiel, Yuletide Social, Ladies league and REC league.

Les served as the president of the Tillsonburg Curling Club. He was the convenor for the men’s Tobacco Belt, Community Service Bonspiel, Men’s League and co-founded the REC league. He brought the idea and organized the club’s Fundraiser - Beer for a Year. He was also inducted in the Tillsonburg Sports Hall of Fame for being an ambassador to curling in the community of Tillsonburg.

Together they were convenors of the Monday Night Mixed League and the club’s opening Grey Cup Bonspiel. They spearhead not one but a few club fundraising auctions. They volunteered many hours teaching new curlers the sport of curling. They both spent many hours in the club kitchen volunteering their time serving our members and many members from other clubs.

THANK YOU to Les and Nora for everything they have done for the Tillsonburg Curling Club and the sport of curling.

1st Prize Winner ($2,080) was Susan Cooper. 2nd Prize Winner ($500) was Mark Jones. Winners were absent for the draw. Holding the winning tickets were Wade Jones and Christine Wade. Congratulations to this year's winners. Thank You to everyone who purchased a ticket to support our club.

Please support our sponsors as they support you!

These partnerships represent a commitment, not only to the club, but also to our members and the sport of curling. The Tillsonburg Curling Club would like to thank the following sponsors for their support.

2023-24 SPONSORS

• Brokerlink Insurance
• Courtland Landscape and Grounds
• Crompton Home Hardware Building Centre
• Danbrook Automotive
• DeGroote Hill
• Dominos Pizza
• Dr. Jonathan Arnel
• E & E McLaughlin Ltd
• East Elgin Concrete Forming Ltd
• Execulink Telecom
• Gentrac Building Corporation
• Good, Redden, Klosler
• Grassmere Construction Ltd
• Hayhoe Homes
• Hogarth Insurance Brokers
• Holmes, Kocheff & Good
• Horizon Maintenance Inc
• Kelsey's Roadhouse
• Martinrea
• Manulife Securities Incorporated
• Marwood International
• McFarlan Rowlands Insurance Brokers Inc
• McKenzie Associated Auctioneers
• Mill Tales Inn
• Morison Insurance
• Ontario Laser Cutting
• Ostrander Funeral Home Limited
• Railway City Brewing Company
• Rick's Electric
• Rotary Club Tillsonburg
• Royal LePage R.E. Wood Reality
• RustCheck
• ServiceMaster of Tillsonburg
• Sobey's 
• Tear Systems
• The Copper Mug
• Tillsonburg Dental
• Tillson Pizza
• Tillsonburg Travel
• TillsonView Fairways
• Tim Horton's 
• Verne's Carpet One
• Wellington Street Denture Clinic
• Zeplyn Enterprises Inc