OLDS — The Kim Lewis rink won the Olds Farmerettes bonspiel for the fourth time and the Larry Flessatti rink won the Olds Farmers Bonspiel for the third time, according to organizing committee chair Cory Noel.
This year marked the 40th annual Olds Farmers bonspiel and the 37th annual Olds Farmerettes bonspiel. Both were held Feb. 10-14 at the Olds Curling Club.
Earlier Lewis also successfully defended her title as the Innisfail Farmerettes bonspiel champ.
Following are first-place finishers from the two spiels in Olds.
Farmers Bonspiel
First in the A event: Larry Flessatti, Gary Richards, Gord Ellis with business rep Kevin Rowland of Hildebrand Motors.
First in the B event: Derek Mathan, Gary Wagers, Keith Leischner and Bryn Chambers of BMO Bank of Montreal.
First in the C event: Travis Phillips, Svend Nielsen, Donald Brian and Aaron Winter of Winter Masonry.
First in the D event: Dan McArthur, John Hoppins, Ken Munroe and Jordan Priebe of Desjardins Financial.
Farmerettes Bonspiel
First in the A event: Kim Lewis, Chris Donner, Marge Tyrkalo and Leona Compton of the Olds Curling Club.
First in the B event: Deana Jensen, Marg Bergsma, Lori Magnuson and Jennifer Lutz of the Town of Olds.
First in the C event: Cindy Zeer, Rhonda Miller, Terri Taylor and Sheila Schimke of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 105 Olds.
More winners are listed in an online edition of this story at our website: www.mountainviewtoday.ca
History
During a windup banquet at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 105 in Olds, Noel gave a short history of the Olds Farmers Bonpiel.
Noel said it’s his understanding that the first bonspiel ever held in the new Olds Curling Club took place in 1981. The Sportsplex, which houses the Olds Curling Club, was built after a fire destroyed the old facility in 1978.
Noel noted some of the members of the committee that founded the tournament were in attendance at Friday’s banquet. They are Al Graham, Garrett Funkhauser and Ken Gilrie.
“Thank you guys so much,” Noel said, sparking applause.
He noted that other members of that founding committee were Roy Schneider, Gord Embee, Don Walpert, Ralph Maybank and Leonard Turnbull.
Tribute was also paid to six local businesses that sponsored the event right from the beginning and were still supporters this year.
They are Olds Fertilizer and Agri-Services, the Olds Auction Mart, Future Ag Inc. (known in 1981 as Broyce International), Cervus Equipment (known as Greenline Equipment back then), Westview Co-op (known then as Olds Co-op Ltd.) and the Tire Shop (known as Wooten Tire in 1981 according to Noel).
Praised for participation
Mountain View County division 7 councillor Al Kemmere, president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta, also addressed the crowd.
He praised the curlers for participating in the two bonspiels despite suffering through some very tough times in agriculture.
“I don’t have to tell you how tough a year it has been for agriculture. This has been a farmers' bonspiel, and it weighs heavy on many of you who’ve still got crop out in the field or who’ve struggled to get their crop into the bin and are now figuring out how to keep it from going hot,” Kemmere said.
“But you didn’t let that get in the way of having a good time. And I think that’s one of the things that, as a county council, we’re thankful for, is the fact that you can come together.
“In spite of the hardships over the last 40 years, you still come together every time and have a good time together.”
He described the two bonspiels as “community building” events, noting participants came from the Olds, Sundre, Innisfail and Trochu areas.
Like Noel, Kemmere also praised local businesses for continuing to support the two bonspiels despite tough times.