Listowel Curling Club Newsletter 2017-2018

Manager’s Remarks

We would like to welcome everyone back for another great year of curling. We plan on starting the curling season on Monday, October 23rd, 2017.

Our biggest concern over the next two to three years will be the task of replacing a new roof for the club. Our roof needs replacing and two quotes that have come back are in the $100,000 area. This summer we put a Variable Frequency Drive on the brine pump for a cost of $6,000. This will reduce our energy costs and the pay back should be two years.

The Board has implemented a $50 Capital Charge on top of the membership fees. This will be an on going charge that will be kept in a separate Capitol bank account and allow us to build for a new roof and new capitol projects. In the past we have been fortunate to receive Trillium Grants but these are becoming very hard to get. Last year our fundraising for the new rocks and RO system was outstanding and we raised $27,000 in a week.

We have started a fundraising Capitol project named “Replace the Roof on our House” which will oversee the Capitol project. This project will be funded in two major ways; through fundraising efforts and through a capital charge that will be added to the membership on a go-forward basis.

Shawn Cottrill has agreed to chair this fundraising campaign, but we will be looking for a few volunteers outside of the Board of Directors to form a fundraising committee. Please contact Shawn at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 519-531-1080 if you would be willing to assist with this committee, or if you have any fundraising ideas!

Some fundraisers have already been planned, such as a sign painting night on September 28th. We will also be setting up a project under the Curl Ontario charitable giving program so people can receive a charitable donation receipt for any funds donated to the club.

Steve Rathwell returns as President with Brent Jemmett on as VP. Bruce Hahn returns as our Head Ice Technician with Blake Clemes back as an ice tech working with Bruce as well as retaining his current role as Tuesday Night convener. Bruce will have a reduced schedule this year and cleaning will be handled by a different method or person. Mallory Martin will not be looking after the bar tending duties this year and Erica Newbigging will take some of these responsibilities on.

We welcome Katie Cottrill and Karen Clarke to our Board and look forward to the new Board and all the challenges that come with running a non profit curling club. Katie has taken on the job of Club Secretary and Karen will be a Director at large. Our biggest concern still remains attracting new members and keeping current members. The club needs to be an active club with members helping out and filling the draws. The club continuous to show a small profit each year but we are not making enough for large projects like the roof, compressor and chiller which all need replacing as the years go on.

We are again offering the option to prepay the 50/50 draw for the year, instead of having to fill out the sheet each week. Help support the club on this fund raiser and don’t miss a week by taking advantage of the prepay program. The first draw will be Nov 1st and last March 28th. There will 22 draws and prepaying would be 44 dollars.

We will be asking all curlers that curl in a competition to register on line. Go to the OCA website and follow the guidelines to register. Website: http://www.ontcurl.com/ and go to “enter a competition”.

We continue to update our website and encourage you to use it for registration, news, scores and game times. The address is www.listowelcurlingclub.com and we would like your feedback on it. We are looking forward to an exciting year and we encourage all members to bring friends out and try our sport.

Curling Fees

Registration forms are to be returned by October 9th 2017 along with full payment. You can pay by cash, cheque, Visa, M/C, Amex or Debit. You can register on line at our website @ www.listowelcurlingclub.com

Fees for the upcoming season have seen a slight increase as some expenses like hydro continue to put pressure on our bottom line.

Volunteers

Volunteering at the club is a great way to socialize, meet new people, have fun and support the Club. Thanks to everyone who made the 2016-2017 curling season a success. Volunteer duties will be posted on the Communication Board in the basement. Please sign up by December 1st 2017 for a duty or you have the option of paying $100 to be exempt from a duty.
“Try Curling Now”

For the 2017-2018 curling season Curl Ontario has implemented a new program called “try curling now”. It is a “learn to curl” program for people new to the sport, and has been extremely successful in their test markets. The Listowel Curling club will be participating in the program and will be running free learn to curl clinics on October 15th from 2pm-4pm and October 18th from 7pm-9pm. We will need some volunteers to assist with this program, so if you are interested please contact Shawn or Katie Cottrill at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 519-531-1080.

Spiels and Competitions

The Third Annual Ladies Cash spiel is scheduled for November 17th to 19th 2017.We look forward to a great event this year as it has been building each year from it’s start. Peter Gusso of Part 2 Bistro will again be preparing dinner the Saturday evening and tickets will be available to club members for purchase in early November. Please plan to attend and watch many of the top women’s teams in Ontario compete.

Also, this year we are adding a Mixed Doubles Cash Spiel to our schedule from February 16th to 18th 2018. We have kept the entry fee for this event at a reasonable level with hopes that we will have some additional club members come out and try mixed doubles. More information can be found on the club’s website, or by contacting Shawn and Katie Cottrill.

This season we will be hosting three competitions. On October 20th to 22nd 2017 we will host the Travelers Qualifier. Our Competitive Tuesday night winner, Chris Weishar’ s team and Laurie Nuhn’s team will be representing our club with a chance to go to the Provincials. Volunteers will be needed to help with food and bar duties.

December 4th and 6th 2017 we will be hosting the Grandmasters zones. This is a competition for players that are 70 years young and up.

We are honored to once again host the Provincial Doubles Mixed on February 23rd to 25th 2018. The winning team goes to the Canadian Championship. We will be looking for lots of fan support and volunteers to make this a great event!