The Port Elgin Chrysler ’22 Ontario Tankard presented by Bruce Power officially opened on Wednesday evening (Feb. 9) to fanfare and speeches.
First up to welcome everyone was Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau. “I can’t tell you how much pride it gives me to welcome the Tankard to the community and I want to welcome all the teams that have come here to compete for the next few days. i also want to welcome and thank all those who came from far and wide to watch these events and I know you’re going to have a great time in our community, the best community in the world. I want to say a huge thank you to the Port Elgin Curling Club and the volunteers who have made this happen. It’s difficult in normal times to make an event like this happen and as we all know, these have been anything but normal times. The Curling Club and volunteers have come through in a huge way to make this event happen.”
Saugeen First Nation Chief Lester Anoquot also expressed his appreciation for all those attending the event.
Title sponsor, Port Elgin Chrysler and Beck Auto Group’s Craig Beck also thanked the organizers. “To see all the work that has gone into this is miraculous. We also want to thank the Town of Port Elgin, Saugeen Shores and Southampton and Saugeen First Nation for hosting all of us. It’s truly a pleasure to be here and be so close to home. We are proud to be Title Sponsor and to be a part of this community.”
“This would not be a Saugeen Shores event without the involvement of Bruce Power,” said emcee Dave Middleton as he introduced Bruce Power’s President & CEO, Mike Rencheck.
Rencheck said that he hoped the curlers and fans would get the chance to enjoy the area while here. “We are so happy to have an event like this in our area to showcase all the great things we have in Saugeen Shores, Kincardine, Bruce County,Grey County and the whole area. It’s the great volunteers who make an event like this happen. It’s hard work and we really appreciate Doug Fowler and the organization for putting this together. It’s amazing what was put together in this timeframe. Bruce Power is happy to be a sponsor as we think it showcases our community wonderfully and we are in the middle of our Life Extension Program that will extend our operation out to 2064 so we invite you CurlOn back again many times over the next decades and Bruce Power will be happy to be a sponsor each and every time.”
Following the opening ceremony, the curling began with Draw 1.
Team Reid, representing the Bluewater Curling Club of Owen Sound, got out of the gate quickly taking 5 in the first end on the way to an 11-1 win over Team Mitchell.
Team Niepage (knee-page), in their first appearance at a tankard, breezed to a 7-1 victory over team Mooibroek.
Team Camm recovered from a slow start taking 2 in the fourth end on the way to an 8-4 win over Team Steep.
It was a back and forth affair between Team Kean and Team Latimer with Latimer heavy on a draw against two in the 10th end to hand Kean a 7-5 victory.
Fans can catch the action live online at www.curlontv.ca.