Our November Club of the Month is Osoyoos Curling Club, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year!

As we celebrate our 70^th Anniversary in 2024 we take a look back at the rich history of the Osoyoos Curling Club.

People have been throwing rocks at houses in Osoyoos for more than 70 years! It’s said that back in the day Dougall Burpee, who had his own set of rocks, and his friends would curl on frozen Lake Osoyoos and Dick Topping, who lived in Oliver and had his own rocks, would curl on a man-made rink in his back yard.

In the early 1950s Topping and a team of curling enthusiasts led a drive to build the first indoor curling rink in the South Okanagan located in Oliver, however, after lack of funding he sought the help of interested curlers from Osoyoos, Midway, Rock Creek and Oroville, hence the original named International Curling Club.  A group from Osoyoos came up with the idea to raise funds through the sale of $100 memberships & $50 bankers notes to build a curling club on the lakefront in the Osoyoos Community Park, now Gyro Park.  March 17, 1954, saw the official opening of the $45,000 four-sheet International Curling Club. George Fraser threw the first rock with Burpee holding the broom and the first President, Topping and first Vice President, Pat Fraser sweeping.

Curling became very popular in the following years with the Club hosting the first men’s and ladies bonspiels in 1955. Doris Pritchard became the first president of the Ladies International Curling Club and in 1959 and Mike Fraser founded the Junior International Curling Club.  The junior program produced many very successful curlers, some of whom are still curling at the Club today.

By the early 1970s the Club realized there was a need for a more up-to-date facility. The Board of Directors secured funding through member-backed bankers notes, a government grant and the sale of the old building to the town for $25,000.00. The new facility was built on an existing ball diamond adjacent to the new ice arena, this helped operating costs by sharing the ice plant with the arena. Built by Bomar Construction at a cost of $168,000, the new rink official opened on October 31, 1975, with Freida Hopkins and then President Howard Engel throwing the first rocks. In 2003, a new bar was built and “The Extra End” was born!

As the arena put ice in for summer hockey camps, it was a no-brainer for the Club to put their ice in during the summer months, hence the birth of the famous Mid-Summer Bonspiel in 1978. The Club welcomed 56 teams to the first Bonspiel, which has been held every August except for three years: 2020 and 2021 due to COVID and one other year due to lack of teams.  In the early days, the Mid-Summer Bonspiel was a week-long family affair with other activities such as golf, baseball and water sports. It continues to be a popular family event with teams coming from western Canada and as far afield as Denver, CO.

The Club changed its name from the International Curling Club to the Osoyoos Curling Club in April 2019.

​Today the current Board & volunteer members are striving to continue with the spirit of curling that our pioneer curlers brought to the community so many years ago.  Curling will always remain strong in Osoyoos. That is the legacy of the Club’s rich history.