'Overwhelmingly successful': Lampman curling club celebrates with centennial bonspiel

(Courtesy: Falling Away Photography)

The Town of Lampman pulled out all the stops as it marked the centennial anniversary for its curling club.

The volunteer-operated Lampman Curling Club turned 100 years old in 2023.

As a celebration of the club’s milestone, a 64-rink bonspiel was held from March 29 to April 2, according to a release from the rural municipality of Browning.

“For a community our size it was a huge event and its just winding down this afternoon, but it's been overwhelmingly successful,” Chairperson for the R.M. of Browning, Blake Fornwald told CTV News on Sunday.

“So for Lampman, I'm going to say once in a lifetime event. It's not something we’d even attempt in the next few years as other communities would … So we've had support from all over, we've had people that treated it like a reunion. So they live in Alberta and they live somewhere and they flew in to join the team or just to come and watch so it's like a homecoming as well as the curling bonspiel.”

The bonspiel is also a celebration of a $770,000 rink upgrade the club recently received.

The upgrade, which started construction in the spring of 2022 included a compressor room for the ice plant which extended the lifespan of the rink.

The project was made possible with investment from both the federal and provincial governments.

“This project is not only about improving Lampman area infrastructure and recreational opportunities, it’s also about investing in even more great memories that will be created through the many curling bonspiels and hockey games yet to come at this wonderful community facility,” MLA for Cannington, Daryl Harrison said in the news release.

For Forwald, the success of the event hinged on the dedication from community groups and volunteers.

“The curling club deserves all of the credit for the planning, the organizing, and the getting the word out,” he explained. “They did a perfect job and once again, you come down to any small town community and it's all about volunteers and all the volunteers that helped open bars or just taking money for the registrations or working in the kitchen. They've all showed up for this and made it a success.”

The health and sustainability of any community is partially rooted in its recreational, Forwald explained. Making funding for the rink that much more important.

“Without the recreational facilities, your town loses that and then you have residents that maybe decide they're going to live somewhere else for whatever reason or they don't want to come to your community,” Forwald said.

“So, we need to support our recreational facilities, support our community and both the town and the RM deserve credit for doing that over the years.”

Lampman is located approximately 207 kilometres southeast of Regina.