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.
It all started in 1950 - the Willow Park Curling Club was built - with the help of Andy Galambos, who was a curler and avid fan of the sport. He spent curling season in the rink and says he just loved it so much. "Many people told me I was a super reader of the ice," he says. "I could play on crooked ice and by the second end I could read it. It helped a lot." Galambos spent 48 years curling at the rink, the only one in which he's ever enjoyed the sport. For the first six years, the now 86-year-old was a lead for his team, and then moved to third, and eventually became skip. "In 1957 I was skip and I liked it. I like the challenge," he says. "I'd say we won a good 60 per cent of the games." And Galambos's name appeared on the Tetley Tea Tankard Trophy "more then once," he says with a smile. Over the nearly five decades Galambos spent at the rink, he enjoyed not only the playing of the game,, but watching it as well. "He would come and watch all the games," says one member of the community, and added "sometimes we weren't sure, because we weren't always the best." The Second World War veteran says he most enjoyed the "competition, friends and the friendliness of the sport." Seasons were played in a "round-robin fashion,"he says. "Every team played every team, and once everyone had played everyone, we threw the names back in a hat and started again," he says. After Galambos found out he had a vision problem, he couldn't participate in curling or his other sport, golf. He says, "I have no depth perception, so I can't do it anymore." And although it was tough the first couple years, he says, "I don't miss it anymore. I used to, but not now." Galambos says he was first interested in curling because there wasn't much else going on. "We didn't have television or anything like that, so we curled," and he adds. "What else would we do?" He says he like the competition. "I was a stubborn bugger and I thought if they can do it, I can do it, too!" With that said, Galambos had to sit out and watch after his vision problem increased in 1998. And since then, he has been watching loyally every week, although he adds, "I would probably still be curling if it weren't for my eyes." Galambos will soon be starting a new life in Vernon, British Columbia, where he will live in a retirement community. "I will miss the people of Flin Flon the most. I've never had an enemy here, so I consider everyone a friend," says the former curling champion. Although it's far away, Galambos won't be a new face to Vernon. "I did my basic training there for the military, so my footsteps are still on the side of the hills," he says with a laugh. After much thinking, Galambos couldn't come up with a favourite memory from Flin Flon, although he added, "I did have a few sad moments. "My wife (Dora) died in 1994, and she was the best cook ever!" he says. While Galambos will be leaving Flin Flon, he notes that his brother and his wife live in Vernon. "My brother, he's pretty young. He's 91 years old, and still plays 18 holes of golf four times a week," he says. "I'm going to be in good hands there," he reassures. Galambos spoke his thank you's at the party on Saturday afternoon and was given a standing ovation by the muched loved people of Flin Flon.
