LAC LA BICHE - Over the past weekend, the Lac La Biche Curling club hosted a ladies fun-spiel with a St. Patrick’s Day-theme called ‘Feeling Lucky.’ The two-day event started the day after St. Patrick's Day and drew a dozen teams to the Bold Center rink. Each team was curling for a chance at the pot-of-gold ... in this case, cash prizes worth nearly $2,000.
The end-of-season event is the first one in 11 years dedicated for just women, said Stephanie Monteith, an organizer and one of the curling club's committee members.
“I wanted to expand the club's awareness, bring back a ladies' bonspiel, and get people together again now that the restrictions are lifted,” she said.
The event checked all the boxes, and more, as the two-day spiel saw several teams play with women trying the sport for the first time.
The social portion of the weekend is just as important as the curling, said Monteith, thanking the curlers and the community for a well-supported revival of the event.
“We had some seasoned and some brand new curlers making the event fun and filled with encouragement and laughter. The event wrapped up with a banquet that had live music and raffle draws donated by over 40 businesses and organizations in the community,” she said. “It was great having so much support from people across the county.”
Splitting the prize money in the A, B and C events:
A Event
First- Team Ulliac
Second - Team Monteith
B Event
First - Team Tynan
Second - Team Cadieux
C Event
First- Team Chwedoruk
Second - Team Plamondon
Sweeping out the season
While the October to March season is coming to end, the curling club will have a few more events at the Bold Center for all community members to enjoy throughout the next couple of weeks, says Monteith.
“The club is wrapping up the season with a Friday Fun Night on March 25, and a free family learn-to-curl event on March 26,” she says.
A mixed bonspiel slated for April 1-3 will close out the season.
Ultimately, the curling club hopes to host more ladies' events each year to encourage more women to play and promote the club, she said.
“We look forward to hosting an annual bonspiel each year around the same time,” Monteith said.
