Community Bonspiel wraps up

The 46th annual Shawville Community Curling Bonspiel wrapped up on Sunday with speeches from the organizers, all participants claiming prizes and the awarding of the Toilet Seat Trophy to the overall winners.
The team called The Four Lads, composed of Basil Hodgins, Wayne Park, Jerry Callaghan and Kevin Hannaberry snagged the Toilet Seat with the overall best score in the tournament.
The tournament had 34 teams participate in total, with every participant going home with a prize donated by the teams.
The tournament was organized by Ian MacKechnie and was helped by Angela Sally, and Sara Knox along with various other curling club volunteers.
MacKechnie thanked the teams who participated and said he was grateful for all the new curlers who came out.
The Four Lads skip, Basil Hodgins thanked his team and everyone at the club who made the bonspiel possible.
“The very first bonspiel was 46 years ago,” said Jerry Barber, former club president and long-time member, during his speech before presenting the Four Lads with the Toilet seat trophy. “And at that time, there was a mortgage on the club. And that year, the club couldn’t pay the interest on the mortgage loan let alone make a payment on the mortgage, so the group come up with the idea of having the bonspiel and from then on, it’s definitely safe to say it’s one of the reasons the club is still going.”

Brett Thoms
Shawville February 5, 2023