Happy Thanksgiving – CEO Message
We hope the new season is off to a great start at your club.
Curl BC kicked off the season with its first “semi-monthly” 5050 being held from September 16 – 30. There will be 11 more draws this season which will be held on the fifteenth and last day of each month. Please go to rafflebox.ca/raffle/curl-bc/ to support your favorite club/curling organization (they receive 40% of your purchase!).
The Governor General’s Curling Club (GGCC), founded over 150 years ago in 1874, held their annual induction dinner in Victoria on September 14 with Curl BC’s Vice Chair, Penny Shantz serving as host. Four long-time contributors to BC curling were inducted for their service to the sport, including Paul Addison and Keith Dagg of Victoria, Teri Palynchuk of Nanaimo and Jock Tyre of Kelowna. The focus of the Club is to recognize Canadians who have made a significant contribution to curling locally, provincially or nationally, not only as competitive curlers, but also as builders and administrators. One of their most important functions is to provide scholarships to student curlers each year which are funded exclusively through club members’ contributions. At the AGM preceding the dinner, BC’s Warren Hansen was elected as the new GGCC President for the 2026-27 season.
With two BC women’s teams representing the host club (Reese-Hansen and MacMillan), Victoria is also excited to be hosting the Grand Slam of Curling (GSOC) Co-Op Invitational from October 13 – 18 at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. There will be 32 of the best Men’s and Women’s teams in the world playing including teams from Canada (9), Denmark, Italy, Japan (5), Norway, Scotland (4), South Korea (2), Sweden (3), Switzerland (3) and the United States. The final team for both the Men’s and Women’s divisions will be determined at the Prestige Hotels & Resorts Classic being held October 1 to 4 at Vernon Curling Club. More information and tickets are available at the GSOC site: thegrandslamofcurling.com/. 5050 ticket sales at the event will help Esquimalt Curling Club purchase a new set of stones.
On a sad note, for those of you in the Lower Mainland, 2010 Paralympic gold medalist Darryl Neighbour’s Celebration of Life will be held from 1:00 – 3:00 pm on October 3 at Richmond Curling Centre. We hope you have a chance to attend and pay tribute to Darryl. If not, please have him in your thoughts on Saturday. Darryl was a wonderful member of BC’s curling community and will be greatly missed.
Finally, on October 12, Happy Thanksgiving to all Member Facilities’ boards, staff, ice makers, coaches, officials and volunteers who have been working so hard to kickstart the curling season for everyone. Thanks for all you do throughout the season.
Scott Braley
CEO, Curl BC
