The weekend celebrations will conclude Saturday night after a dinner and dance at the Fort Macleod and District Community Hall. (Photo: Fort Macleod Curling Club on Facebook, via Sherri Zoeteman)

By Joel Mendelson

Fort Macleod Curling Club gearing up for 125th anniversary celebration

Oct 20, 2023 | 5:32 PM

FORT MACLEOD, AB – The Fort Macleod Curling Club is celebrating its 125th anniversary, beginning on Friday, October 27, 2023.

The club was created in 1898 and has a storied history in the community. In 1905, the club sent a four-man team to the first-ever provincial tournament in Calgary and were victorious. John Wood and Robert Zoeteman were club members, they were on the 2008 Alberta Masters team, which won bronze at the Masters Canadian Championship. Siblings Jennifer and Jamie Coutts each went on to win provincial junior championships.

Sherri Zoeteman, President of the Fort Macleod Curling Club said, “We have third, fourth, fifth, sixth generation of curlers that have curled in the club over the years. I think that’s a testament to our club. The history is rich.”

Among many accomplishments, one of the most impressive comes from the club’s ice technician, Jamie Bourassa. He was born and raised in Fort Macleod, learned how to be an ice technician with the club, and is now recognized as one of the best in the country, having demonstrated his skills at the Brier, the annual Canadian men’s curling championship.

Bourassa is expected to attend the club’s anniversary celebration. He is donating items such as an autographed jacket and pins, which he has collected at major events throughout his career. These items will be sold through a silent auction.

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The celebrations will kick off at 3:00 p.m. on October 27, with a match between Westco Construction and the Town of Fort Macleod on an inflatable curling sheet, courtesy of Curling Canada.

Zoeteman said, “You can come down and you can practice your art on the blowup curling sheets. Or, you can come into the club, you can look at all the pictures and memorabilia that has been accumulated for this event. You can also try out your skills on the ice.”

She added, “There will be food, and of course an anniversary cake upstairs in the lounge.”

The first day of celebrations will wrap-up with another auction for the Curl with Rock Stars Event. This one will give the winning bidder the opportunity to play with some of Alberta’s top curlers, Shannon Kleibrink and Casey Scheidegger.

Kleibrink, from Okotoks, has represented Alberta five times at the Scotties and won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy. Scheidegger, from Lethbridge, has played at the Scotties three times, and won the 2017 Meridian Canadian Open in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Scheidegger is currently the head coach of the University of Lethbridge curling team.

Kleibrink and Scheidegger, along with their teams, will face the winning bidder in a six-end match in the afternoon of Saturday, October 28.

Proceeds of the auctions will be donated to the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, which raises funds to purchase life-saving equipment for premature and critically ill babies in Canada.

The weekend celebrations will conclude Saturday night after a dinner and dance at the Fort Macleod and District Community Hall. Alberta Curling Association president Jody Meli will be in attendance as a guest speaker representing the Sandra Schmirler Foundation.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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