The elusive perfect score in curling, an eight-ender, was the highlight of the Huntsville Curling Club’s (HCC) annual Hometown IDA Drug Store Mixed Bonspiel played this past weekend.
“To get an eight-ender is extremely rare,” said an excited Dennis Rolland, the Director of Bonspiels for HCC. “To get an eight-ender in competition is even more rare!”
“An eight-ender,” explained Club Draw Master Mark Maslen, “means all eight of the one team’s rocks are in scoring position and not one of the oppositions rocks is beating them out.”
It is Team Ted, with Ted Bionda as Skip, Barb Burton as Vice, John McDonald as Second and Susan Bionda as Lead, who will go down in the Club record books for the achievement. They will also be recognized nationally by Curling Canada and provincially by Curling Ontario.
The eight-ender happened in the game with Team Ted against Team Scott. Team Skip, Scott Goodhew, took some credit for the feat. “It’s not every day you give up an eight-ender,” Scott said to a lot of applause. “You know I always wondered how it could happen. Now I know. It takes a pretty special team to contribute to an eight-ender and we did a heck of a job.”
Scott went on to humorously describe the disastrous end for his team.
Some of you play golf and you know that sometimes you get up to the tee or you get up over the ball and you go, ah man, all the things I could do right but I could also put it in the water … and then you do. Well, after about four or five stones on each side I went jeez this is setting up for an eight-ender. Then they had one outside the house and I said to Sue (Bionda), well the good news is that you can only score seven. Then we tried again with a shot and what did I do? I promote the stone. We did a great job.
(From left) Ted Bionda, Susan Bionda, John McDonald and Barb Burton show off their eight-ender (Photo courtesy of Huntsville Curling Club)
There were eight teams vying for the coveted trophy. Team George, made up of George Shapcott as Skip, Mary Ellen Hope as Vice, Larry Hope as Second and Sanday Brown as Lead, were this year’s winners.
From left, Larry Hope, Sanday Brown, Mary Ellen Hope and Skip George Shapcott take first place in this year’s mixed bonspiel.
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- Team Craig – placing eighth – and Lyric Lotton, Craig Abernathy, Angela Jeans and Lou D’Alessandro.
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- Team Scott – placing seventh – Scott Goodhew, Rob Julian, Denise Julian and Beth Goodhew.
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- Team Richard – placing sixth – Bob Pegg, Richard Smythe, Barb Saunders and Mel Pegg
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- Team Ted – placing fifth – Susan Bionda, John McDonald, Barb Burton and Ted Bionda.
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- Team Dale – placing fourth – Mick Parker, Jeanine Calvin, Sandra Heiydt and Dale Heiydt
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- Team Don – placing third – Don Lupton, Bill Davidson, Joan Dunn and Marg Dollar.
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- Team Paul – placing second – Paul Steuck, Carol Steuck, Marilyn Kreutzer and Ron Kreutzer
The Huntsville Curling Club also recognized Hometown IDA Drug Store for an incredible 30 consecutive years of sponsorship of the Club’s bonspiels. “This is the longest running bonspiel that the curling club has,” said Club President Ted Bionda. “It’s been 30 years that we have had sponsorship from Huntsville IDA Hometown Drug Store (formerly Huntsville Discount Drugs).”
Lyric Lotton, representing Huntsville Hometown IDA Drug Store, accepts a plaque from Club Vice President Beth Goodhew and President Ted Bionda, in recognition of the 30 continuous years the business has sponsored bonspiels at the Curling Club.
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