Winnipeg, Manitoba,2003
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THE FRIARS' BRIAR _) -Q---r-r".> Twenty Fifth Anniversary 2003 Chapter25 Chapter25 The Winnipeg 2003Briar: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Twenty five vears:a briefanniversarvhistoN How pleasedwould havebeen ow principal founder,Don Amos, now deceased,to have receiveda copy ofthe invitation sentout by FraserMuldrew this springto attendthe Friars' Briar in Winnipeg,marking its twenty-fifth Anniversary! The Friars' Briar beganwhen Don readin the newspape$about fiiction betweenEast andWest in Canadaas illusbated by thePfime Minister's famous quote, "Let the Albertansfreeze in theiroil!". Don'ssimple solution for theclergy was to haveEast and West cometogether for a bonspielmuch like they were doing in the Eastat five different majorcenten. When there was no intereston the part ofthe Westemen in taveling Eastfor one of thoseevents, Don madearangements through the late Grant Smith and a few othersin theWinnipeg churches' curling club to meetin Winnipegin thesummer of 1977. Out of this meetingarrangements werc madeto hold a "Conspiel" there at the sametime as the SilverBroom World Men's and Women's Championship games were being piayed at the WinnipegArena. April 5-13,1978. Attimes otherthan when the SilverBrcom games wercon, the clergywould meet to havetheir own bonspieland to possiblydo some studyat Udted College.There would be a banquetand awarding ofprizes, also an East/ west gamebefore heading for home. Thewinner would receive a trophygiven by the United Chuch Observer. At theclosing banquet ofthis first East/ Westcurling event in Winnipeg,a list of suggestionsthat might be consideredguiding principles for future oneswas pres€nted by an ad hop committeeconsisting of Gerry Ward, Clif McMwtry, Andy Danholmand FraserMuldrew. Thesemet with generalacceptance, and a committeefrom Calgary Clergy Curling Club was askedto makearrangements for anoth€rbriar on March 1980at the time ofth€ MacdonaldBrier Curling Championshipsthere. Chaptertwo ofthe Friars' Bdar Book writt€n by CliffMcMurtry, describesthe giant stepsthat resultedftom the creativity and energyofthe CalgaryClergy Curling Club: . Thename "Friars' Briar" wasbom out of an off-handreference by oneof Don's fellow presswriters; . the witty logo, sketchedby CatherineRobbins of Knox United Churchin Calgary, was adoptedand madeinto a metal plrli . an eleganttrophy, completewith sturdy carrying case,was presentedby the CalgaryCurling Club; . a simpleletter head,created by Jim Taylorwas adopted by the fledgling association: 161 . ContinuingEducation was removed from theagenda and fellowship became lmportant. Twenty four rinks participatedand severalspouses were prcsent. Hugh Chr:istmaswas centralin manyofth€ plansmade and executed at this historicalevent! Contraryto an initial decisionthat this East/ Westmeeting ofclergy cudersconvene every secondyear, the momentulnofeach new Briar suggestedthat we cometogether everyyear. And soit hasgone, with theexception of 1988,when our attemptto stagea Briarat the siteofthe Labatt'sBrier in Chicoutimi,Quebec had to be cancelleddue to lack of registations, cost and transportationdiffi culties. Eachyear's Briar brought unique changes and enjoyment. The following are some of them: . In the London I 98 I Briar, we were directedto the Ivarhoe Facility that housed borhcurling ice andmotel rooms. In1982" BrandonBriax, we werebilleted in homes,watched the Brier in the KeystoneCenter, and curled our Briar gamesin theBrandon Curling Club. In the I 983 ReginaBriar, we watchedthe Brier gamesin the Agridome and curled our Briar gamesin nearbyrinks on the exhibition grounds. Our 1984Victoria Briar hadgames played in threelocal rinks and the viewing of what becameknown as "the bestbloomin' Bfiei' in the large Memorial Rink, Therewere times to sightsee.A gameofgolfon the Saturdayprovided a drastic changefor ftost bitten prairie folk and tbe weight ofvret snow in the East. A retum trip to Wimipeg was associatedwith the women's Toumamentof Hearts wherewe had a solid block oftickets. We engagedin a cheeringcompetition betweencomp€ting rinks. It all madefor good"R&R ' priof to Easteractivities backhome. lt washere that the first copiesofa Friars'Briar Association Constitutionbecame available to themembership (p32-35, Friars'Briar Book) - a labour oflove by Hugh Chriistmasl And so the adventurecontinued to Kitchenef-Waterlooin 1986,to Edmontonin 1987,to Saskatoonin 1989,back to winnipeg in 1990(with trips to PortageLa Prairie to see gamesin the World Junior Championships);to Hamilton in 1991,to Reginaagain in 1992;to Ottawain 1993,to RedDeer in 1994;to Winnipegfor thethhd timein 1995 (with TV viewingofth€ HalifaxBrier Games),to sunnyTsawwassen in 1996(with TV viewing ofnearby Brier gamesin Kar oops); Calgaryrevisited in 1997,first in Toronto in 1998,Edmonton again in 1999,to Saskatoonagain in 2000,to KitchenerWaterloo againin 2001,to Calgaryfor the third tim€ in 2002,and back to Winnipeg for the fourth timein 2003. winnigee - Twentv-Fiveyears later It wastimely that the world Curling Championshipsshould be in winnipeg in the year 2003 for it wasin theyear ofthe SilverBroom Championship Curliog in Winnipegin 1978that the Canadian Clergy Curling Association was begun. Now, twentyfive years 168 later in the samecity, the CanadianCurling Fria$ werc celebratingtheir 25'" Anniversary of competitivecurling. Recallat thattime lusty aod sustained calls of encoungement being heard in the Winnipeg Stadiumfrom the clergy reservedsection, such as On-tar-i- o, Man-i-to-ba,Sask-atch-e-wan, Al-ber-ta, and BC-BC-BC! Tbe draw and the samesbeein Twelvesheets ofice hadbeen reserved at theAssitriboine Memorial Cwling Rink in winnipeg for the 25!i Anniversaryof canadianFriar Curling beginning April 7,2003. Twenty four rinks of curlem confimed their registxationsard picked up information sheetsconceming the draws and accoinmodationsthat aftemoon:two from Ontario; eight fiom Manitoba; four from Saskatchewan,three from Alberta and five from BC. Fraser Muldrew welcomedthe cwlers and arrangedfor a piper to leadthem out alongboth sides of four sheetsof ice wbenpoet laureate, Herbert Eriksson held the broom and historian, CliffMcMurtry threw the first rock which was assistedin its courseby friars Cameron Reidand Jan Huntjens. The 25'" Friars' Briar was now officiallybegun! A buffet supperwas servedat 5 PM and curling in th€ first draw took place at 6 PM and 8 PM respectively.For purposes of awardingthe Heav€nlyHosts Shield, Saskatchewan Albertaand British Columbia competed in thesegames against MaDitoba and Ontario rinks. Followingthe discussion at lastyear's annual meeting, a new categorycalled "Seniors" was incorporatedin the draw to makeit more equitablefor rinks witt- combinedages totaling 250 years or more. Theseplayed in a separatedraw except for thosewhose scores in the first five round robin gamesqualified them to qualify for the championshipor consolatjonflights. TheChampionship Flight was more up ofthe top six rinks by points (8 points for a win ard % point for eachgame point scoredto a maximumof 1l), plusthe top two rinksby pointsfrom the Seniordivision. TheConsolation Flight included the next six teamsby pointsliom the seconddivision plus the n€xt two top rinks Aom the Seniordivision. The SeniorsFlight was madeup of thercmaining teams. PlayoffsforallflightstookplaceonFridayat8:30AMand1l:15 AM, The banquetand awards One ofthe social highlights of eachyear's Briar eventis usually the Thursdaynight banquetand program. This year was no exceptionto the tradition set in the twenty four yearspast. The banquetwas held in the social hall of SturgeonCreek United Church. Curlersand invited guestswerc met at the door by the ReverendCliff and Eleanor McMillan ofthe Winnip€g Clergy Curling Club. Pleasantmusic greet€dtheir arival by the "RockersUnited" ofwestworth United Church,with Ray Mcclelland playing lead guitar; Martin Robson,lead singerand guitar; Pat Claeyson the keyboard;Tim Stephensonon th€ drums. A deliciousmeal was servedby catererDarryl Brock with the assistanceoffriends ofthe localfriars. June Cowan made the pies and Friar Walter 169 Cowancooked the buns. The meal and accompanfng programwas graciouslymade possibleby the financialassistance ofAlderwoods Funeral Home and Cemeteries. Representativeswere present to receiveour thanks! Following this meal, FlaserMuldrew took the oppofunity to inhoduceand thank several who had helpedwith the arrangementsto makethis year's Fdaxsevent a memombleone! The"Heavenly Host Shield" presented for competitionbetween East and West in the Friars'Briar ChampionshipClergy Curling Fmtemity, won thisyear by theWest, was presentedto Friar Alan Grundahlfor safekeeping until next yeax'sbriar. The "Amazing crace" or "WesleyLeatherhead Trophy''donated by RalphMilton of WoodLake Books, and fashionedby her grandson,was prcsented for this year's safekeepingto Peggy Lau'rence(sister of Ralph Milton) andher husband,Jim, as a tribut€ to the huge€ffort theyput forwardas registrars and local anangem€nt duties in the stagingofour 25'h AnniversaryFriars' Briar happening this year. Tributewas paid to all the membersofthe local arangementscommittees and to Bob Burton for his 'lunk art" portraying a sheetof curlingice andcurling figurcs formed from bjcycleparts. Copiesof DougMaxwell sbook.CanadaC@ Canadawerc presented by the2003 Winnipeg Briars' local Committee for pastsen, ces renderedto CliffMcMurtry, FraserMuldrew, Ken Ennis,Kutch Imayoshi and Bob Burton. Furthernumbers were renderedby the RockersUnited music group much to the delightof theaudjenc€. Th€ annualmeetinq The annualmeeting