Rocks will soon be in the house once again at the Huntsville Curling Club.
The club originally planned to open for the season on October 19, but when they fired up their ice plant on October 8 they discovered that the chiller had broken down, leaving the more than 175 curlers that call the club home without ice to play on.
“The brine eats away at the metal (in the chiller),” explained club president, John Furner. “It’s costly to fix.” The problem is further complicated by a discovery that the brine is contaminated.
Work to replace the chiller and decontaminate the brine will begin November 30. The club expects to be up and running again on January 4 in time for their second draw to start – curlers who signed up for the first draw lost their spots – but not soon enough for the club to host the Ontario Curling Association Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s event on December 12 and 13.
“We are thankful that other clubs in the area stepped up to help us. The OCA event will be held at the Gravenhurst Curling Club, and Baysville offered times on Tuesday and Thursday nights for our members.”
While they wait for the ice, the club has been holding regular social events so that members can still get together and on December 11 they’ll be hosting a turkey dinner. But they can’t wait to get back to the sheet. “We sure miss it,” said Furner.
Image: freeimages.com/Carol Giffen
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