The Olds Curling Club is hosting the Alberta Curling Federation Provincial Masters Bonspiel Feb. 22-26 and among the competitors will be former world champion, Olympian and two-time Brier champion Ed Lukowich of Calgary.
Organizing committee chair Henry Czarnota is confident fans will be anxious to see Lukowich and other top-notch masters curlers take to the ice.
"Eddie is now 71 years of age and his team is one of the qualifying teams from the south," Czarnota says. "Hopefully people will get to see what a 71-year-old can still do with a curling team."
The masters level is for curlers 60 years of age and older.
Sixteen teams - eight men's and eight women's teams -- will be vying for the championship.
Czarnota says teams from as far north as the Peace River area and as far south as Calgary and Airdrie will be competing, along with at least one team from Red Deer.
No teams from Olds or anywhere else in Mountain View County will be competing. However, Czarnota says four local people are ready to serve as alternates if someone becomes ill or injured.
Opening ceremonies take place Feb. 21. Then on Feb. 22, 23 and 24, there will be three draws: at 9 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Two more draws will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. and noon.
The top three teams go into the playoffs.
If tiebreakers are required, draws will be held at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 25. Semifinals will be played Feb. 26 at 9 a.m.
If tiebreakers are not required, a semifinal for the men and the women will be held Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.
Regardless of whether there are tiebreakers or not, the final will be played Feb. 26 at 2 p.m.
Czarnota says efforts to organize this event have been underway for about 15 months, "but the heavy work has been the last couple of months."
About 20 volunteers are involved, looking after everything from admission and banquet organizing to assisting the ice maker and providing security.
Czarnota says it hasn't been too hard to obtain volunteers.
"In fact, I just went down to the rink today and had a few more people offer (to help)," he told the Albertan.
"This is a master's, so the audience is primarily our seniors. We do have a number of seniors of course who no longer work and now that they know their schedule, the last little bit, people have been stepping forward."
"We don't make a lot of money on it," Czarnota adds. "What we're doing is just trying to bring high-calibre curling (here) and promote that kind of curling for that age group so that perhaps others in our community (will give it a try), because I think there are people who are good enough to compete, they're just not submitting teams for the competition."
"We don't make a lot of money on it. What we're doing is just trying to bring high-calibre curling (here) and promote that kind of curling for that age group so that perhaps others in our community (will give it a try)."HENRY CZARNOTACHAIR PROVINCIAL MASTERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
