The club was closed last season because the chiller – a mandatory component – was broken.
“The community has really rallied around us, and we’ve raised the $75,000,” says Dave Andrews, president of the Liverpool Curling Club.
The chiller is supposed to be delivered in the next week and a half, at which time the installation will happen, says Andrews.
“By the end of October, we should be making ice,” he says.
Andrews says the plan is to have a wall of fame to thank people for their support with the “Chiller Campaign.”
Another thing done was a retrofit to the basement so that it was up to code for the Department of Labour, says Andrews. The retrofit was mainly done on volunteer hours.
A big change the club went through this year was becoming a not-for-profit society rather than a limited corporation. As a limited corporation, the club didn’t qualify for grants.
“Now we do qualify for grants. Hopefully we won’t have to get too many of them, but the numbers are looking good for the membership,” says Andrews.
He says this year the curling club would like to have family-fun and social nights on occasional Fridays. That way, people can just walk in and try curling.
“We’re creating more of a social atmosphere,” he says. “If they (people) don’t want to curl, they can join as a social member.”
A social membership would cost about $60 a year.
Though the logistics have yet to be finalized, the regular competitive league will still happen. The senior curling program will also run again.
Andrews says the club hopes to have a ladies’ league as well.
“We’re thrashing the bushes for that now,” he says.
Despite the fact the club isn’t open yet, there’s already a lot going on.
Junior curlers have a bonspiel, Icebreaker, booked for the middle of November. Teams from across the province will be attending.
“Also, we’re in the process of booking a provincial junior event through Nova Scotia Curling Association,” says Andrews. “We hope to have it booked for later November, first part of December.”
And a little further down the road is the 2014 Junior Nationals, which was awarded to the club.
Registration for the junior program will take place this week from 6:30 to 8 p.m., on Thursday, Oct. 11. The junior and Little Rocks programs have combined. Juniors range in age from four to 18 years old.
“So we’re hoping to have a lot more junior curlers this year,” says Andrews.
Juniors will be curling Tuesday and Thursday afternoons beginning after school until 5 p.m.
A lot still has to be organized, says Andrews.
“But the long and the short is we just can’t thank the public enough for rallying behind us. The public support and the business support has been unbelievable.”
To find out more about the Liverpool Curling Club, visit http://www.liverpoolcurlingclub.ca/ or call Dave Andrews at 354-2231. The Liverpool Junior Curling Club has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/470228912987417/?ref=ts&fref=ts.
