Lethbridge Curling Club’s 50 Plus League curl for charity

By Lethbridge Herald on February 7, 2023.

Herald photo by JUSTIN SEWARD Team Kohuch’s Rae Temple and Debbie Cairns look to sweep a point into the house during the Green Acres Foundation Open Bonspiel on Tuesday at the Lethbridge Curling Club.

BY JUSTIN SEWARD

Lethbridge Herald

Sixteen teams from the Lethbridge Curling Club’s 50 Plus Curling League kicked off the four-day annual Green Acres Foundation Open Bonspiel on Tuesday.

The bonspiel includes bottle draws, 50/50, a Horserace game and a draw to the button among other events on top of the curling this week.

“The Green Acres Bonspiel is one of the four bonspiels that our 50 plus Curling does each year,” said Wayne Skrypnyk, LCC 50 Plus Curling League president.

“ …We end up that any money and stuff that comes in(and) sponsorship money, it goes to the Green Acres Foundation as a donation to them as a charity. It’s a charity event and yet our members can still come out and have a good time, and have fun, and come up and have some camaraderie upstairs, and have a drink and talk about the game. But it’s basically a charity event.”

Team Kohuch is made up of skip Bill Kohuch, Gerrit Leusink, Debbie Cairns and Rae Temple won their opening draw against Skrypnyk’s team.

“Everything went really well for us,” said Kohuch.

“Yeah, it’s unfortunate for the opponent but we did play well.”

Kohuch’s strategy is to  find out what the other team does on the ice because they might not have curled against one another in the past.

“So make sure you find out what kind of shots they can make, and what they’re tendencies are in throwing stones, and get the best shots out of the teammates as possible,” said Kohuch.

Kohuch said it’s just a new experience with new people .

“It’s great just to get to know other curlers and play with them,” he said.

Green Acres Foundation is in the senior housing sector and this bonspiel was fitting for them to come on board with as the title sponsor.

“Green Acres is a firm believer that we need to give back to the community,” said Dawna Coslovi, Green Acres Foundation CEO.

“ And so this is one way we can give back to the community and give back to seniors … They might not be with us, but it is something that we feel strongly, (is) that seniors need to keep active as much as they can. So curling is a good way of remaining active.”

The 50 plus Curling League runs Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays each week.

“Every year we’re looking for new people to come out and curl,” said Skrypnyk.

“Usually it’s the retirees or people who are getting close to retirement  (who) come out because we’re an afternoon league. If anybody’s out there that wants to come out and join our 50 Plus Curling, we would encourage them to do so.”

The bonspiel concludes Friday with championships, a banquet and cheque presentation to Green Acres Foundation.