Oceanside had a team in all four finals, and local curling legend Jack Dixon and his rink came up just short in the A Event at the 24-team Thrifty Foods Men’s Bonspiel.
Played out at Parksville Curling Club Friday through Sunday, “everyone had a great time,” said event chair John Milroy, adding, “the curling was at a very high level, and everyone’s looking forward to coming back next year (for the men’s provincial playdowns).
In Sunday’s exciting A Event final, Dixon, with Gord Halstrom throwing Skip rocks, Don Graham at second and Jim Cormier at Lead, fell to ‘the young guns’, the Wayne Harris rink from Comox.
“It looked like the Harris team had it sewed up, leading by two in the final end, but in a brilliant effort the Dixon rink scored two to send the game to an extra end,” said Milroy, adding, “Jack and his gang battled valiantly, but with the hammer in hand, the Harris rink was able to score and secure the Bob Hawkes Memorial Trophy.”
Parksville skip Randy Hall, along with third Gord Woodward, second Barry Duke and Lead Ken Meuckon became the only team to win their final when they knocked off the Jack rink from Alberta to take the B Event.
In an interesting sidebar, there were two teams from Bonneville, Alberta that made the long trip west to play in the PCC Men’s bonspiel for the second straight year.
“Last year they didn’t even get in the prizes, and this year one of them made it to the finals.”
The top 16 teams get to pick from the prize table.
In the C Event final, Tracy Branch and his rink from Comox edged out the Parksville rink of Gary Liimatta. In the D Event it was Victoria’s Jason Fletcher rink over Darwin Armstrong and his Oceanside team.
Earning props for their efforts were PCC’s ice technician Gord Twanow and assistant Tim Kottispier.
“The curling conditions were once again first rate,” said Milroy. “Win or lose, all the teams were impressed with the quality of the ice.”
He added the volunteers, headed up by Cheryl Noble and bar manager Barb Voosten, “ensured a good time was had by all.”
“Special thanks go out to title sponsor Thrifty Foods Parksville, Mark Hoffman of M&F Masonry, Bekins Moving & Storage and Jim & Margo Hoffman of Coast Realty Parksville.”