Curlers from all around the South Cariboo and beyond came to 100 Mile House to compete in the 2025 100 Mile Curling Club's Men's Bonspiel.
The competitive event, which ran from Jan. 10 to 12, was held at the 100 Mile Curling Club near the South Cariboo Rec Centre and saw several teams of four compete against each other. The event was split into three sub-events: A event, B event, and C event, and jackets were handed out to the winners of the tournament.
Tom Faulkner, who serves as a director of the club, said that the bonspiel had guaranteed three games in a scale and those who won got to stay in the A event.
"Everybody starts off in the A event, you lose a game right away you proceed down to the B event. And then, if you lose again, you (stay in) the B event - and then if you lose in both, you proceed down to the C event," Faulkner explained. He added if a team lost in the C event, they would be eliminated - and that if a team won one in the A event but then lost, they would drop down to the C event.
"We want to keep it within reasonable hours - bonspiels in the day, when I was a kid would run all night long," Faulkner said. He also noted that bonspiels are usually a good time, with everyone on the ice enjoying themselves and the camaraderie.
Some notable teams who participated in the event include Team Bissaro, which consisted of skip Ron Bissaro, third Mark Berg, second Moe Moneta and lead Bill Pinchbeck who hailed from the Williams Lake Curling Club. Faulkner said that they have been coming to the bonspiel, which has been running for around 64 years, for the last 40 years.
In addition to the overall competition, there were also appetizers served on Friday, as well as a dinner which had been prepared by the club's women's curling league.
"The food was excellent," said Faulkner. In addition, a 50/50 as well as a reverse draw raffle was conducted.
The 100 Mile Curling Club have three other bonspiels planned for this season. The first is the Logan Sikric Fundspiel, which is set to take place at noon on Jan. 25 at the club. The fundspiel is a fundraiser for Sikiric, one of the club's youth curlers, who has been receiving treatment for leukaemia since last fall. The event had previously been scheduled for Dec. 7 but was delayed.
Following that is the club's regular Open Doubles Bonspiel from Feb. 7-9 and their Ladies' Bonspiel from Feb. 28 to March 2.
Faulkner encourages the community to come out to the future bonspiels and watch.
"Our lounge is open so they can watch the games. The more people we get to watch the games, the more they'll want to play. It is a fun sport." Faulkner stated.
The winners of this year's bonspiel include the following:
The A Event was won by Team Bissaro from the Williams Lake Curling Club, made up of Bissaro, Berg, Moneta and Pinchbeck.
The B-Event was won by 100 Mile House's own Team Ney consisting of skip Ed Ney, third Tom Dall, second Lorne Folk and lead Dave Parkin.
The C-Event was won by Team Kampam from the Mission Curling Club, consisting of skip Doug Kampan, third Mark Weiss, second John Pool and lead Matt Djong.
