News Articles

The Gamble Cup November 20th

The first big event of the season took place on November 20th, when MCC hosted the Gamble Cup, a competitive mixed bonspiel that rotates annually between the clubs from Morrisburg, Winchester, Russell and Metcalfe.

The inaugural Gamble Cup challenge took place on November 28th, 1981. On that date, Mabel and Harold Gamble said "It is a great pleasure for us at this time to present this cup for Mixed District Competition. It is also our wish that there will be many years of keen curling and good fellowship among our curlers." I think they would be pleased to know those traditions have now carried on for 40 years!

 Eight teams began the day-long bonspiel (two from each club), with four making their way to the A side and B side finals held after dinner. As it turned out, by late afternoon we were guaranteed that Morrisburg would win the A side, since the two Morrisburg rinks were to meet in the finals! In the end, the rink of Ian Wilson, Sandra Bonyun, Mike Bonyun and Catherine Coleman defeated their "friendly" opponents to earn the Gamble Cup. On the B side, a Winchester team took home the Gamble Shield, defeating a Russell rink in the evening game.

Hosting an event like the Gamble takes many volunteers, and the MCC Board and players from the day would like to express their appreciation to everyone who played a part in making the bonspiel such a success. While Mahlon Locke looked after volunteers for the bar and ice prep, Wendy Casselman coordinated contributions from several women from our club and ensured there was no shortage of tasty food for the day, and that beautiful dining arrangements were in place.

The Quebec Challenge November 27th (Metcalfe CC)

The Quebec Challenge Cup is the oldest competitive trophy in North America, having been continually contested since 1874. The series is open to any club involved with the OVCA or Curling Quebec and due to the vast number of clubs waiting to challenge for the Cup, it is typically a 5-7 year cycle to get another chance to challenge for this large, prestigious trophy. Morrisburg's turn came up this season, having been invited by the defending Metcalfe Club to join them for the 10-end challenge and a "few" libations on November 27th. Our two teams put forward a commendable effort (both on the ice and at the bar), but were unable to dethrone the Metcalfe rinks. Maybe next time...in another 5-7 years.

2-Person Fundraiser Bonspiel

December 4th The club's first fundraising 2-person bonspiel of season took place at the beginning of the month, with a few familiar faces making it into the winners' circle, but some new ones, too! This bonspiel followed a round robin type format, with the total points after three games determining the winners. Although we were only able to field 16 of the available 24 spots, we still managed to have a great time and lots of laughs, both on an off the ice. The top three teams who took home the prize money were:

1st place: Arndt Vogel and Mike Bonyun

2nd place: Scott Corden and Darryl McDonell

3rd place: Kathy Norg and Steph Venema

Many thanks to everyone who came out to play and support the club, to those that looked after the ice between their games and to Mahlon for covering the bar.

Christmas Bonspiel - December 11th

After a hiatus last season due to greater COVID restrictions, the annual Christmas Bonspiel returned to MCC on December 11th and it did not disappoint! Curlers had the option of playing two 6-end games or one 8-end game, with plenty of laughs and fun activities to keep them busy when they weren't on the ice. The festivities included having to locate three hidden ornaments in order to win a drink at the bar, a 50/50 "skills" competition, and a chance to have their name engraved (well, penciled) on the coveted “Riddle Me This” trophy by answering some riddles.

The players of the six-end games included the XMas Gang, Mahlon’s Angels, the K(ris)MAS Kurlers, and the Merry Wilsons . The overall points victors were the XMas Gang, a team comprising Andy Patenaude, Terry Davis, Les Craig and Sue Parkes.

In the second draw of one eight-end game, the competing teams were Joy Noel, the Candy Canes, Christmas Cheer, and Steph’s Stars. The overall winner was determined after the eight ends using “The Craig System”, whereby each team member threw one rock to the house and a score is given depending where the team's rocks came to rest. The winning team with a score of 8 was Joy Noel, consisting of Rick MacKenzie, Al Harriman and Bill Simmonds. John Allison missed out on the glory of first place, having been voted off the Joy Noel island when Steph's Stars were short players and needed some quick recruiting.

The day was capped off with a wonderful turkey dinner and by all accounts was a huge success. On behalf of all who attended, a heartfelt thanks goes out to Jack Barkley, Games Master Extraordinaire, and all of the volunteers who helped him bring this event together: Anjo, Mike, John, Darryl and others we've missed for the ice prep; Mahlon, Paula and Sam for tending bar; and Liz, Claire, Wendy, Sue and Sandra for their help with the meal.