The second half of November featured some entertaining curling action here in town, as a pair of popular bonspiels was held at the Nanaimo Curling Centre.
Last weekend brought the conclusion of the three-day Nanaimo Senior Men’s Open bonspiel for players 55 and over. Congratulations go to organizer Gord Borbandy and his team of volunteers.
A total of 22 teams took part, with each team guaranteed six games played in an interesting skins format for prize money in each game.
When final games had been completed, winners of ‘A’ event and the Royal Canadian Legion Br. 256 Trophy was the Nanaimo team consisting of skip Van Fenton, third Bob Davies, second Mike Starkey, and lead Wally Funk. Runners-up were Qualicum’s Ralph Hook and his teammates Terry Miller, Allan Thomas, and Paul Stone.
The Yasuko Kaneen Memorial Trophy as ‘B’ event winners was presented to skip Gus Gleim and his Parksville/Qualicum team of Jack Dixon, Jim Hoffman, and Ian Maxwell. Capturing second place was Ron Kulai and his Nanaimo teammates Bernie Waatainen, Lloyd Learmonth, and Gary Williams.
Another Parksville/Qualicum entry claimed ‘C’ event honours, as the Alex Schroh Memorial Trophy went to the team of Roger Pick, Rob Lindsay, Gord Hallstrom, and Owen Thomas. Placing second was Nanaimo skip Craig Turnbull and his team of third Ed Stromberg, second Rick Kerley, and lead Greg Bush.
A pair of Nanaimo teams finished a close first and second in the bonspiel’s ‘D’ event. Winners of the Lone Pine Horticulture Trophy were the five-man squad made up of Archie McIntosh, Denis Heppelle, Vic Whitney, Gene Klymchuk, and George Taylor. Second place went to skip Nels Symbaluk and his team of myself, Bob Carpenter, and Roger Hermant.
The previous weekend, the Nanaimo Curling Centre was the site of the annual men’s spiel organized by members of the Sunday Hangover League.
Again this year congratulations go to league president and bonspiel organizer Ferdie Hobson for his hard work. Hobson along with various sponsors and volunteers including Randy Brahniuk, Tony Brocklehurst, Jim Forrester, and Zorka Smith helped make the event a definite success.
A total of 28 teams, including six from out of town, took part in this year’s bonspiel.
It was an all-Nanaimo final in the Midland Tools ‘A’ event championship game, which resulted in a 6-2 victory for the Steve Waatainen foursome over the team skipped by Frank Smith. On Waatainen’s playdown team were third Kevin Weinreich, second Sean Krepps, and lead Keith Clarke, while Smith was backed by Ian Cook, Cam Foster, and Kyle Sedola.
Finishing third in ‘A’ event was the Nanaimo team of Craig MacRae, Louie Cavezza, Tom Weinreich, and Paul Merkel, with fourth spot going to the Craig Kolman squad from Parksville.
Sponsor for the bonspiel’s ‘B’ event was Marks Imports, and the winner was a Vancouver entry skipped by Craig Rampton. Rampton scored a 5-1 decision in the final over Nanaimo’s Doug McGlenen and his teammates Dan Allaire, Bill Shaw, and Kevin Conley.
Third and fourth places in ‘B’ both went to local teams.
Claiming third was skip Ferdie Hobson along with Brent Smith, Nolan Paquette, and Geoff Haslam, with fourth going to Tim Cullen and his team of Bruce Willgress, Murray Norby, and Ward Wiltsey.
The final of ‘C’ event, sponsored by Christensen Collision, saw Cliff Carr-Hilton and his Courtenay team post a 6-2 win against Nanaimo skip Dan Somerville and his team of Rob Mitchel, Roy Prosser, and Dave Morgan.
M. J. Chahley Construction Group sponsored the ‘D’ event of the competition, and the sponsor came close to winning his own trophy. In the closest of the four event finals, Joe Greene and his squad of Mark Knutson, Steve Anderson, and Gerry Coukell just edged out the Mike Chahley team by an 8-7 count. Others on the runner-up Chahley team were Tony Wright, Rick Herding, and Kerry Lucas.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.
Ian Thorpe writes about sports Saturdays.