Curling, California Style

By C.A. Casey: SPM CA Writer/Photographer
Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2007

VACAVILLE, CALIF. -- Labor Day weekend. The last chance for summer picnicking, boating, camping, curling . . . Curling?

Sixteen curling teams from all over the United States and Canada descended on Vacaville, California for Northern California's First Open Bonspiel, otherwise known as "The Crush" as an homage to the wine country motif of the hosting club, the Wine Country Curling Club. It might have been 100 degrees outside but it was nothing but a cool time inside the Vacaville Ice Sports rink.

Curling in California wine country? Back in 2006, before the Winter Olympics, Jerome Larson, known as the Johnny Appleseed of curling, walked into Vacaville Ice Sports and said, "We're going to start curling here and I'll come back after the Olympics." When Larson returned, he formed the Wine Country Curling Club. Less than a year later, the club of sixteen active members started tossing around the ambitious and admittedly crazy idea of hosting a Bonspiel--the Scottish word used for curling tournament.

Crazy idea or not for such a young club, Susan Eaton of McCall, Idaho said it was one of the best organized Bonspiels she's attended and she's been to quite a few of them.

"Wine and curling. What could be a better weekend?" Larson said, over the drone of 44-pound stones skittering across the pebbled ice, the hollow pop as the stones knocked against each other, the soft scrub of brooms and shoes on the ice, and teammates barking short commands to each other.

The Bonspiel tapped into the Scottish origins of the sport with a traditional opening ceremony that featured the Fairfield High School Pipe Band leading the competitors onto the ice. Doug McNab, the 87-year-old Father of California Curling, threw the first ceremonial stone and Todd Birr of Mankato, Minnesota, skip of the current National Champion and 2007 World Bronze Medalist Team swept the stone into the house.

All sixteen teams played Friday night in the Crush "A" Event, the Cabernet Sauvignon. On Saturday, the eight winning teams stayed in the "A" Event and the remaining eight teams competed for prizes in the Pinot Noir Crush "B" Event, the Chardonnay Crush "C" Event, and the Merlot Crush "D" Event.

Four games were played simultaneously in each draw on the five sheet rink, creating a chaotic scene for newcomers to curling. Fortunately, there were plenty of knowledgeable spectators who were more than happy to answer endless questions.

The spectators were treated to national level play with the Men's 2007 World Bronze Medalists, otherwise known as Team Birr, coached by five-time national champion Paul Pustovar of Hibbing, Minnesota. Also competing was the Lyle Sieg team of the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club who received the silver medal in the 2007 U.S. Mixed Nationals competition.

Mark Swandby, past president of the United States Curling Association (USCA), played for the Madison Curling Club of Madison, Wisconsin. His daughter had just moved to the Bay Area eight days earlier, "and, oh by the way, there's curling." He laughed as he opened the door to the rink to let people onto the ice. He said recent interest in curling started with the Olympics in Salt Lake City and grew with the extensive television air time from Torino. "Participation has been steadily increasing. Up twenty to twenty-five percent because of the Olympic coverage."

Susan Eaton's club out of McCall, Idaho had been invited but decided not to make the trip. So Susan and her husband, David, who works for the USCA, called and asked if there were any spots open on a team. Luckily, the team from the SoCal Curling Club out of Simi Valley, California had only two members, so Susan signed on as an alternate for that team. She participates in tournaments around the country because "they're good competition. They raise money for the club, so it's fun to come out and play."

Californians like to add their twist to things, so a curler in sandals and shorts shouldn't have been a surprise. More of a surprise was the oversize red circles in the bull-eyes painted under the ice--called the house in curlers parlance. Let's just say the painters got the specs wrong. The Wine Country Curlers took it in stride and even created a slogan for it--"Wine Country Curling, home of the 5 foot, 4 foot! We do things differently in California!"

Most curlers in California are transplants from Canada and places like Wisconsin and Minnesota. Half the Wine Country Curling Club is Canadian and the rest from the northern mid-western states. Margery Kanemoto of the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club was one of the few participants actually from California. She got into the sport the same way as many new curlers--after watching it on television during the 2006 Olympics. She attended a class for beginners and was hooked.

"It's both a physical and mental sport. Some people refer to it as chess on ice," Kanemoto said. When other people ask, "You curl?" she responds with, "And you don't?" She laughed and explained that there are two different kinds of curlers. Most of them are from Canada and the snowy northern Midwest where they grew up around curling as a normal thing to do. "If you're from California and you're doing it, you're kind of a non-conventional person. Two different personality types."

Another Californian, Patrick McDonald from Sacramento, rolled his wheelchair onto the ice and watched the U.S. National Team play. He's currently on the National Para-Table Tennis Team and he got interested in curling about a year ago. "When they added it to the Paralympics, it was, okay, I know what winter sport I want to do. If it's not fun, I don't do it, and this is way fun." Fortunately, curling equipment and rules have been adapted for people with various physical shortcomings. Several players used specially designed broom handles to take the pressure off the knees as they swept and crutches to help them balance while throwing the stone.

On Sunday morning, the remaining eight teams walked onto the court to the drone of bagpipes. Not surprising, the National Champions, Team Birr made it to the finals of the "A" Event and it seemed fitting their opponent was a team from the Wine Country Curling Club, skipped by David Markowski.

As the other teams finished their games, the bronze medalists and the local team were still on the ice battling for the top prize. Team Markowski played a close game, getting appreciative shouts and applause for a well-played sixth end, but Team Birr could not be beaten and took top prize of the Bonspiel. Team Seeger of the San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club took the "B" Event, Team Tasker of the Nashville Curling Club from Nashville, Tennessee won the "C" Event, and Team Garber of the Madison Curling Club captured the "D" Event.

Will there be a second annual "Crush"? "Yes," Larson responded without hesitation. Looks like curling over the Labor Day weekend may become a tradition in Northern California.