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.
Jonathon Naylor Editor After more than six decades, the last rock has been thrown at the Willowpark Curling Club. Members voted last Thursday, Oct. 25 to shut down the landmark rink in a move executive member Doug Dutcawich called saddening. 'We've been running since 1950 and you look on the walls there, there's a lot of history there from the very beginning until today,' he said. Dutcawich said the club was unable to move forward financially as the aging rink required major repairs. 'We had a strong membership. We just weren't prepared for the cost right now,' he said. The decision leaves Flin Flon with just one curling rink, the Uptown Curling Club, for the first time since its early days. Willowpark's afternoon Hot Stove League for retirees will move to Uptown, and other curlers may follow. A major challenge at Willowpark has been the ice plant, which has suffered a major malfunction. 'It just wasn't favourable to keep it going,' said Bev Baker, the rink's iceman. 'There were so many problems with it.' As a curler at the rink, Baker said he will miss the 'club atmosphere' it offered. He said some Willowpark members have been curling there for decades. Building's fate? Baker said it's not clear what will become of the Willowpark building, which belongs to the City of Flin Flon. More details of the closure will become available in the coming weeks. With 200 initial members, the Willowpark Curling Club opened in 1950 in the then-growing subdivision of Willowvale. Members assisted with the construction of the rink, main waiting room, and later with renovations to accommodate the lounge and additional locker rooms, according to the book Flin Flon. Willowpark curlers voted in 2004 to amalgamate with the Uptown Curling Club, but the decision was overturned by a second vote later that year.
