by Audrey and Phillip Braid

(ed note: This is one of a series of historical reflections writen y past and present members for our 50th anniversary season)

Before the club began we had a visit from Ken Render who told us they were trying to find the funds to start a curling rink. My husband didn't know the first thing about curling but I had curled in High School in Saskatchewan and I was all in favor. I convinced my husband to invest $100 in the project. That was a very large amount to us at that time. But with 120 other couples doing the same thing and with a mortgage carried by local farmers. City View Curling Club was launched. 

Our first club house was very small. The men's washroom was tiny. The present office was the canteen and of course it was the ladies responsibility. I was on the house committee and my job was to wash the floors and clean the washrooms. 

The actual curling was quite unique. Very few of the ladies had ever seen curling. When the draw committee had to make up rinks, the positions were chosen randomly. I remember Polly Armstrong was made a skip because she was a good bowler! Anyone who had ever curled before was of course made skip. 

In spite of our rough beginnings, one of our early ladies' rinks made it to the provincial play downs. That was Vema MacFarlane, Jessie Dorzinsky, Joyce Sherman and Erma Shipley. The instruction we were able to find was minimal. Some of the ladies from the Ottawa Curling Club came to our club one day to show us the basics. There were no long slides in those days and the stone was always lifted in delivery. 

Most of the lady members had small children and a baby sitter was provided. We had three preschoolers at that time and I pulled them on the toboggan from Merivale and Meadowlands to the club and the very good baby sitter charged me three for a dollar. And it was a very welcome change for the three boys and myself! 

In those early years most of the celebrations we organized were costume parties. And on Saturday night mixed parties, the costumes were fabulous and we had to curl in them! I  remember one mixed affair the night before the ice was to go out, and we had a skating night. The ice was wonderful for skating and jumping over the boards to get on the straight away was great fun. 

City View Curling Club has remained a part of our lives for the past forty years mainly because of the many lasting friendships we made in the early years and since. We are grateful and proud to have been members.