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Randy in the Rings: Share your Falconbridge memories

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Dating back to my start in providing local sports coverage in early 2004, I have always considered it an important part of my responsibility to both help celebrate and preserve the history-rich tradition of sport in Sudbury.

I tend to derive as much enjoyment in perusing the Sudbury Star microfilm editions dating back some 50 or 60 years as I would in covering a current championship final. It’s a similar story when I have the chance to sit down and reminisce with those who lived through those bygone eras.

In the world of curling, preserving the memories of folks like the late Bill Groom and still-active Chucker Ross are critical to those still involved with the sport, those who can appreciate the context of curling in this city.

Failing to archive that nostalgia inevitably dooms us to seeing the very vestiges of this Canadian tradition buried and forgotten in local landfill sites. Sharing the memories, the recollections of the pillars of any local sport is a role that I tackle with pride.

Even as an admitted casual, recreational curler, I look back with fondness on a Star bonspiel held in Onaping Falls many, many moons ago, in which Norm Mayer and I teamed with a pair of non-curlers to kick the snot out of a Harold Carmichael-skipped side. Harold’s rendition of this epic battle might differ somewhat, and truth be told, I suspect his version is much more accurate.

Hence the need to salvage these valuable curling snippets while they remain fresh on the mind of those involved. This is part of the reason why I am continuing to reach out to folks who were at the heart of the action with the Falconbridge Curling Club, at a time when the joint was rocking with activity.

Sadly, this will no longer be the case, the club closing, likely for good, earlier this fall. While I cannot recall ever competing on the four-sheet ice surface over the years, I certainly remember catching play at regional playdowns and such back in the early 2000s.

Carmichael himself was a former club president, noting that while a series of challenges created an ever-more difficult environment to sustainability, perhaps the single biggest blow came with the closing of the Falconbridge Arena, directly adjacent to the curling club.

The proximity had allowed many a parent who had enjoyed the game of curling in some way, shape or form to create a vivid visual image in the minds of their children, making a quick stop next door after completing their weekly trip to the hockey rink.

Now a regular at the Canadian Senior Men’s Championships, Dion Dumontelle recalled the time spent in Falconbridge during much of his developmental years, a gathering place of family and friends. With that in mind, I welcome the opportunity to sit down with at least a couple of folks who can relate back to the 1970s, 1980s, or earlier, with stories to share of the Falconbridge Curling Club. Email me at info@sudburysports.com.

Coniston crew to Travelers

The 2017 Travelers Curling Club Championships kick off Monday in Kingston, with the Northern Ontario women represented once again by members of the Coniston Curling Club. The team of Melanie Patry (skip), Christine Dubuc (third), Nicole Dubuc-Charbonneau (second) and Bryna Patman (lead) are competing in the seven-team Pool B bracket.

They will face Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, British Columbia and Nunavut, as Dubuc and her rink make their third appearance at the national event.

Lilly and Co. to trials

There were very mixed results for the local participants at the 2017 Home Hardware Road to the Roar Pre-Trials in Summerside earlier this month. While the team of Tracy Fleury, Crystal Webster, Jenna Walsh and Amanda Gates missed the playoff round, finishing with a mark of 2-4, the Krista McCarville rink from Thunder Bay moved on.

With Sudbury native Kendra Lilly at vice, Team McCarville were one of four teams to finish with a record of 4-2 atop Pool B, sharing the perch with Briane Meilleur, Kerri Einarson and Sherry Middaugh. With tiebreakers in their favour, the Northern Ontario foursome that also includes Ashley Sippala and Sarah Potts, doubled Kelsey Rocque of Alberta (Jennifer Gates curls as lead for this crew) 8-4 in the A semifinal.

Pitted against the Meilleur rink in the A final, McCarville and company counted two in the second, fifth and eighth ends, just enough to pick up a 7-5 victory and one of two berths on the line at the upcoming Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials in Ottawa.

Meanwhile, it looks like Team Fleury have bounced back nicely following the disappointment of P.E.I., posting an impressive 4-0 record in pool play at the 2017 Boost National in Sault Ste. Marie this week. That stretch includes a 5-4 win over World Champion Rachel Homan, as well as an 8-5 triumph over the Einarson rink, one of the hottest on the female tour this fall.

The event also marks the return to action for Jennifer (Horgan) Wylie, as she and her husband (Steve) welcomed the birth of the first child just a few months ago. Is it a pretty safe bet that the first words that we hear from Kolton Wylie are “hurry hard”??

Curling Week

Nov. 18 to 26 marks Curling Week in Northern Ontario, a celebration of the sport in these parts, sponsored by Bearskin Airlines. Included among the festivities that features Closest to the Pin trials at clubs across the North are bountiful impressive prizes, most notably a weekend ticket package to Roar of the Rings as well as a pair of tickets for anywhere that Bearskin Airlines flies.

Randy in the Rings runs weekly during the curling season. 

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