Fort Macleod Curling Club to celebrate 125 years

By Lethbridge Herald on September 20, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Fort Macleod Curling Club  is celebrating a milestone occasion next month with their 125th anniversary and have plenty of festivities planned.

“We did a video testimonial because we just didn’t have the information, the archives that we wanted,” said Sherri Zoeteman, club president, on how the club’s gotten to 125 years.

“So we thought, well let’s do a video testimonial of (past) members… So we got people that were in the 60s, 70s and 80s that curled in the club. They were either past presidents, ice technicians or those that were in charge of the clubs and they did talk about how there was fourth (and) fifth generation of families that were still active in the club … They were a part of a curling family and so they continued. I think that was a big deal.”

Things kick off  Oct. 27 with an open house.

“Curling Alberta has come on board 100 per cent because this is a good thing,” said Zoeteman.

“You get a club celebrating 125 years and so they’re bringing down blow-up street curling. So I think it’s 8-feet long-by-two -(feet) wide. They’re bringing  two of those sheets, we’re going to blow them up, we’re going to have them outside of the arena just in the parking lot, and we’re going to have a little beer gardens and people can see what curling’s about. So that’s kind of cool because maybe they are hesitant, don’t want to get on the ice (and)don’t know. At least this way they can learn how to play the game.”

A corporate challenge will happen on the Friday at 3 p.m.

“We’ve got WestCo, that’s our title sponsor,” she said.

“They’re going to play against the mayor and the councillors from Fort Macleod.”

Attendees will have the chance on Saturday to  have the right to curl with a rock star if they’re the lucky winner.

“We’ll have a silent auction online and the top 3 bids for each curler will  get to curl with them on the Saturday, October the 28th at 3 p.m.,” she said.

One of those curlers will be now retired and  former Olympian Shannon Kleibrink, who along with third Amy Nixon, second Glenys Bakker  lead Christine Keshen and alternate Sandra Jenkins won the bronze medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

The second curler will be Lethbridge’s Casey Scheidegger.

Both curlers will be on two separate sheets and there will be junior curling against Scheidegger and adults will have chance to curl against Kleibrink’s team if they win the raffle as well.

The event will conclude with a supper and dance on the Saturday with guest speaker  Lethbridge’s Jody Meli from the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, who will speak about the foundation.

Sweet 33 will be providing the live music.

There will be a silent auction as well.

The event’s proceeds will go the Chinook Regional Hospital.

Tickets for the supper and dance, to bid online to curl with rock stars  and 50/50 tickets can be found at http://www.fortmacleodchamber.ca.

The early bird supper and dance tickets are on sale until Sept. 30 before the price increases on  Oct. 1.

“But I think we’re going to have a really good response,” she said.

“I mean the community of Fort Macleod, the businesses, have just embraced us and they’ve  just have been so wonderful.”

The 125th anniversary is  Oct. 27-28.

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