May 1999 Almonte Gazette Elva Cornell
Almonte Gazette – Saturday February 19, 1870
Bonspiel – Last Tuesday afternoon, a very interesting game was played between junior members of the Mississippi Club, with Messrs. S. L. Davis and P. McArthur acting as skips. An additional window being required in the rink, it was previously agreed by the skips that the losing side would pay the cost of putting one in. The sides stood as follows: J.L.Reed, A. Sinclair, F.A.W. Lister, Dr. Patterson, Wm. Templeman, S.L. Davis, skip – 7. Scottish settlers introduced the game of curling to the area, and soon it was being played on frozen stretches of the Mississippi River and some creeks, including the Indian Creek where an annual bonspiel was held. A bonspiel is a curling tournament.
In the town of Almonte, the first home of the organized curling club was on the open expanse of the Mississippi River along Water Street, beside where the fairgrounds are now located. The club was often known as the Mississippi Curling Club. The club membership consisted of men up until the late 1890’s when a women’s league was formed. After fifty years of roughing it outdoors, the Almonte Curling Club, (A.C.C.), finally had a building of its own , in 1902, a new addition was added onto the south end of the hockey rink on Coleman Island or simply “the Island.” In 1941 the building was condemned, and the A.C.C. was left to look for a new home.
You can also read Linda in The Townships Sun and theSherbrooke Record and and Screamin’ Mamas (USACome and visit the Lanark County Genealogical Society Facebook page– what’s there? Cool old photos–and lots of things interesting to read. Also check out The Tales of Carleton Place. Tales of Almonte and Arnprior Then and Now.
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