Amidst the calls of "Hurry!" and "Hard!" echoing throughout the cavernous Olds Curling Club on the afternoon of Feb. 15, there was also laughter, good-natured ribbing and plenty of compliments for those throwing good rocks.
Amidst the calls of "Hurry!" and "Hard!" echoing throughout the cavernous Olds Curling Club on the afternoon of Feb. 15, there was also laughter, good-natured ribbing and plenty of compliments for those throwing good rocks.
This was the finale of the 2014 Olds Farmers and Farmerettes Bonspiel and for Larry Flessati, the event's drawmaster, who has participated in the event since its launch 34 years ago, the end of five days of curling brought a welcome rest.
"I'm getting older, my legs are getting tired," he said with a laugh.
Flessati's rink, which included Gary Richards, Al Kemmere and Tom Shultz, was one of three Olds teams to come out a champion at the bonspiel, winning the D event on the farmers side by a score of 8-6 over Daryl Bauer's rink.
The D event championship game, Flessati said, was a "well-played game on both sides."
"We each got some three-enders and it came down to the last rock in the eighth end to win."
The other winning Olds rink on the farmers side was made up of Dennis Roemmele, Gene Leonard, Brian Krall and Bevin Hamilton.
They beat Ralph Krause's rink 6-4 in the B event.
The A event winners were Travis Phillips' rink from Sundre, which included Don Brian, Svend Neilsen and Rodney Perigny, who defeated Dan McArther's team 8-2.
And the C event winners, hailing from Elnora, was a rink made up of Brian and Doug Mose, Neil Boles and Mike Doucette, who defeated Al Gorman's rink 5-4.
On the farmerettes side, Patti Gardner's rink from Olds, which included Shaina Snyder, Dawnaca Matin and Delin Millang, won the A event by a score of 7-5 over Darlene Bauer's rink.
Snyder, who has curled in the bonspiel for the past six years, said her team came up with some great shots when the pressure was on.
"The girls curled amazing. We all pulled through when we needed to," she said. "We played it pretty clean and we messed it up when we needed to. We took the opportunities when we had chances."
And winning the A event brought back memories of a victory at the 2012 bonspiel, Snyder added.
"This is up there. The three of us girls, my mom (Gardner) and Dawnaca and myself won it two years ago so we're glad to be back in the spot we are today."
As for what it's like to curl alongside family in a high-intensity climate, Snyder said having kin at your side on the ice makes the competition that much more fun.
"My mom and I curl great together. We've done it for quite a few years. She used to skip quite a bit and I used to play third with her so we're a great team. Sometimes we get on each other's bad sides every once in awhile but we try to keep it pretty positive out there so we can make the shots we need to make," she said.
Dorothy Dixon's rink from Innisfail, which included Barb Chatney, Jackie Hodges and Heather DeBoer, beat Cheryl Vandepypekamp's rink 8-3 in the B event and Norma Clark's rink from Carstairs, which included Betty O'Bray, Gail Davis and Koreen Morrison, beat Kim Lewis' rink 7-6 in the C event.
This was the 34th year for the farmers bonspiel and the 31st year since the farmerettes joined the event.
Flessati said 40 farmers teams and 20 farmerettes teams from throughout Central Alberta took part in the bonspiel and although participation in the competition is down slightly from the high numbers the event took in the 1980s and 1990s, he added turnout for the bonspiel was still excellent, especially considering the current challenges the farming industry faces.
"We're actually up four teams from the last couple (years) on the farmerettes and this is the fourth year in a row we've had 40 (rinks) on the farmers side."
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