Perth Curling Club celebrates 150 years with curling marathon

The Perth Curling Club is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a curling marathon. CTV’s Dylan Dyson has the details.

The sport of curling has a long history in the Town of Perth.

After being founded in December 1875, the Perth Curling Club is marking 150 years in the community this season.

To celebrate the impressive milestone, the club has organized a curling marathon set to take place this weekend at the Perth Curling Club.

“We’re going to be curling nonstop,” says event coordinator Andre Hurtubise.

“One long game with various curling members replacing each other as the weekend goes along.”

The club plans to play 150 ends, or 60 games, continuously beginning Friday at 6 p.m. until Sunday around noon. 150 local curlers from ages seven to 91 have signed up to participate.

“We’re going to start with a ceremonial first throw of a curling rock that’s started with our club when the club was founded in the late 1800’s,” says Hurtubise.

The town of Perth has deep Scottish roots between its curling and golf heritage. The town is home to the Perth Golf Course, Canada’s oldest permanent golf course, constructed in 1890.

The curling club’s current rink and building went up on Beckwith Street East back in 1953, but the sport of curling in the area dates back a further 78 years.

“It’s hard to even imagine 150 years back when they first started, the club was held outdoors,” says curling club president Marty Smith, who is expecting an enjoyable but sleepless weekend.

“I think everybody is excited about it. We don’t normally curl at 3 in the morning. So, I think it’s going to be good, and hopefully people come out and watch and participate, even if they’re not curling, just come out and socialize.”

The club is run by volunteers, who will be responsible for keeping the weekend on track; people like David Murdoch, who has been a member at the club for 12 years and was in early on Friday to help prepare food.

“The big question was who the heck wants to curl a 2 a.m.? And all the juniors and teenagers said, ‘I would love to curl at 3 in the morning,’” says Murdoch.

A curler for more than 20 years now, Murdoch says the joy in the game is not in the wins and losses that players can take home at the end of the game, but the socialization that carries on well after they’ve left the ice.

“When we moved here, we didn’t know a soul in Perth,” says Murdoch. “And after six months of curling, we had 150 friends.”

The curling marathon is open for the public to attend.

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