Regina's Callie Curling Club sweeps in a new century with 100 end game

Regina’s Callie Curling Club is sweeping in a new year and a new century with a 100 end game over New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

The Caledonian Curling Club was officially formed on October 14, 1915 and the 100 end game is just one of several events planned to mark the anniversary year.

Joanne Warbey is the chair of the 100 end committee and co-chair of the 100th anniversary committee and she says the game will go from noon on Dec. 31 to 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 1, 2016.

“If you’re going to have a 26 hour bonspiel, you might as well have it over New Year’s Eve where you’ve got a ready-made party here,” Warbey commented.

It might sound like an awfully long curling game, club members of all ages were jumping at the chance to sign up when they realized that it would work as a relay.

“Each team is playing four ends and then the next team goes, but we’re all playing for two teams,” Warbey explained.

The teams are named for Jean Cheyne who was the first ladies’ club president at the Callie in 1921 and C.J. Watson who was the first Callie Club president in 1915.

“(The Callie is) special because it has been here for 100 years and also a lot of people call this place home,” Warbey said. “They’ve curled here for many, many years. A lot of us have met our spouses through the club here, we’ve got life-long friends we’ve met through the club, and basically it’s home.”

Amber Holland agrees that a 100 end curling game hits the mark to recognize a century of tradition while ringing in the new year with old friends and past teammates.

“I think our game has seen so much change, and this club has seen so much change over the last 100 years that it’s a great way to celebrate what was but (also) where it’s going and hopefully into another 100 great years,” she said.

Holland says it’s nice to have a chance to stop and think about the history and the future of the sport in a city rink that still has a small-town feel.