Then last weekend, a team of about 35 volunteers, out of the more than 250 supporting the event, spent two days helping the OCA transform the Canada Summit Centre into a world-class curling facility.<\/p>\n
OCA ice technicians began preparing the ice surface in the wee hours of Sunday morning, flooding the area, painting it to cover up the markings of the hockey rink, misting and then flooding it again, adding the markings for the curling sheets, and then misting and flooding one more time. The final step is to add a layer of pebbling \u2014 beads of ice that allow the rocks to slide smoothly and curl. (If you’re interested in the full process, watch the Curling Canada video at the end of this post.)<\/p>\n
HCC volunteers arrived Sunday morning to begin preparing the rest of the arena and other areas being used for the event, like the vendor displays in the Don Lough viewing area and Muskoka Moosies, a food and beverage area in the Active Living Centre that will support The Table Soup Kitchen and the Rotary Club of Huntsville.<\/p>\n
They helped to install special new carpeting that the OCA is using for this event. “They\u2019ve been trying to perfect the carpet so the fibres won’t break off,” said Bionda. Even the tiniest bit of debris can affect how a rock behaves on the ice.<\/p>\n
“We have a lot of work to do in two days,” said Bionda, who is overseeing the ice and facility volunteers, the week before his team moved in.<\/p>\n
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Less than 24 hours after beginning preparations, the Ontario Curling Association and local volunteers were well on their way to transforming the Don Lough Arena into a world-class curling facility<\/p><\/div>\n
Bionda encourages everyone to get out to see at least one game \u2014 called a draw in the curling world. (See the full schedule here<\/a><\/span>.)<\/p>\n “I hope the town realizes how high a quality this curling is. People who watch curling on TV would get a real thrill out of watching curling of this calibre live,” he said, noting that the club has kept ticket prices at a reasonable cost. “They’ll see the likes of Glenn Howard and John Epping.” As an interesting aside, Bionda added that Glenn Howard’s brother Russ was an icemaker at the HCC for two years many years ago.<\/p>\n There are 12 teams competing for the Team Ontario title this week. As part of their welcome package to the event, the HCC has included a $100 donation to one of 12 local charities in the teams’ name to give back to the local community, said Bionda.<\/p>\n And he hopes that having such high-quality curling in the community will spur even more interest in the Huntsville Curling Club. “It\u2019s a fun game, something you can do for years. And it\u2019s very social. I foresee that the youth in (our club) are going to bring their friends and I see good growth in the future.”<\/p>\n For more information on the Huntsville Curling Club and learning to curl, visit huntsvillecurlingclub.ca<\/a><\/span>. For more information on the 2018 Recharge with Milk Ontario Tankard, visit 2018tankard.ca<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Read Doppler’s previous story about the Tankard here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free newsletter here<\/u>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n