Belles & Brooms celebrates 40 years

    The annual ladies' bonspiel at the St. Thomas Curling Club enters its fifth decade

    Monday, November 26, 2018

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS - For 40 years the Belles and Brooms Bonspiel has been one of the premier events at the St. Thomas Curling Club.

Every year 24 teams from across the province compete in the two day ladies' event during the last week of November.

The 40th edition, named A Ruby Red Christmas, has brought teams from Forest, Sarnia, Kincardine and Port Perry, including Dale Curtis, the skip of the 2018 ladies' provincial masters champion rink.  

Skipping St. Thomas teams are Pat Quinn, Sandi Coombs, Beth Kewley and Anne Meeuse. Aylmer skips are Christa Brouwer and Ferne Taggart.

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"It's very exciting for us because we have built a reputation in south-western Ontario for holding an incredibly good bonspiel," said Ellen Luft, chair, for the 2018 Belles and Brooms committee. "It's a big event. Everyone knows we have good ice and we're very friendly here."

This year, the traditional Christmas dinner on Tuesday will feature the convenor of the first bonspiel back in 1978.

"We'll be celebrating history and talking about how bonspiel has evolved over the years and some of the traditions," added Luft.  "We'll celebrate what was and of course back then it was 10 ends and corn brooms."

Similar to a majority of sports, equipment in curling has changed over the decades and the games are eight ends, but interest in the Belles and Brooms has always been high since its debut.

"We have managed to fill this bonspiel every year. We have teams coming here for as long as they have been curling. We have also always had a waiting list of teams wanting to come to our bonspiel," said Luft. "We had a curler from Sarnia who was in her 85th year curling last year. She just passed away. She'll be missed."

Luft is honoured to be the chair of this year's event.

"It's incredible to be part of the history and relive some of the history," said Luft. "We have a good number of curlers who are actively involved in our bonspiel who have been doing this for many, many years. To be part of that and to share in their enthusiasm and their memories, we're continuing to create the legacy."

On day one all 24 teams play two games, not only scoring points for winning a game, but for each end won. Day two divides the teams into six flights, with the top teams, usually 2-0 and with the most points scored from winning ends, placed in the A flight. An awards presentation and Christmas dinner follow.