Once upon a time, in a quaint coastal village far across windswept waters, there was held a bonspiel and women gathered from across the land, armed with slippy shoes, brisk brooms and indomitable courage.
They faced one another on sheets of pebbled ice, stones were thrown, ice was swept, buttons were drawn to, and they played happily ever after.
This was how the third annual Roaming Ladies Bonspiel began in Gibsons on Friday, March 4. Gibsons Curling Club welcomed 24 teams to the Once Upon a Time themed Roaming Bonspiel. Seven teams were local, while the others hailed from the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island and Edmonton.
The format of this spiel was designed with the emphasis on fun so that new curlers as well as seasoned ones could participate. Teams played other teams with the same win/loss record and although there was no single champion, Team Rampton from Marpole Curling Club and Team Gagnon from Royal City Curling Club completed the bonspiel undefeated.
On Friday evening, the curlers were invited to participate in the Swish Scavenger Hunt, which was won by the Twanow team from Port Alberni. The hunt was designed by Ed Hill and introduced the curlers to some of the highlights of our community.
The sweeping skills of the Sweeping Beauties – male curlers – were auctioned off on Friday evening and the winning teams were able to use their sweeper in a game of their choice on Saturday.
Saturday evening, the teams presented in whimsical costumes for the banquet followed by music from local band Playback.
Sunday, the curling continued with the last games finishing up at 3:30 p.m. and curlers left for home after an amazing and fanciful weekend of fun.
See photos from the event in our online photo galleries.
