The Muenster Curling Club is now all shiny and new again and is all set for a fun season ahead.

The renovation transformation of the club can be accredited to the many efforts from the Muenster and Humboldt communities, as well as from exposure to the cause through the Great 8 Contest. Eight different towns were vying for a $5,000 grant, courtesy of 107.5 Bolt FM and Potash Corp in Lanigan, in the contest.

Although not the ultimate winners, Gord Keifer, Ice Maker for the club, says, "We didn't win the contest, but we were really happy we got considered for it, and we're really quite proud of how everything worked out".

He congratulates the team from Middle Lake on their win of the grant by saying, "Those lucky guys in Middle Lake won it and they were really deserving of it. I'm really happy for them. It was a great contest, and we got to do some fundraising as part of the contest, so THAT (the exposure) helped us, even though we didn't win the main prize. Keifer jokes, "Losing the contest helped us!"

The need for major renovations has been something the curling club has been dealing with for years. Explains Keifer, "We've had a moisture problem in our ceiling for twenty years and finally, the solution came around of how we could fix it, but it involved tearing all of our ceilings out. We tackled renovating the whole lounge right away. We tore pretty much everything out of it."

The undertaking has been made possible through the efforts of many. Keifer says demolition began at the end of the curling season last year, and thanks to the many volunteers, local suppliers, the local ball team, contractors and other members of the community, the club finished renovating the facility a week before curling started again this season.

With renovations now complete, members of the community may put the focus back on the fun of the sport.

When an observation was made about the former trophy cabinet in the lounge, Keifer explains the reasoning behind its lack of trophies:

"Ten years ago our leagues were suffering and we had about five men's teams and maybe six ladies teams. We started curling for fun. We got rid of trophies; no standings, and now we've got 13 or 14 men's teams and 8 to 10 ladies teams'.

Keifer believes that keeping it all about the love of the sport, rather than competition, allows for much involvement from the curling community in Muenster. 

"The more we're doing it for fun, the more people come out."

 

Gordon Keifer, Ice Maker at the newly renovated Muenster Curling Club.