Ennismore Curling Club
Our History
More than 50 years of curlers, volunteers, and bonspiels — and the ice they built to make it all possible.
Ennismore Curling Club got its start in 1974, when a group of local curlers began renting time on hockey-arena ice just to play the game they loved. It didn't take long before they wanted ice of their own.
By 1976, longtime curler Keith Clements was pushing the club to build a facility instead of continuing to borrow arena time. The idea caught on fast. A building committee formed under Stan Hart, a finance committee under Hazel Hart, and the whole club pitched in — bake sales, a membership drive, and every member chipping in however they could. A June 1977 newspaper report on the effort ran under the headline “Hard working curlers in search of their own ice” — and that's exactly what they were.
On May 12, 1977, the club elected its first official Board of Directors: Robert Brady, Eleanor Young, Charlie Northup, Carolyn Lee, Judy Crough, John Thomas, George Tiplady, Keith Clements, and Ralph Wood. By the end of that year, Ennismore curlers were playing on ice of their very own for the first time.
Since then, our home has grown right along with our membership. Insulation and updated lighting arrived in 2010, a new ice plant followed in 2011, and a $750,000 renovation in 2013 modernized the kitchen, refreshed the exterior, and added an elevator for accessibility. In 2014, Ennismore was proud to host the Travelers Senior Men's and Women's Provincial Championships.
Today the club offers more than ten leagues and nine bonspiels each season — a long way from a few curlers borrowing hockey-arena ice, and all of it still built on the same volunteer spirit that got us started.
A few glimpses of club life over the years — on the ice, in the kitchen, and at the banquet table.
A lot of our early history lives only in members' photo albums and memories. If you have old photos, newspaper clippings, or stories about the club's history, we'd love to add them here.
