President’s Report
For the second time in two years–which is twice more than I would have liked–I would like to say that while our curling year was cut short, I am extremely grateful for the help and good grace of our membership. This has not been easy for any of us, but our club has as a whole met the challenge like champions.

We once again owe a debt of gratitude to this year’s executive: Al Teasdale, Karen Hoban, Cheryl Eason, Samantha Cameron, and to the entire Board. The past two years have been difficult for us and I am sure that everyone else is as frustrated as I am at not having been able to curl as much as we wanted to. However, this frustration was handled well by our members and I am incredibly proud of how the Club has been handling this. Thanks to you all.

While we were not able to hold many of the events and bonspiels which we would normally expect, we were able to host our year-opening open house, as well as helping Murray Walker with hosting the Optimist Junior Curling Classic in November.

As always, thanks also to Al Sutherland and his ice crew for again giving us the best ice on the island. And not least, thanks to Parks and Recreation Coordinator Dan Henderson, Director of Parks and Recreation Steve Knoke, and Mayor Barb Desjardins, all of whom lent me time to talk about the shutdown of the rink and all of whom assured me that they value our club highly and look forward to seeing us return for the next season.

I would also like to extend my appreciation to the Victoria Curling Club for reaching out to help accommodate our members when we lost access to our rink.

You have all reaffirmed to me one of the things which I value most about the sport of curling (apart from the fact that it is really fun): the sense of sportsmanship. Our club has once again had to endure a painful year due to events outside of our control, and as I see it, we have proven that we as a club embody the spirit of sport that I so admire. I would like to thank everyone for their good grace and especially the executive and board for their work and willingness to help see us through.

Thank you all, and I hope we can all spend much more time on the ice in the 2022- 23 season.

Torben Wilson,
President
Esquimalt Curling Club

Extraordinary Meeting to be held Sunday, March 13, 2022

This is a call for an Extraordinary Meeting of the ECC to be held on Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 1:00 PM PDT via Zoom.

This is a Members Meeting, meaning all club members are encouraged to attend. In order to achieve a quorum we will require at least 25 members to be present.

The matter to be voted on is a proposed update to the wording of ECC Bylaw 6.8

Thank you,

Torben

Curling Season Cancelled

As I am sure most of you know by now, the curling season has been cut short once again. Island Health has again taken over the curling rink for use as a vaccination clinic site, and the ice has already been removed. While this is extremely disappointing, it is not entirely unexpected given the recent changes in COVID infection rates.

Anybody interested in continuing to curl this year may look to the Victoria Curling Club (https://victoriacurlingclub.com) or the Kerry Park Curling Centre (https://kerryparkcurlingcentre.ca) although we don't yet know what the spring session brings for them, either.

I would like to thank everybody who had a hand in getting us this far. In particular, Karen Hoban (our club secretary) and Al Teasdale (our vice president) have been tireless in making sure we have been where we need to be with dealing with the pandemic. Similarly, our executive and our board of directors have been absolutely amazing. Thank you all so much for the work you have put in. This season's closure is through no fault of our own; it's simply how things played out.

I would also like to thank, once again, our members: for being so understanding of the various rules and restrictions we have had to put into place. Believe me, we did not want to. But you all made it so much easier with your co-operation. Thank you.

Looking forward to a full year next year, with any luck. Until then, I wish you all the best, have a great holiday, and I hope to see you back on the ice next September!

Torben Wilson
President
Esquimalt Curling Club

News Release: Archie Browning Centre resumes role as vaccine clinic

News Release