Plainfield Curling Club

While curling season may be over, you can still enjoy the atmosphere of the PCC. This Saturday’s Annual Meeting offers you a free drink from outgoing president Maryann Vermeulen, a chance to hear plans for the off-season and the election of Directors to the Board of the club. Even if you’re mainly interested in that free drink, attending is time well-spent. Hope to see you there.

The Bonsqueal, the season-ending extravaganza at Plainfield Curling Club (located, of course, in South Plainfield, New Jersey), gets underway tonight. As it always does, this highlight of social curling on the East Coast will provide myriad culinary delights, boisterous conversations, quality libation and curious late-season ice conditions.

This year, the organizational torch was passed to new conveners Anne Buckelew and Kacy Hayner. They have put in countless hours to make sure the spiel continues its rich tradition of, well, excess. A tent in the parking lot, a pig on a spit, a pile of fish on Friday night, special drinks from resident mixologists — there’s nothing about this spiel that is restrained. Small wonder it is the preferred way to finish the season for 32 teams of curlers. Even if you’re not in the Bonsqueal, don’t be afraid to stop by over the weekend for the festivities. 

Speaking of great food, Sarah McCulloh, Grace Roth and others from PCC are planning a curlers’ cookbook. A healthy tome, in fact,  filled with recipes that won’t leave one struggling to settle into the hack following lunch. They’re looking for ideas from curlers and hoping to make it a collaborative effort involving players and clubs with the proceeds going to support a cause — yet to be determined — that is important to our sport. If you want to contribute, send your recipe to Grace Roth or talk to either Sarah or Grace during the Bonsqueal.

The ice goes out after the Squeal. Sad, of course, but also a reminder of the refreshing seasonal rhythm of the world’s greatest sport.

Want to give curling a try? Well, here’s your chance to get an introduction to the sport of curling!

We’re holding a free open house on Saturday, March 21, from 1pm to 5pm. You’ll get to view our facility, get information about curling and our club, and even throw some stones with the help of current club members.

Bring warm, loose fitting clothing (such as sweats), and bring along a separate clean pair of sneakers to wear on the ice. If you’re under 18, you’ll need to bring a parent or guardian to sign a waiver.

Confirmation is requested. To confirm or to ask any questions, please send a message using our membership contact page.

An area where I think the GNCC has done a great job is in the creation of events that are limited to curlers who are relatively new to the sport. For players with five years of curling experience or less, they offer a terrific way to discover the excitement and challenges of a competitive event against teams that are also learning and developing. Last weekend, a team from the Plainfield CC competed at the Women’s Challenge in Ardsley. Here’s Sarah McCulloh’s report:

I skipped, Linda Carubia played vice, Grace Roth played 2nd and Shara Dellatore played lead. We had a fantastic “flower power” weekend!!! 

In the first game, we stole four in the 8th to win the game by 1. That was pretty exciting, although we didn’t feel like we “won” the game, we felt like they “lost” the game. Their skip flashed a take out to end the game but they were pretty consistent throughout. (Ed. Note: Yes, I’m fairly certain that skip felt like she “lost” the game. Been there, done that.) All in all, we really enjoyed the friendships we made with the ladies from Broomstones (II) and closed down the bar like good Plainfielders do.

Our second game was against Schenectady I, and we lost a tight game by one point and dropped down to the Third Event. It was a friendly and competitive match. 

In the third game against Ardsley (our first game on Saturday), our team was solid. We made our shots, I called decent ice and we even took a four. (Or was it five, I can’t remember.) They shook in the 7th and the game was a welcome confidence booster for us. 

But we knew our next game would be against last year’s First Event champs and I really began to get nervous. I was even shaking a little through the first end or so. As a fairly new skip, I was trying to remember all the strategy I had been reading about. I also knew my team was tired and injured. Grace was having shoulder pain and Shara was having knee problems. (Ed. Note: Part of the learning and developing, I guess. When you’re competing in an event with multiple games over the course of a weekend, you realize how demanding curling can be. Even more so when you close the bar. Just once, I’d like to see marathoners run a race after closing the bar the previous evening. Curlers are the true athletes.) Unfortunately, we had a hard time keeping it together and it led to our demise. Potomac/Broomstones took an early lead and never looked back. At least we can say we were eliminated from the spiel by the eventual Third Event winners. 

The spirit of curling was well and alive at Ardsley during the Women’s Challenge this year! The 5-and-Under women have really developed some nice friendships over the last few years, and it was quite enjoyable to spend time with such wonderful women! 

I look forward to bringing a team to the WC for the remainder of my eligibility (two years) and I really hope that another PCC team — or two or three — will join us next year. The 2010 Women’s Challenge will be held at the Utica Curling Club  from March 18-21, 2010. The theme? Camp Wannacurl, Childs Challenge 2010.

I’m going to hang a sign up at the club later this week.

I tend to think that this time of year is bittersweet for curlers. Only the truly insane don’t start to look forward to some warmer weather. Perhaps the golf clubs start to beckon. A few of us think it wouldn’t be so bad for the knees to get a break. And the ice crew starts to imagine lives of leisure, freed from midnight scrapes and compressor alarms. 

But there’s also some great curling on television at this time of year, including Canada’s Tim Horton’s Brier and the World Championships in early April. Watching the level of play in those events makes curlers want to either practice more or simply get comfortable with our own mediocrity. If you’re in the vicinity of the club tonight around 8 PM, I would suggest stopping in for the Page 1-2 Game that will be a rematch of last evening — Martin vs. Howard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rivalry this good — two teams at their absolute peak, making every shot available while playing slightly different styles. When they face off, I am further convinced that our sport —  not soccer or, if you prefer, football — is The Beautiful Game. Seriously. I look forward to seeing one of these two teams — although a Gushue, Stoughton or Menard win is still quite possible — battling Scotland’s David Murdoch and the U.S.A.’s John Shuster at the Worlds in Moncton. 

This time of year also brings the kind of fun bonspiels that remind us why we enjoy curling so much. These events offer a chance to curl with different people and play the game for flat-out fun. They’re called toaster spiels in Canada — the winners wind up perusing a prize table full of slow-to-move inventory from local merchants. We may not have the toasters but we do have some great events. The Bonsqueal, of course, wraps up the season at our club and, as proof of its enduring popularity, is full again this year. There’s nothing like a long, loud weekend to wrap up the winter. Even if you’re not in the spiel, I’d recommend stopping by at some point. 

Our men’s  spiel, the PCC Stone, was held last weekend. Thanks again to Link Heffner for acting as organizer and affable host. Throughout the weekend, I don’t think I was ever at the club without seeing him and Patty. (I did notice that Patty always seemed to be working and Link always seemed to be talking. But both activities are essential to the success of the spiel.) As usual, the club really came together to make this a good  event. I loved the buzz behind the glass during many of the games, much of it owing to our Baggett Rule and the tidy sums available from the Calcutta. Great stuff. 

Final results from the Stone will be recorded this  way:

1st Event Winner: Dean Gemmell, Bill Peskoff, Steve Langanke, Michael O’Neill (PCC and The Canadian Club of Boston)

1st Event Runner-Up: Peter Austin, George Austin, Dan Tufaro, Bill Pekowitz (Ardsley)

2nd Event Winner: John Wilman, Bob Howell, Dean Roth, Ed Klug (PCC)

2nd Event Runner-Up: Bill Vallier, Karl Lohner, Dixon Fung, Ron Janes (PCC)

3rd Event Winner: Aaron Dubberley, Erik Conrad, Mike Matts Dave Capers (PCC)

3rd Event Runner-Up: Walter Baggett, Tim Klein, Jeff Klein, Dave Asano

4th Event Winner: Tony Steiert, Art Wilson, Rich Hess, Craig Sykes (Philadelphia CC)

4th Event Runner-Up: Benjamin Yeung, Barry Nichols, Richard Chin, Bob Bridgeman

Congratulations to all the teams that captured events and the cash that went with it. There are also a couple of additional statistics I should note. Bill Peskoff wound up capturing what he described as a, “…cheesy Triple Crown.” What’s this, you ask? Well, Bill was a member of the winning rink for all three of our club spiels so far this season — the Founders, the Thrifty and the Stone. Perhaps Foxy has a suitable trophy for this achievement — I’m thinking something along the lines of the rear end of a horse. Finally, Aaron Dubberley had to face the aforementioned Walter Baggett in two pressure-cookers in the same spiel. Aaron emerged victorious both times, allowing him to avoid the roll in whatever patch of ice chips the ice crew can find. Jason Valetutto was not so fortunate but accepted his result with honor and at least as much dignity as one can muster under the circumstances. Honestly,  I think we all lose when the Baggett Rule is invoked. 

In other results over these last few weeks, we saw John Wilman’s team (Sarah McCulloh, Dean Roth, Grace Roth) capture the 2nd Event at the Kayser in Rochester. A great showing for this rink in this 5-and-Under Mixed event. 

Our juniors have also been busy, with a full crew traveling to Schenectady for a bonspiel that took place the same weekend as the Stone. Our curlers played on a number of different teams — all had a terrific time. It’s great to see our young players traveling to events and discovering that curling is a sport that builds friendships for a lifetime. Thanks to Don Arsenault for driving a group to Schenectady, dropping them off, turning around and heading back to Plainfield for his game in the Stone at 9:30 that Friday night. (Okay, 10:25 that night. His game — and mine — followed the epic Baggett-Austin-Valetutto tilt.) 

That’s all for now. Enjoy the last few weeks of the season.

Again the Bonsqueal proves its popularity! We’re reached our capacity and entries are no longer being accepted. See you April 1!

Named for Peter C. Christopherson, father of a founding member, the P.C.C. Stone, our four-event annual Men’s bonspiel starts tonight, March 5, 2009.

Eighteen teams, including teams from Triangle, Ardsley, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Potomac, Nutmeg, and of course Plainfield will compete through Sunday.

Let the games begin!

It’s that time again! The 2009 Bonsqueal entry form is now available! Hurry over there now and sign up your team for lots of curling, lots of food, and lots of fun!

This year’s Bonsqueal, Jamaican Bacon, is being held April 1st-5th. Come out and join us for the last spiel of the year!

As is tradition, we will have a fish fry on Friday, and the all important pig roast on Saturday, as well tons of curling, snacks, drinks, and plenty of good times. After the final game is played, everyone is invited to use the rink for ice (or cookie sheet!) skating, before we “pull the plug” on the ice for the year.

Good curling!

– The (newest) Squeal Sisters, Kacy and Anne

Nicole Arsenault, daughter of Don,  is playing Third for Team Beebe this week at the Junior Nationals in cosmopolitan Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. (If you have a child who’s interested in curling, this is further evidence that you need to work tirelessly to grow the game on the East Coast and in major metropolitan areas. Otherwise, you too will one day find yourself checking into a room at a regional chain motel — the best in town, you’re told — and spending a week eating nothing but meat products and cheese. The people will be unbelievably nice, of course, but since you’re from the Tri-State area,  you’ll just think they’re up to something.) These days, Nicole goes to college near Buffalo but she learned to curl at PCC under the tutelage of her father who, along with Bill Nickle and others, has put a tremendous amount of time and effort into our junior program. Don tells us that Nicole’s team was seeded sixth so they played the top five seeds in their first five games. The good news? They came through that stretch with a 3-2 record so they’re well-positioned to qualify for the playoffs. 

You can follow the action by visiting CurlingZone. Go the Game Day Scoreboard and click on Women: U.S. Junior Nationals. The most  recent games show up immediately — click through to the event site and you’ll get to the current standings. Of course, when you’re at CurlingZone, don’t be afraid to click on The Curling Show either. I hear it’s excellent.

I know Robin Kerr sent out an email with results from last weekend’s MACA (Mid-Atlantic Curling Association) event in Chesapeake. Robin puts a great deal of effort into this series and all kinds of curlers benefit as a result. 

Results, however, are only a small part of the story. Events like the MACA, always organized by remarkably committed volunteers, are an essential part of the spirit of curling. They offer a day of friendly competition and a chance to get to know new people in a curling club, surely one of the most hospitable places on earth. I’ve long been amazed by how well people of all stripes and stations in life can get along on a sheet of curling ice or over a few adult beverages in the lounge after a game. Differences get checked at the door — even Neil Sullivan and I try to limit our political arguments to the online world — and everyone enjoys a respite from the daily grind. Even at the game’s highest levels, the players  who really understand curling make an effort to not just curl but learn about their opponents. John Morris, Glenn Howard, Jon Mead, Pete Fenson — they’ve all told me the friendships they’ve made are as valuable as the games they’ve won. 

Call me crazy, but I think a great idea for this stimulus package would involve building 100 new curling facilities around the U.S.  Lot of new infrastructure and for just over $100 million, our nation just might rediscover a sense of community. 

Hats off to Robin and everyone from the Plainfield CC who has participated in this year’s MACA events.