Four generations of one family recently took to the ice for a curling match at the Olds Curling Club.
Hunter Reese, aged 10, curled as the lead while his great-grandfather Gordon Forbes, 82, threw second stones. Hunter's grandfather Harry, 69, threw third stones while Hunter's father Greg, 36, threw skip stones. Hunter has been curling for two years while Gordon has curled off and on since coming to Canada from Ireland when he was 17. Harry has been curling for 44 years and Greg has been curling for 24 years.
Three generations of the family regularly curl together with Hunter, Greg, Harry and Greg's brother or uncle joining the rink as the fourth member but neither of the usual fourth players could make it on Dec. 20, so Gordon was called upon to make up the special team.
“The three generations curl together every Thursday,” Greg said, adding everyone at the club has been supportive of allowing Hunter to play.
Harry said he takes pride in curling regularly with Hunter.
“I never thought that would happen in my day that I would curl with my grandson. And this is why when they asked me to curl, I said, ‘Yes.' I haven't been curling steady over the last (while) but for this, it's really special and I'm going to curl. So that's why I'm back curling steady,” he said.
And Gordon said he enjoyed the game too.
“I could curl with these three guys on a regular basis,” he said, adding he likes getting out on a regular basis to skip in a seniors' league.
Hunter, who is relatively new to curling, said he enjoys it immensely.
“It's a really fun game and I like it a lot because it's kind of basic. All you do is throw rocks down a 100-foot sheet of ice. But it's really fun and it takes a lot of mental ability and that's why I like it a lot,” he said, adding he enjoys curling with the older group.
The Reese/Forbes foursome beat the Askel Peterson rink 8-4.
