Behind a glass window, there is a wall of trophies and awards in the Caledonian Curling Club of Regina. One plaque has the name Ray O’Shaughnessy on it. He can usually be found curling twice a week in the old rink during the senior’s league. He is 89, but the curling club he spends so much time at predates him.
O’Shaughnessy said he’ll continue to curl if his knees hold up.
“Do you think I’m young for curling?” he asked, “At 89?”
Not too old for the Callie.
The old curling club turns 100 years old this year. It wasn’t always located at 2225 Sandra Schmirler Way.
Kenda Richards is one of the co-organizers for the club’s birthday. She said events will be running throughout the next curling season, including a 100 end spiel on New Year's Eve.
The club’s story began on Oct. 7, 1915, where a preliminary meeting of 18 people was held at the Sclater and Finlayson store on Dewdney Avenue to discuss the possibility of creating a second curling club in Regina. A week later, in the same place at night, 40 prospective members names were presented and it was announced the Implement Building on the fairgrounds were available, rent-free.
The building had space for eight sheets of ice, four on each side of the waiting room. It was estimated it would cost $1,000 to cover first year of operations. With that, the Caledonian Curling Club of Regina was born on Oct. 14, 1915
Curling fees were set to $10 the first year. The first competition for the club was the “Novelty Citizens Bonspiel” on Dec. 10, 1915, at $2 per rink.
It was a successful first year for the Callie.
The second year though, things began to get a little rocky for the club. The rink was reduced to four sheets of ice and the club desperately needed to bring in more members.
Wives of members were asked to join and participate on men’s teams. Ladies wouldn’t have their own leagues until the late 1920s.
The club revolved around sociable events in the middle of the decade and was finally able to afford tables and chairs for the waiting room during this time. Hosting curlers from Minot, North Dakota, was considered to be the highlight of the decade.
One set of prizes from a bonspiel during these early years were quite different from now. First prize was 20 lbs of butter, second prize was four sacks of potatoes, third was four pairs of slippers and fourth was four boxes of cigars.
In 1925, the Exhibition Association informed the club that a new building was to be built for the next season. This would be the first of many moves for the Caledonian.
The club was up to 240 male and 20 female members by 1930. Today, the club has about 1,000 members.
It began using the World Grain Show Building in 1933 in the fairgrounds. It housed 14 sheets of ice. During this time, Cec Boyd was the club’s president. He would later go on to become the president of the Canadian Curling Association.
As the Second World War arrived, the club was told military authorities would be taking over the exhibition grounds. Once again, the Callie Club would have to move.
They began raising funds to build a more permanent facility, but instead, it was decided the money raised would go towards war bonds and plans were abandoned for a new building.
Eventually, the Callie returned to the World Grain Show Building after the war.
As the years went on, curling began to modernize and so did the kind of ice used for the sport. The Callie had artificial ice for the first time in 1954.
Richards remembers the times changing at the rink. She has been curling with the Callie for 50 years now. She’s been president of the club twice, sits on the board and still competitively curls.
“The ice was interesting because the floor was wonky. The ice in those days was so different than what you have now because everyone used straw brooms, pebble was different, they scraped by hand, there was ridges in the ice and underneath the ice,” said Richards.
Sliders didn’t exist when Richards began curling. She wore the Ernie Richardson leather soled boots. She remembers when half sliders were introduced, and finally the full sliders that are used today.
Her straw broom has since been replaced with the many forms of brooms that have been introduced over the years.
Despite many renovations over the years, the club still wanted to move to a new facility, but money was always an issue. Finally, after a lot of work, on Nov. 13, 1978, the Callie held its first competition at the location on the Wascana Freeway, now Sandra Schmirler Way.
It took 5 locations, but the Callie found its home.
“The Callie is home,” said Richards.
The competition and the people keep her coming back for more curling.
“What else am I going to do in the winter time? I’ve curled all my life. I can’t not curl,” she said, “I’ll be 90 and curling.”
