Welcome back everyone for another great year of curling! Chair’s Report - September 2018 Welcome Back!!! It was great to see everyone at our Member's Social Night last Thursday, it is great to get caught up with curling friends, and kick off an exciting new season. If you are a new curler or just new to our club, Welcome! We hope that you will enjoy the fun and friendly atmosphere here at the Granite! Besides league play, there are several social-curling events to take part in. There are curling clinics; mini-spiels hosted by the Women's section that includes instruction; and the very popular Hospitality Bonspiel in November hosted by the Friday Mixed Recreational section. If you are a novice curler that would like to improve your curling abilities, please consider joining a team in one of the competitive sections. Playing against experienced curlers is a great way to become more involved in the strategy and enhance your level of skill. If this would appeal to you, give your name to our Club Manager, Freda Braker, and if a team is looking for a player, she can put both parties in touch with each other. The afternoon and evening Open House dates of October 9, 10, & 11 will have practice ice available. We will once again have the addition of a Public Open House on Saturday, October 13. This date will be for potential new members only so bring your non-curling friends out to get on the ice and throwing some rocks! Pre-registration is recommended for this Public Open House. Kevin HopeChairperso to see you all at the Granite! Kevin Mitchell Mark your Calendars! • 9-11th October 2018, 1-4pm & 6-9pm - Open Ice! • 13th October 2018, 10am – 4pm – Open House! Come and throw a few rocks. There will be instructors on hand. Bar will be open! •Bring Week your of 15familyth October and friends! 2018 The last day of our open houses that are open to the public. There will be instructors on hand. Bar will be open! • 15-19 November, 2018 – Mixed Districts Curling leagues start! • 24 November, 2018 – Hospitality Bonspiel See Additional News for details – spots are still available! •This 2 December is a full day 2018bonspiel – Winterlude! with home hosted lunch. Also included is dinner followed by music and dancing. More details TBA. An open co-ed event for club members and their friends and families – details TBA. Club Manager’s Report Welcome back everyone! Summer is over and we’re gearing up for another great curling season. The Pro Shop will be stocked. I’m happy to report that Jackie Speight and Heather Murphy are returning as bar staff and new this year are Stacie Perreault, Ashley Lawniczak and Rose Hopkins. We also welcome back Colleen Joseph (Housekeeping staff) and of course Stacie Perreault who helps with the ice. Reminders: 1) The lockers are assigned so do not use one that you are not assigned! Contact me before occupying one 2) Please remember to pay your bar tab before leaving for the night. Thanks, Freda Braker Section News Monday Co-ed Welcome back curlers to Monday Coed curling. Looking forward to a great season of fun (not so competitive) curling. Our format will remain the same as last year, at least for the first few weeks. We will make up teams with those who show up that day. If #'s warrant it we can make up fixed teams with spares etc. at a future date. A special rate has been set by the Club for day time female players & as last year - one-night members can play with the Monday day section as a part of their package. Looking forward to see you on Oct 15 at 12:45. Women’s Section The Tuesday Night Women's Section is looking forward to the start of a new season. We welcome back all our returning members and look forward to meeting many new ones. October 16 Important dates: is our first night of curling with instructional workshops given by some of our club's best Novemberplayers, followed 10 by snacks and socializing. Open to all club ladies. (Contact Jenn Lawson for more information: [email protected])Hamilton Area Special Olympics - Women’sThe Mad Invitational Hatter Tea Bonspiel-a Party. friendly competitive bonspiel including out-of-town Decemberclubs. All of 2 the proceeds are going to DecemberThis year's theme18- is Proceeds will be going to the Special Olympics. Week of January-Winterlude- 14th an open co-ed event for club members and their friends and families January 27- Section’s Christmas dinner Plus other Fun nights to-Hamilton be announced Districts later. Winter Scramble-a mini co-ed bonspiel to introduce new curlers to the game. It looks like we are going to "hurry hard" and have another great year of curling and fun! Theresa Cardey - President Women’s Section Wednesday Afternoon Co-ed League Welcome back everyone! Pleased to report that we have eight teams returning. It is time to hurry hard! The league is comprised of team entries but teams are always looking for spares. Please let me know if you are interested in getting on the Spare List and be ensure to state which curling positions you like to play along with your contact information - telephone and email. We will be using the same round robin format as last season followed by play-offs. The schedule has already been emailed to the players. A Spare List will be emailed to you following Open House. Our first game will be on Wednesday, October 17th at 12:45 p.m. See you there! Lorna & Larry ([email protected]) Golden Boot th Welcome back to a new curling season! The Boot League will start Oct 17 . Draws are scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 and 8:45 PM. We will be returning to the point system, and bringing back the grand aggregate winner. The entry fee will remain at $300. The first-round schedule and league rules will be emailed out before the first game. If you know anyone that is looking for a team, please send us an email ( [email protected]). Good Curling! Jason and Ryan. Junior Curling Junior curling sessions will begin on Thursday, October 18, if we have sufficient numbers. Sessions run from 4 to 6 pm. Each session will focus on the basic elements of the delivery and brushing. Each week begins in our upstairs lounge with a discussion and review followed by a warm-up. After our on-ice activities, we assemble upstairs for hot chocolate and strategy sessions. We are looking for new members and welcome any young person (10 yr. to high school) to come out and try a sport that can stay with them for a lifetime. In addition, we could use more on-ice instructors to assist our young people. More information can be obtained by contacting our manager, Freda Braker, at our club office or myself ([email protected]). Thursday Night MCYO Thursday night Mixed “choose your own” (CYO) is looking for a few good men and good ladies! We have spots for both full teams, as well as for individuals to help complete teams. Mixed CYO provides a great opportunity to curl in a fun but seeded league, where win/loss tallies towards prizes for each division. Don’t be shy... contact Kevin Mitchell or Jan Chappel via [email protected] Adult Learn to Curl Please join me in welcoming our newest club members in the Adult Learn to Curl program. We have a full program once again this year and we will once again be running the program for the first ten weeks of the season on Friday evenings. So, if you happen to see any of our newest members in passing on Friday evening please offer them a hardy Granite welcome. Glenn Herrell - Convener Friday Night Mixed Section Welcome back and a hardy welcome to new Friday night curlers. For the first 10 weeks of the season we will o celebrate again be sharing ice time with the Adult Learn to Curl program. Let's show them how much fun curling is no matter what your level of ability. We welcome Robbie Brydon as our mighty late draw master and Pat Gowan has again stepped up for the 5:15 draw. This year the Hospitality Spiel is scheduled for November 24. This is a full day bonspiel with home hosted lunch. Also included is dinner followed by music and dancing. Keep your eyes and ears open for the sign up. Look forward to catching up with everyone. See you on the ice soon. Liz Bee Additional News Ice Maintenance As you read this issue of the G.A., our Ice Tech, Anthony, has been busy getting our ice house prepared for our upcoming curling season. He will be doing his utmost to have everything shipshape for our mid-October start. We hope you will be pleased with his finished work. Les Jarrett, Ice Director. The 5 Rock Rule • The DGCC board has approved the adoption of the new 5-rock rule for the Free Guard Zone for all leagues at the Dundas Granite commencing with this season. This rule has been adopted widely this year by the •World Curling Federation, Curling Canada, and the Ontario Curling Association. Here are some a few links that may be helpful! Curling Canada Rules for General Play (section12) •https://www.curling.ca/about-the-sport-of-curling/gett ing-started-in-curling/rules-of-curling-for-general- play/ • Emma Miskew’s blog http://www.thegrandslamofcurling.com/curling/emma-miskew-blog-five-rock-rule/ Nolan Thiessen’s blog https://www.curling.ca/blog/2018/06/15/thiessen-blog-five-rock-fgz-a-positive-change-for-curli Thank you, The Board of Directors Upcoming coach/instructor workshops Adult Learn To Curl (ALTC) instructor workshop on Sunday October 14 at Dundas Granite.