Curling first began in Grand Falls-Windsor during 1951. Sergeant Greene of the local detachment of the R.C.M.P. was instrumental in getting two lanes for curling painted on the ice surface at the Grand Falls Stadium, and four sets of used, unmatched stones were donated by the St. John's Curling Club.
This year I went with my class to visit the Exploits Regional Curling Club. Our class was given a tour of the club by Mr. Joe Tremblett, who is the president of the club. The Curling Club is located on Lincoln Road. The building was originally the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company Barn which housed up to 50 to 60 cows that were used to supply the dairy needs of our town. The building was donated to the curling club in 1953. After extensive renovations, the rink was officially opened by Lieutenant-Governor Leonard Outerbridge in the fall of 1954. The first trophies for annual competition were the Porrits and Spencer for the men, and Chalker for the ladies.
This year (2004-2005) the building has undergone further renovations. New siding was installed on the building, along with some new door installations and other renovations downstairs. The curling club has washrooms, a kitchen, dressing rooms, tables and chairs, and four sheets of ice so that four games can go on at the same time. It is kept cold inside the room with the sheets of ice so that the ice does not melt.
Curling is a very popular sport across Canada and throughout the world. There are over 1200 clubs in Canada. In curling, a team of four people compete against another team by sliding rocks down a sheet of ice. The rocks are very heavy weighing up to 20 kilograms (44 pounds) each. Teammates use special brooms to sweep the ice so that the rock can go farther or straighter. Before we entered the playing area we had to use a machine to scrub the bottoms of our shoes, so no dirt was brought onto the ice. Mr. Tremblett let each of us slide a rock down the ice. It was cool! Curling looks like it would be lots of fun. Thank you Mr. Tremblett.
Jennifer Matthews (2004-2005)