The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
More Willow Park History "Spring wind-ups for the men were a great time," recalls former curler Andy Galambos, "with such people as Reece Romphf on the piano, and all the guys would be singing all the old war songs since most of us had been in the service." In 1957, the Lions Club put a cement floor in Willow Park for a roller skating rink at a cost of $4,000. There were rollerskates available for rent and the roller rink went over very well the first summer. However, the next two years the roller rink went downhill. In 1960, Willow Park decided to install artificial ice. The pipers were put down over the cement floor. Curler Doug Gourlay Sr. laughs, "It cost $14,000 to put the artificial ice in and many guys said we'd never get it paid for." At this time, the men's club had about 30 rinks. Mac McCrimmon was the first secretary manager in the '60s and the piano in the lounge was often used after the games for a 'sing-song'. The concession was tendered out once the Willow Park Ladies Curling Club withdrew their services. Some of the people who took it on were Jean Pazdierski, Ann Robillard, Theresa Shephard, the Lundgrens, and Emery Switzer. Ice men were usually retired men such as Joe Lavergne, Ted Bouteiller, Ralph Johnson and Stan Case, with the likes of Bill Luck, Charles Robillard, Henry Bailey, Stan Bates, Doug Gourlay Jr., Bernice Joyner, Terry Shephard and Karen Row taking care of the lounge. Galambos took over as secretary manager in 1981, a position he held for 17 years. Of course the history of Willow Park would not be complete without mentioning the three provincial championship won by Isabelle Ketchen and her team of Doris McFarlene, Isobel Phillips and Ruth McConnell, and their induction into the Curling Hall of Fame in 1999. Both Galambos and Gourlay Sr. related how the main bonspiel ran for about a week with curlers playing a minimum of eight games. Each game was 10 ends with the semi-finals and finals being 12 ends. Curlers recall that HBMS would give the guys time off to curl (with no pay loss) as long as they came back to work after their games. The draw was set up so that curlers played the HBMS side till until they lost a game. Then they started on the Burkett Rexall side. It cost each person $8 to curl in the bonspiel if they were a Community Club member and $12 each if they were not. Beer and Pretzels In those years, a smoker was held, not a banquet, with beer and pretzels served. Jim Wardle was usually the emcee. There was no dancing, as they were all men, but there was plenty of free beer supplied by the beer companies. As with the women's teams back then, skips were determined by experience. Some learned to play in school and others by watching. Most teams were made up of friends, with the skips having to prove their ability along with the other team members. As a result, some team members were demoted and some promoted. In those days, unlike today with the four rock rule, the lead was a lowly position. They used wide, heavy straw brooms. Curlers did not have to supply their own rocks once Willow Park announced it had its own matched rocks. Gourlay Sr. began his curling career at the Uptown Curling Club when he curled with his brother, Bob, in 1930s. As a boy, Gourlay Sr. recalls, "We lived on a farm and my dad would walk six miles to and from town just to curl." Doug has curled for over 60 years and is still active in Willow Park's Hot Stove League. Galambos began curling when he was 30 and "learned to play the game by observation Ð no instruction back then." Galambos no longer curls after having played the game for about 50 years. Galambos and Gourlay Sr. spoke fondly of the annual Grey Cup bonspiel at Willow Park. In the early days, the club had to limit the event to 48 rinks because there were so many who wanted to curl. They would curl around the clock and men would take a week off work to come from Lynn Lake just to curl. "The bar had to close at midnight and then we just hauled our booze to the locker room, where it was so packed we stood upright like sardines, and it was so smoky in there," Galambos recalls with a laugh.
