On Saturday April 16th, the Huntingdon Curling Club will celebrate its 125th anniversary with a banquet. Members, current and past, are invited to attend an evening of dinner and dancing at Saint Joseph’s Parish Hall in Huntingdon to commemorate one hundred and twenty-five years of this Haut-Saint-Laurent institution.
For over a century, the club has been run and enjoyed by its members, as well as hosted curling enthusiasts from throughout the area. Current members and pick up players in the Wednesday evening league hail from Godmanchester, Hinchinbrooke, Dundee, Elgin, Saint-Anicet and New York State. The spirit of welcoming players, hosting bonspiels, and venturing to play at other clubs has been a longtime tradition. A yellow-edged photo of a group of 1930’s women boarding the train for a game in Howick or Riverfield with their 40-pound irons (players switched to granite in the 1960’s) portrays the longstanding custom that has fostered many regional friendships. Throughout the years, it’s also rumoured to have spurred on a well-spirited rivalry or two.
The Huntingdon Curling Club was founded in 1891 and located on Chateauguay Street where curlers once gathered to play on the river. It now stands on King Street where it was built in the fall of 1928. Curlers have assembled in the Upper Saint Lawrence to play since an era when players drove their horses to town and left them at the livery stable. While the times have changed—women once held separate meetings on the lower level of the clubhouse and were only invited upstairs in 1971—the Huntingdon members’ passion for the game has not. Members have always run the club and maintained it through membership fees and fundraisers. It has only ever kept two paid employees: the janitor and ice person.
Eileen Feeny, known to many as the resident historian and the only woman who curls in the Monday afternoon men’s seniors’ league, recalls a time when the compressor broke and they managed to keep it running with member contributions. Club suppers and card parties are also fond memories of hers. Club secretary, Dianne McLean explains how for her curling at the club has been a family affair—her kids grew up playing at the club while she maintained the ice, and then became curlers themselves. Longtime member Royce Ruddock describes the club as more than just a place to curl. “In the 70’s and 80’s everyone came to town on Saturday night because the stores were open until 10pm. The club had a piano and Mons Duke had the whole place jumping.”
The Huntingdon Curling Club is proud to celebrate this impressive milestone and hopes future generations will share their enthusiasm for the game. Hockey and bowling have provided competition for the sport over the years, however a growing television audience for professional curling is garnering sponsorship and interest. With any luck, this resurgence will allow the Huntingdon Curling Club and other clubs in the region to continue to provide the community with a sport that multiple generations can enjoy together.
For information about the banquet and all of the club’s curling activities contact Dianne McLean at (450)-264-6306 or by e-mail to [email protected].
