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Penetanguishene Curling Club News On the Broom by David Gravelle Uncle Dave wants you! Happy New Year everyone! It's hard to believe we're already into 1989... but at the pace I've been going at lately, the time has just flown by. Before you know it, I'll be dropping my boat in the water to join many of you on Georgian Bay. Enough of that talk... we've still got some serious curling ahead of us. With curling, politics are involv- ed. It's nothing like the Dubin in- quiry into Ben Johnson's alleged steroid use; the curling fraternity is free of that problem. What I'm talk- ing about is politics at the club level. Your Board of Directors, elected (in fact nominated) to office last spring are slowly running out of gas. You want to know why? It's because they are doing much of the labour to make this year a fun one for you, the member. In fact, what is etched in the Penetanguishene Curling Club's constitution, is that the Board sets policies, while committees and paid Staff follow them through. ____A few years ago when the Penetanguishene Curling Club was operated solely by volunteers, it ' seemed the gang was knitted closely together. That was great because everybody shared in the work. And, it was also fine because the membership stayed about the same, just over one hundred, sometime creeping over a hundred and fifty. But, in the past few years our sport has caught on in Huronia and our numbers have jumped dramatically. That's fantastic! Money is now available to pay for a full time Manager-Ice Technician, bar staff, and a part-time custo- dian. But, the bottom line remains that the membership of the Penetanguishene Curling Club, in- Shorty Jenkins visits club A surprise visitor to the club dur- ing the Christmas holidays was premier ice maker Shorty Jenkins. Adorned with his cowboy hat, Shor- ty tested our ice and gave our Ice Technician a few tips. When Shorty and Bill Howard get together...look out! They start cooking up new ways of making ice faster, trickier, and in great shape for keen com- petitors like the Howard rink. Shorty is a big fan of the team. As a matter of fact, he called the Alliston Curling Club at least four times during the final game of the recent zone 10 playdowns. Besides checking the ice via the phone, he also was interested in the outcome. Directors honored As part of the December Board of Directors Meeting, President Tim Lindsay made special presenta- tions to the club executive. Monogramed leather bound notebooks were presented to each director with a few words of thanks for their hard work over the past few months. Manager Bill Howard was presented with an exquisite pen set in appreciation for his dedication to the sport, and his tireless effort at the club. cluding juniors and seniors is up near the 400 mark. However, you still have only a small group doing all the work. It's not hard work: organizing a few bonspiels, helping out on a social night, phoning skips when there's a change in the schedule, and being on hand as host or hostess when we hold events where visitors from out of town come and visit our community and our club. | feel in many of these areas that we've let you down. At Board meetings, and when Directors see each other on the street, all they talk about is what more can they do for you, the member. We want to do more, we would love to do more; however, what we need is a hand. Shortly, Don Farquhar, Chairman of the Membership Committee, will be calling you and putting up sign Made it to Provincials Diane Ruston's rink of Lorraine Moreau, Annette Merkley and Marita King sure made us proud. They not only won the Zone 10 Southern Ontario Ladies' Curiing Association competition here at the Penetanguishene Curling Club, but advanced all the way to the SOLCA finals in Windsor. While they were not vic- torious they helped put. Penetanguishene on the curling map, at least on the ladies' side. Whenever people talk about our club, all the hullaballoo centres on the Russ Howard rink. Well, by reaching the provincials and making it into the top ten of the On- tario Curling Report's ratings, Diane and the girls have raised the awareness of ladies' curling here in this area. Well done gals! up sheets on the bulletin boards asking for your help. We need bodies to take some of the pressure off us. If this sounds like a plea for help... it is!! Positions on the Board of Directors will become vacant at the end of the season, and spots on committees from Promotions to Membership to Juniors and Bonspiels will have to be filled. Your Annual Meeting, Dinner and Dance, will be held on Friday, March 31 at the club. Tickets will be going on sale at the end of next month. We hope all of you will at- tend. And, we hope you allow your name to stand for nomination to the Board or Committees. Because, if we have a lot of peo- ple, each doing a little bit of work, we'll have one helluva club, where we can both play and work together, for the betterment of curling. Howard wins zone .. by David Gravelle For the first time in four years the Penetanguishene Curling Club team of Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Tim Belcourt, and Kent Carstairs, have won the zone 10 Labatt Tankard Playdown. It's the first step to compete in the Blue Light Tankard in Trenton, February 7-12, 1989. On the weekend of January 6-8 the former World Champions won four straight games, to capture the zone playdowns and advance to the regional competition at the St. Catherines Curling Club. In the A side final Howard ran into veteran curler Steve Brown. from Gravenhurst who gave the Penetanguishene crew a run for their money. However, some brilliant shot making in the eighth end by vice Glenn Howard allowed the STONELEIGH MOTORS team to take four and take control of the match. The final score was 8-7. Skip Russ Howard was very hap- py with his team's play. "'In the first three games, we played really well. There were no weaknesses at all. In the final we played about ten per cent worse, but it was very tricky ice." In 1985, the Howard foursome, curling out of the Midland Curling Club won the zone, but lost in the B final of the regionals. In 1986 and 1987, curling out of our club the guys lost in the zone, but used the last gasp method, through the Challenge Round, to advance to the Provincials. As you all know, Russ lost to Ed Lukowich in the final of the 1986 Kitchener Brier, but decided being a bridesmaid wasn't good enough and the team became world champs in 1987. Last year, with a bye-to the pro- vincials, they lost on last rock to Paul Savage of Toronto. This year they seem to be on their way! BROOKS IN SEMIS Meanwhile, the team of Brian Brooks, Brian Henderson, Tim Lindsay, and Ken Rundle, also representing the Penetanguishene Curling Club made us proud. They were defeated in the B side semi- MIDLAND | Hee Buick | Cadillac Hwy. 93 526-3724 Midland Good Luck to the Russ Howard Rink! Go with the Winner Wednesday, January 18, 1989, Page P15