Leaside Curling Club hosts 53rd annual bonspiel bash

[attach]5214[/attach]Leaside Curling Club was the epicentre of bonspiel action Nov. 15–17 with a total 48 teams in two divisions descending on the community for the Toronto and District Ladies Bonspiel’s 53rd annual curling tournament.

Committee chair Bernice Collins, who also curled at the tourney, was the skip who brought the Toronto Curling Association to Millwood Road.

“It started through some ladies in the Unionville Curling Club and we do it every year and rotate it around the clubs,” she said. “Next year it will go to the west end, Dixie, and a year after to another club.”

Ladies from across the GTA, including Mississauga, Brampton and Richmond Hill took part.

Winning the open division’s trophy was Annandale’s skip Sandra Thain with her crew of Bonnie Klepadlo, Joan O’Leary and Dianne Rose. They beat Leaside captain Jan Carwardine and her ice denizens Liz Mihaly, Jeff Bamford and Vera Richardson in the finals.

Carwardine’s troupe were not the only Leasiders to make the finals in the prospective events, as five teams made it to nine event finals.

Club representative Marg Hembruff was enthused by the success of local skips.

“It was fabulous,” she said, adding volunteers were not in short supply to help things run like rocks on the ice.

“It was really easy,” she said. “The one thing about Leaside Curling Club is that everybody volunteers.

“We actually had too many volunteers but it was okay because they all sat and watched the games,” she added. “I had divided the volunteers into two groups: a morning and an afternoon group, so they didn’t lose their whole day at the curling club.”

Unfortunately for Bernice, her team, comprising Pat Lee, Melanie White and Sandra Trafford would have their senior title shot cut short by eventual winner Mary Gellard of Unionville.

Weston’s Isabel Scott and her crew of Sandy Gray, Diane Irving and Chris Phillips ousted Collins in the second event finals.

Aside from the losses, Collins jokingly said there was another point of concern for her during the three-day bonspiel.

“I was really appreciative that they hadn’t started working on the (Leaside Gardens) ice pad, so that parking would be fine,” she said, with a laugh. “I had my fingers crossed. Now they can start digging.”