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24 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, May 11,1994 Section Two Though the Bowmanville Curling known pigeon fancier, Frank Bottrell. and Skating Club was in operation Bowlers in those earl in . srnce 1883, and possibly pnor old cludcd Major Bffl Kin feU wi ,_ documents «cm to indicate that die ,, Tea {, y L Cecil Osborne, r«:s:;s j L^ he ti $1.40 for registering the deed, -* t ZS ivi idling uiv uccu, piuu- . UrMI , . .. . - DON'T GET TOO CLOSE - You might get zapped! Ontario Hydro employee Alex Papp shows stu- ably the deed to the property where t dents and parents some of the things that can happen to people in Hazard Hamlet. From flying kites -- v„:n gr y close to hydro wires to digging for toast in a warm and stillplugged-in toaster, the on-lookers watched a lot of zapping going on. The display was at Waveriey Public School during the school Open House. the rink and club house were built. The club was situated on the south side of the King St. east of Van- stone's Mill Race and below the bridge. Before the rink was built, curling was done in the open air on various ponds - Burks, Simpsons, Bowmans tod Vanstones. It appears that the club house was situated at 152 King St. W., and located located in one of a number of 1 1/2 storey storey houses built along that stretch (lot 13, cone. 1) and was part of the business business area. However, between 1838 and 1850 businesses began moving eastward (from King and Scugog) up the hill, and by the time the curling club purchased the property it was no longer part of the main business section. section. On January 12, 1883, the Toronto Mail reported the championship Bon- spiel held at Bowmanville. This Bon- spiel was for all 'rinks' in District 8 - Port Hope won. The report describes the elaborate decorations as well as the rafters of the building. It says..."The splendid covered rink probably has not a superior in the province." Some of the costs of operating the rink are interesting. Between January 9 and 1890, Joshua Grant was paid $12 for the keeping of the rink. Signing Signing for receipts of his cash, Mr. Grant made his mark and had it witnessed. Repairs to the stove in February of that same year were carried out by W.H. Williams and cost the club $1. And on August 26, George Edger received received 500 for unspecified work at the rink. As for the skating, apparently..."old apparently..."old Timothy Soper would strap on his skates and show the boys some fine figure work on the ice while Mrs. Soper ran the" mill." So says an article reminiscing, about the old days, in the Orono News, December 25,1930. The article also talks about the young men who worked at the blacksmith shops, and how they would fashion their own skates - works of art, apparently, with curving blades at the front finished off with brass tips - each young man would have his own unique skates. And what figures they could skate - it was not just a sport for girls back then! Many other sports abounded in Darlington, but with Bowmanville being the largest centre, most had their headquarters there, with members members coming from all the surrounding communities to take part. In that December issue of the Orono Orono News, the writer was also remembering remembering the sport of Pigeon shooting, and one match that was held on the 'flats' below the Goodyear factory. "...all the experts from Courtice, Newcastle, Oshawa and Bowmanville Bowmanville made a big afternoon of it..." Apparently, in his eagerness to 'bag a bird', someone fired a shotgun right into the crowd... "So many were filled with bird shot that the services services of a medical man was necessary necessary to extract the pellets." Unfortunately, Unfortunately, no date was recorded for this happening, though it can be narrowed down to the years when Frank Henderson Henderson was the hotel keeper. It seems that Mr. Henderson let go a verbal volley at the perpetrator and put him in his place right smartly, with the villain promising to 'think safety first' for ever after! In about 1918 or so, bowling was a main sporting event and drew crowds to the two alleys in the basement basement of the Balmoral Hotel (the alleys alleys were still there in 1930). The official official scorer in those days was well great championship since. team m many the years We'll pay your airfare to Hawaii or Cancan. Simply purchase or lease any new or used vehicle during this special sales event and we will pay for the airfare portion of a fabulous vacation package for two people. "WE BUY THE TICKETS, YOU BUY THE ACCOMMODATIONS." We have not raised our prices. It's simply our way of saying thanks. All discounts, factory rebates and incentives still apply. All participants of this reward fly via American Airlines. 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