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Saturday Niners Curling League History
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April
2003
Saturday Niners - Half a
Century Young
It all started in the old Deer Lodge Curling Rink located at the corner
of Lyle and Bruce streets. The year was 1951. That was several years
before they built the present building.
The group of men that got together just wanted to curl and share some
good fun and fellowship on a Saturday morning. Little did they know
those early beginnings would develop into one of the most popular men's
curling clubs in Winnipeg. The original group was mostly friends and
neighbours living in the old Deer Lodge community. They had four teams
to start. Within three to four years, the number rose to eight
teams.
When the group's history notes were first written by Ted Gallagher and
Larry Eggertson in 1984, six of the charter members were still curling
with the group after thirty years. Their names were Roger Depres, John
Borlase, Ron Sproule, Andy McKenzie. Joe Petrie and Ted
Gallagher. Some other members of the original group were Jim
Symons, Bill Toothill, Earl Payne, Dave Prentise, Lynn Davies, Dick
Earle, Jim Patton and Garnet Fry.
In 1955, some of the members of the Association of Commercial
Travellers (ACT) Sunday curling league joined them. Doug Brown and Jack
Forrester were instrumental in bringing over several others, Len
Kavanagh, Sherm Black, Herb Lizette, Norm Esdale, Lorne Shaw and Dick
Boyd.
The present Deer Lodge Curling Club was opened on the new location
(Woodlawn & Ness) in the fall of 1957. The Saturday Niners,
as it was later named rented four of the six sheets of ice and wanted
more. But, the other two sheets had been rented to another
group. Shortly after Christmas, the Niners were able to rent and
fill all six sheets and the group has never looked back since.
In the 1958-59 season, more Travellers joined. These included George
Bennington, Larry Eggertson, Ben Desrocher, Ken Sutton, Jack Nixon,
Fred Lane, and Al Cummings. It was also around this time that Al
Hanson, Jack Sinclair, Jack Brown, Bob Cochrane, Jim Will, Jack Mutton
and Bill Blore joined.
The name "Saturday Niners" was adopted in 1960. Crests were designed to
commemorate the occasion and the tradition of fun, fellowship and good
curling has carried on to this day.
The Christmas party and final Windup held in those early days started a
tradition that has continued. Some of those parties lasted to the wee
small hours of the morning and created their own stories. To celebrate
birthdays and special events, a bottle often appeared during morning
games. Later, after new liquor laws came into force, most of the
boys would adjourn to the Big "A" where reviews of the game often
lasted until late Saturday afternoon.
In certain years, the number of sheets of ice used moved down from six,
back up again and
now down again to the present five sheets in use. For several years the
group held a golf
tournament to bring members together during the warmer time of the
year. It seems the same
number of stories about missed shots turned up during the post golf
sessions as during the post curling parties.
Two companies that contributed to the club's early success were
Merchants Consolidated and Tees & Persse. The trophies handed out
at the conclusion of each year carry names of firms and individuals
that also played a part in the group's success.
Grand Aggregate - Brown Boyd
A Group - Grainger & Sons Auto Glass Ltd.
B Group - Uniline Products Ltd. By George Bennington
C Group - President's Trophy
Today, ten teams of Saturday Niners curl 21 Saturday mornings from
October to April. Many of those named above have passed on and have
been replaced by other members, many of whom also volunteer their time
to run the various events. But, it's mainly due to the successful
efforts of those far-sighted builders over fifty years ago, that the
members of the Saturday Niners continue to enjoy good Saturday curling
and great fellowship at Deer Lodge Curling club.
Prepared from material by Ted Gallagher and Larry Eggertson (1984) by
Harold Dodds, President 2002/03.
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