The Howe Sound Curling Club (HSCC) packed them in for the Fire and Ice Mixed Open Bonspiel on Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 28 and 29).
Twelve teams were divided into two groups, Fire and Ice, and played three games in a round-robin format to determine group winners on Saturday. On Sunday, the top two teams from each group played off in the finals.
First place went to the Dorosh team, who have been together for five years and regularly compete in the HSCC's Thursday night mixed league. Don Dorosh skips the team, Karen Vanzella plays third, Don's father Dick Dorosh plays second and Carrie McCreedy is the lead.
Second place went to the Germain team, a new team in the HSCC's Thursday night mixed league. The team's skip is Andr茅 Germain, third is Hilary Fisher, second is Gordon Mulligan and first-year curler Karen Moodie is the team's lead. Other teams were a mixture of curlers from the HSCC's men's, women's, mixed and senior leagues and there was a team from Coquitlam.
After two morning draws on Saturday, everyone had a Mexican-style lunch in the clubhouse, followed up by some ice cream to follow the fire and ice theme of the weekend. There were two afternoon draws and appetizers and door prizes in the evening.
Bob Fast from Cardinal Concrete sponsored the bonspiel with a donation for some special "Fireball and Polar Ice" prizes and organizers of the event also wanted to thank the many businesses who donated door prizes to help stage the bonspiel.
February is a busy month for bonspiels at the HSCC, with the Sea to Sky School District holding a one-day bonspiel on Saturday (Feb. 4) with 12 teams entered. B.C. Hydro has its bonspiel on Feb. 11, followed by the Hospital bonspiel on Feb. 18 and finally the B.C. Rail bonspiel on Feb. 25.
The club is also organizing a family bonspiel on March 4. It will be open to curlers and non-curlers alike. For more information on the club, visit www.howesoundcurl.com.
