Manitoba Organization: Heather Curling Club

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Presidents | Sources

Originally known as the St. Boniface Curling Club, established in 1915, the name was changed to the Heather Curling Club at the first annual meeting. A group of Norwood neighbourhood residents obtained a charter, incorporated a company, and constructed a five-sheet building at the corner of Marion Street and Braemar Avenue.

The official opening of the club occurred on 8 January 1916. In 1931, the old rink and club rooms were renovated and enlarged. By 1945, that facility was in need of repairs so the club scrapped the old building and built a new seven-sheet rink which had its official opening in December 1949. The clubroom section of the building was not replaced until 1951. Two years later, Heather was the first city club to install an artificial ice plant.

In 1964, an offer to purchase the property by a supermarket chain was made and accepted so, in 1965 in conjunction with the club's 50th anniversary, Heather built a new eight-sheet rink at Youville and Yardley Streets in south St. Boniface.

Competitively, Heather has had two rinks represent the province at the Canadian Men's Curling Championship: the Clare De Blonde team in 1976 and Doug Harrison team in 1978. Heather teams has also had success with its mixed team skipped by Ernie Boushy winning two Canadian Championships in 1964 and 1966. In 1980, Jim Dunstone also won a Canadian Mixed Championship. In 1989, Cathy Overton skipped her team to the Canadian Junior Women's Championship, and in 2004, Martin Bailey's team won the Canadian Open Masters Championship.

Presidents

Period	President
1915-1917	Arthur E. Godsmark (1872-?)
1917-1918	Francis Robert “Frank” Dowse (1876-1948)
1918-1922	William Oswald “Ossie” Graham (1886-1964)
1922-1924	David Croom Whyte (1882-1928)
1924-1925	Joseph “Joe” Hearn (1884-1953)
1925-1927	William Nevison Ragland (1885-1975)
1927-1928	Joseph Arnold Bleakley (1883-1961)
1928-1930	Herbert Samuel Trumpour (1872-1947)
1930-1931	Joseph Thomas “Joe” Borrowman (1884-1954)
1931-1933	Andrew Thomas “Andy” Wilson (1877-1963)
1933-1934	Joseph Lorne Thompson (1894-1955)
1934-1936	James Henry Gibson (1896-1976)
1936-1937	Robert MacLean
1937-1938	George Charles “Charlie” Court (1978-1959)
1938-1939	Sidney A. Henderson (1888-1967)
1939-1940	Albert “Alf” Barling (1885-1943)
1940-1941	John Paterson “Jack” Hutchison (1902-1960)
1941-1942	Archie Fowler McIntyre (?-1972)
1942-1943	James “Jim” Reid (1885-1969)
1943-1944	Frederick “Fred” Ward (1906-1966)
1944-1945	Robert Lorimer “Lorrie” Howden (1911-2001)
1945-1946	Raymond Adkins Hughes (1903-1980)
1946-1947	Herbert “Hebby” Axford (1894-1974)
1947-1948	William James “Bill” Thorogood (1906-1978)
1948-1949	Colin Beavis “Bee” Carson (1913-1983)
1949-1950	Rudolf August Rudy Fibiger (1902-?)
1950-1951	George Edward “Ted” Carmode (?-1999)
1951-1952	Robert Lawrie Kergan (1905-1964)
1952-1953	Joseph Melville “Mel” Kneeshaw (1901-1964)
1953-1954	James Allan (1872-1970)
1954-1955	William Alfred “Bill” Villiers  (?-2001)
1955-1956	Ingvar “Jerry” Oterholm (1912-2009)
1956-1957	Mike Demetrioff (?-1993)
1957-1958	John “Red” Watt (1907-1983)
1958-1959	Alfred Wells
1959-1960	William George “Bill” Noyes (1911-1984)
1960-1961	Melvin Paul “Mel” Johnson (1905-1983)
1961-1962	Charles Herbert Weber (1909-1981)
1962-1963	William “Bill” Hallem (1914-1990)
1963-1964	Raymond Lloyd Johnston (1922-2019)
1964-1965	John “J. B” Demetrioff (1915-1991)
1965-1966	Victor L. Fisher (?-1988)
1966-1967	Robert Findlay Reid (1917-1992)
1966-1968	Anthony James “Tony” Gaudes (1924-1996)
1968-1969	Robert Raymond “Bob” Noyes (1935-2011)
1969-1970	Omer Van Walleghem (1917-2013)
1970-1971	Terry Hughes
1971-1972	Garry DeBlonde
1972-1973	Walter Omer Van Walleghem (1914-1975)
1973-1974	Alexander Melrose “Alex” Swan (1908-1974)
1974-1975	Frederick George “Fred” Ellis (1929-2021)
1975-1976	Edward Greig “Ed” Hird (1932-2010)
1976-1977	Dick Van Walleghem
1977-1978	Dr. Richard Howden
1978-1979	Roy Harold Arndt (1935-2015)
1979-1980	Lloyd Boden
1980-1981	William Hughes
1981-1982	William Peter “Bill” Harrison (1947-2017)
1982-1983	Brian Arthur Pedden (1935-2021)
1983-1984	William Biehl
1984-1985	Dave Pedden
1985-1986	James Peter George “Jim” Okolita (?-2022)
1986-1987	Roger Pantel
1987-1988	Art LaCoste
1988-1989	Louis Kolly
1989-1990	Gary Thornton Smith (1940-2016)
1990-1991	Richard “Dick” Balog (1938-2021)
1991-1992	Bill Mestdagh
1992-1993	Leonard John Conrad “Len” Spitznagel (1932-2022)
1993-1994	James Samson
1994-1995	Kenneth Rowson
1995-1996	Claude Marc Gabriel Joseph Vigier (1957-2014)
1996-1997	Gilbert D. Dorge
1997-1998	Lynn Coleman
1998-1999	L. Douglas Harrison
1999-2000	Robert E. Allan
2000-2001	Normand J. Philippe
2001-2002	Blair Brown
2002-2003	Ian Rogers
2003-2004	Ron M. Anderson
2004-2005	Stanley Keith “Stan” Dudenhoffer (1940-2022)
2005-2006	Rick A. McRae
2006-2008	Craig Frizzley
2008-2010	Allan Handford
2010-2012	William Biehl
2012-2014	Ron Declercq
2014-2015	Vacant
2015-2016	Eric McCormick
2016-2017	Vacant
2017-2018	Vacant
2018-2019	Vacant
2019-2020	Vacant
2020-2021	Vacant
2021-2022	Vacant
2022-2023	Vacant

See also:

The Heather Curling Club, 1916-2016: An Illustrated History by Ed Ledohowski for Heather Rink Limited, 2018 [PDF format, 45 MB]

Sources:

This page was prepared by Rick Mutton and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 May 2023