Kelly Tooley, President

Our 2013-2014 season at Unionville Curling Club is

officially underway. I would like to take this oppor-

tunity to welcome over 50 new members to our club.

Unionville Curling Club’s motto is “Where Friend-

ship is a Tradition.” I hope that throughout the

course of this year you truly get to experience this.

Returning members and new members are encour-

aged to get involved in the activities around the club;

not just within your section, but throughout the club.

This will contribute to your overall curling experi-

ence. Volunteer, participate, and continue the Tradi-

tion!

We kicked off our season with Open Houses, section

dinners and Annual Meetings, Doors Open Mark-

ham, and clinics. Almost 90 curlers took part in our

clinics, including 20 brand new curlers at our Begin-

ners’ Clinic. My sincere thanks are extended to San-

dra McLaughlin, Glenn Steffler, Stephen Orr, Matt

Lowe, and 25 other instructors who helped to organ-

ize and deliver these skill enhancing events. We al-

so hosted an Ontario Curling Association Club

Coach Youth course, where our youngest members

of the club benefitted from the instruction of aspiring

youth coaches.

This year, we gratefully acknowledge the support of

the Ontario Trillium Foundation, whose grant facili-

tated the purchase and installation of a new compres-

sor and dehumidifier. On Saturday, November 16th

at 7:00 pm we will officially receive the Ontario

Trillium Foundation plaque in a presentation with

our MPP and a representative from OTF. This will

be followed by our club’s major fundraiser, the Live

and Silent Auction.

By now, members with a regis-

tered email address should

have received a communication

regarding the possible future

development of Unionville

Main Street and how this in-

volves our club. If you did not

receive this communication,

please go to our website or

look for a copy posted on one

of the bulletin boards in the

lounge.

Over the summer, we had a TV

mounted over the bar. This

will be used as a digital display board where im-

portant announcements and celebrations will be

posted in order to continue to improve our overall

communication with club members.

Members are reminded that Fred has some equip-

ment (brooms, grippers, brush heads, etc.) available

for purchase in his office. This is an added service

that Fred operates as his time allows. If you wish to

purchase items, we recommend that you call ahead

to see when Fred will be in and available to help

you.

Finally, I would like to thank Fred, Jim, the Board of

Directors, and all of our section committees for their

work in preparation for the season. We have some

sections that have experienced a drop in member-

ship, while others have many additional members.

The Board of Directors would like to thank the sec-

tion heads and their committees for working with

one another and the Board to allocate ice and ensure

as many curlers as possible are curling.

Good curling! UCC

T H E T R A D I T I O N

PRESI DENT’S M ESSAGE

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W H E R E F R I E N D S H I P I S A T R A D I T I O N

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 1

DAY WOMEN 2

EVENING MEN 2

LITTLE ROCKS 2

BUSINESS WOMEN 3

BANTAM / JUNIOR 3

UNIONVILLE SWEEP 4

OPEN TEAM ENTRY 4

STICK CURLING 5

MIXED 5

DAY MEN 6

FROM THE EDITOR 6

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EVENI NG M EN (CONT . ) DAY WOMEN Cath Gostlin, Chairperson

Welcome to all Day Women from your Executive

and Subcommittee Chairs.

Already we have had a successful wine and cheese

to draw teams for the first schedule, as well as our

opening luncheon. Also we completed the first re-

fresher clinic for Day Women. We are very fortu-

nate to have almost a full complement of 96 curlers

for all three draws in our first schedule.

The Past Presidents Bonspiel will run four consecu-

tive Thursday mornings, with the Toronto and Dis-

trict Bonspiel in November and the Mollie Hood

Bonspiel in December.

Team Entry has expanded to 14 teams. A new sec-

tion B for curlers with less competitive experience

has been created. Teams will play only in their re-

spective sections and not move between the A and B

sections.

Many Thursday bonspiels are planned throughout

the year as well as Crazy Chicks on some Monday

afternoons. Lots of opportunities to play at different

levels.

Wishing everyone a great season of curling. UCC

Our organization has changed some this season, in

response to our diminished numbers. Draw curling

will operate on Monday and Wednesday nights this

year with six teams in each of two draws on Mon-

days. In team entry, A flight and B flight will be

played Tuesday nights with eight teams in each divi-

sion. Wednesday nights will be a new format with

five draw teams playing against each other and with

three teams comprising the team entry C flight.

Over the summer discussions were held with the

growing Open section resulting in an agreement that

saw one full draw on Wednesday nights being given

over to the Open section to accommodate their

growing numbers.

Due to challenges filling registrations, our Fall Clas-

sic spiel has been cancelled and we have entered into

an agreement with the Mixed section to contribute to

a shared fall bonspiel. Plans are in the works to of-

fer the popular 3-on-3 event and the “Battle of the

Dons” bonspiel later in the season. UCC

EVENI NG M EN Kevin Lowe, Chairperson

This season has been a challenging start for the

Men’s section. Significant losses in the number of

curlers have required some creative solutions to suc-

cessfully organize curling. Men’s night was very

well attended with members present passing a re-

vised set of rules for both the draw and team entry

sections. It was good to see so many members in

attendance enjoying the camaraderie and talking of

curling in the coming season.

L I T TLE ROCKS Stephen Orr, Chairperson

Last year was a banner year for the Little Rocks sec-

tion. We were at capacity for the first time in many

years. Despite losing the ice, the section still hosted

its annual End-of-Season party and most of the sec-

tion attended. As the curlers get older we are always

happy to see the kids moving up to Bantam. Last

year we graduated four kids to the next section.

With them, we also graduated three of our on-ice

coaches. To offset our valuable on-ice coaches mov-

ing up, UCC hosted an OCA Club Coach Youth

course on October 6th. It was attended by a number

of Unionville members and parents, as well as an

even larger number of new coaches from other clubs.

We trained two parents who will be added to our

roster of coach volunteers, with a couple of others

who may be available from time to time. We are

shelters in York Region. Sponsorships, prize dona-

tions and volunteers are appreciated. For more in-

formation please contact Kim Murray, Invitational

Bonspiel Chair.

Our next big event is our Christmas dinner on Mon-

day, December 9th.

Looking forward to another fun curling season both

on and off the ice. UCC

L I T TLE ROCKS (CONT . )

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BUSI NESS WOMEN (CONT . )

always looking for more coaches to help out with on

-ice drills. If you are interested, please contact lit-

tlerocks@unionvillecurlingclub.com.

The section continues to grow through word of

mouth, with kids introducing their friends, and often

their siblings to the sport. Little Rocks also contin-

ues to bring new adult members to UCC, with at

least two parents of our current or past Little Rock-

ers joining the adult leagues this year. We are happy

to see the kids infecting their parents with a love of

curling.

As always, the start of the season brings a bunch of

new curlers to the ice. We expect to focus our first

few weeks on getting them throwing rocks and hav-

ing fun. The section will also be hosting an out-of-

club Little Rocks bonspiel on Sunday, December 7th,

something that has not happened at UCC in many,

many years! UCC

BUSI NESS WOMEN Virginia Brooker, Chairperson

Welcome to all new and returning Business Women

curlers. Our annual Wine and Cheese social event

and semi-annual meeting was held on Monday, Sep-

tember 23rd. It was a great evening to reconnect with

our curling friends and meet the new curlers.

Our numbers are down this year. But with the addi-

tion of some new curlers and the rest of the member-

ship stepping up with some flexibility, our Ice Com-

mittee was able to make it work. We will play on

three sheets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and four

sheets on Wednesdays. Thank you to Tina

Svistunenko and Debbie Nesbitt for all of your time

and effort.

The Business Women's Second Chance Bonspiel

will be held on Saturday, January 25th, 2014 in sup-

port of Yellow Brick House, which has two women's

BANTAM / JUNI OR Brian Daffern, Chairperson

The Bantam / Junior section started a new season

with many new members ready to go! We started

our regular Sunday program on October 20th, with

small group instruction, a mini game and snacks for

all! Thank you to the many coaches and volunteers

that give of their time to make the program a suc-

cess.

A special thank you goes out to Glenn Steffler, Drew

Snelgrove, Philip Blachier, Brian Daffern, Stephen

Orr, and Bill Minor who contributed from the other

sections of the club by organizing and teaching at the

beginner and intermediate clinics.

The Bantam competitive curlers are well into their

season. They have participated in a summer fitness

program, went to the Trillium Curling Camp in Au-

gust, rented early season ice, and competed in re-

gional bonspiels. Congratulations go to Justin

Chung, Emerson Steffler, Brandon Welham, and Mi-

chael Daffern for winning the fourth event at both

the Galt Bantam Classic and the Oakville Optimus

Bantam Spiel.

Later in the year we will have many exciting in-club,

local, regional and OCA bonspiels to participate in

and to celebrate our success. UCC

UNI ONVI LLE SWEEP

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OPEN TEAM ENTRY Jane Morgan, Chairperson

The Unionville Sweep volunteers and athletes look

forward to another great season of curling.

Last year our new and returning members enjoyed

tremendous success during our weekly on-ice ses-

sions. Our team spirit was captured in a wonderful

photo display in a recent edition of Snap Markham.

Once again we extend our thanks to the Unionville

Curling Club for so generously supporting our Spe-

cial Olympics program. UCC

Kent Tomasik, Chairperson

This season sees a few major changes in the Open

Team section in numbers and in format.

Due to the increasing interest in Open Team and a

continuing decline in Evening Men's membership,

the Board has allocated a complete draw on Wednes-

days to our section with the concurrence of the

Men's chair. This allowed us to expand to 24 teams.

At our meeting last April, it was agreed that this

year's program would follow a ranked format rather

than round robin; while still having each team play

as many other teams as feasible. With this in mind,

we will play in three divisions (A, B and C); with

three teams moving up and down after the comple-

tion of each schedule. The schedule will rotate be-

tween the two draws on Thursday and the Wednes-

day draw. So every third game will be on a Wednes-

day for all teams. During the season, each division

will have one schedule with three Wednesdays and

two with two Wednesdays.

This is a transition year to test this format. No mat-

ter what format is followed, it will not be completely

satisfactory to all teams. We will adjust the best that

we can to accommodate as many members as possi-

ble.

To provide some year to year continuity, snacks will

still be provided after each game as well as organiz-

ing pot luck dinners for each division; one just be-

fore Christmas and one at the end of the season.

Thanks again to Simon Lau for his three years as

Chair. You will note that he remains as editor of

The Tradition, so he has not completely retired.

For this season, I am ably assisted by Dave Blancard

as vice-chair and Ray Leroux tending to our social

needs.

Here’s to another great season of curling. UCC

S T I CK CURLI NG

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M I XED (CONT . ) Marilyn Parsons, Chairperson

Stick Curling continues to grow with more partici-

pants and new bonspiels to curl with our stick teams!

The Dominion Provincial Stick Playdowns have

been modified this year. There will be no zone

playdowns, only regionals.

We are in Region 2, and the playdown is on Mon-

day, December 2nd through Wednesday, December

4th at the Granite Club. The closing date is two

weeks before. Send your entry and cheque to Bill

Rothwell at Bancroft Curling Club.

Bancroft will host the Provincial on March 16th

through 19th, 2014.

Our UCC team won the Provincial Championships

last year! Congratulations to Carl Glatt, Ross Baker,

Dave Bayliss and Ian Munro.

Have a good season and see you on the ice. UCC

Everyone should have received an email with their

first draw schedule. If you did not receive your

schedule please send an e-mail to choover@bell.net

and we will get one to you. Also, the schedule is

posted in the Mixed section of the UCC website

www.unionvillecurlingclub.com. You may notice

that all the first year curlers are in the same section

for the first draw. This new format allows us to

spend a few minutes before each game providing

additional instruction to assist the new curlers as

they learn the game. Thank you to the people who

have agreed to be a part of this section. We trust this

will improve the overall experience for new curlers.

For the second draw the new curlers will be in all

sections and everyone will play a 120 minute game.

All Mixed curlers, brand new or seasoned veterans,

are encouraged to sign up for our fun bonspiels and

socials through the season. Following are some im-

portant dates to remember in the next few months.

Potluck Bonspiel (Saturday, October 26th): This ear-

ly season one day “fun” spiel is open to all Mixed

curlers. Sign-up is underway.

Mixed Social (5:30 pm on Saturday, November 2nd):

This is a new informal social event. Come out and

get to know other Mixed curlers. This is also a night

you can invite any friends interested in curling to

join you. We will provide a brief introduction to

curling, play a short FUN game, “order in” dinner

and then spend the night playing cards and board

games. Of course the bar will be open! Look for

more information shortly.

Tankutta Spiel (Tuesday, November 26th through

Friday, November 29th): Back by popular demand.

After its successful inaugural season the Tankutta

will be back for a second year. You will love this

new and exciting spiel as you experience a unique

BIG team atmosphere. This is great event with a

Vegas twist.

M I XED Carolyn Hoover, Chairperson

The Mixed Committee would like to take this oppor-

tunity to welcome back all of our existing Mixed

members and a very special welcome to our new

Mixed curlers!

Friday. October 18th was the start of the Mixed sea-

son. We will schedule the season with three draws.

New teams will be made each draw to allow curlers

to play with a variety of curlers. For the first draw

we have four full sections of eight teams. As a re-

sult, we play Fridays at 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm; and

Saturdays at 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 1:00 pm and 3:00

pm. Note that for the second draw, we anticipate

requiring five sections and will return to the

5:30,7:30 and 9:30 time slots on Fridays.

M I XED (CONT . )

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DAY M EN

Christmas Break: The last scheduled games are up

to and including Saturday, December 21st. Then

Mixed curling resumes on Friday, January 3rd, 2014.

The following is a list of your Mixed Committee

members. We are always looking for good ideas and

your feedback. Please feel free to give us a call or e-

mail us at mixed@unionvillecurlingclub.com.

Mixed Committee Members:

Carolyn Hoover – Chair

Barry Hoover – Draw-Master

Karen & Dirk Mooney

Anne & Ray Leroux

Jane & Wayne Alexander

Carol & Doug Wolfe

Sue MacDonald & Scott McPherson

Laurie & Mike Myers

Ellen Racey UCC

George Otani, Chairperson

The Day Men’s season began with our initial meet-

ing and practice ice on Monday, October 7th.

Our regular schedule started on Wednesday, October

9th with the first Tag game of the year at 9:00 am.

Let’s hope we haven’t forgotten too much of the

game.

Mark your calendars for the following:

Tag curling: Wednesdays at 9:00 am - Rick Dennis

Tag curling: Wednesdays at 1:00 pm - George Otani

Tag curling: Fridays at 9:00 am - John Chipperfield

Draw: Fridays at 11:30 am - Randy State (sign up)

Eight Mondays at 1:30 pm - Gordon Barry

Monthly bonspiels: Wednesdays - Tom Keith (sign

up)

Welcome to our NEW members to the Day Men

curling section. Our goal will be to have fun in the

upcoming season. Please introduce yourself to any

of the coordinators for assistance if we’ve missed

announcing your arrival during the October 7th meet-

ing.

Curl well and enjoy. UCC

FROM THE EDI TOR Simon Lau, Editor

The search is on for our next Editor of The Tradi-

tion. I will be moving on after the completion of the

April 2014 issue. If you would like to be my succes-

sor, please contact me. Past experience is not re-

quired, but computer literacy is a must.

Thanks to our President and Section Chairpersons

for contributing articles to The Tradition. We will

endeavor to be more timely with our next issue,

which will be published in January 2014.

Until then, welcome (or welcome back) to Union-

ville Curling Club, where Friendship is a Tradition. UCC

THE TRADI TI ON The newsletter for Unionville Curling Club:

257 Carlton Road

Unionville, Ontario

L3R 2A3

Phone: 905-477-2711

E-mail: info@unionvillecurlingclub.com

Website: www.unionvillecurlingclub.com