Salmon Arm teams were a blaze at the March 15 to 17 Firefighter’s Bonspiel at the curling club, with local teams winning most divisions despite having some out-of-town competition.
The 62nd annual bonspiel, which has only missed one year due to COVID-19 in 2021, had a total of 28 teams attend, with most from Salmon Arm departments but also a retired RCMP team and a couple of retired BC Ambulance groups. This year’s out-of-towners came from Armstrong, Silver Creek and around the Shuswap.
“We were hoping for more out-of-town teams, but it’s hit and miss every year depending on their schedules, of course. Hopefully more next year,” bonspiel committee chair Darren Koprowsky said. “We have opened it up to teams that have at least one member as a first responder, active or retired. It helps bring in more teams.”
This year’s winning teams were skipped by:
A-event: Wayne Mertens (Salmon Arm Hall 2, retired)
B-event: Darin Gerow (Salmon Arm Hall 3, active and retired players)
C-event: Brenden Chapple (Armstrong/Spallumcheen Fire Department)
D-event: Tom Giszas (Salmon Arm Hall 4)
Most Sportsmanlike: Grant Garner (Salmon Arm Hall 2)
In addition to the on-ice action, curlers refuelled with roast beef dinner on Saturday, with 102 pounds of beef on the charcoal barbecue needed to feed the crews. They had some great door prizes up for grabs, as well as prizes for the top four teams in each category “thanks to our amazing local sponsors,” for a total of 64. They also raffled off a custom-wrapped fridge that everyone wanted to win.
“Other than that, we just had a great time curling and socializing with fellow teams and telling some good stories of course. It’s a great way to relax and unwind,” Koprowsky added. “This event has seasoned curlers and people that have never even touched a rock. It’s a lot of fun, and we try to teach the new teams a little of the game as we go so that maybe they will start curling, or at the very least enter next year’s bonspiel.”
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