Volunteer of the Year #1: François Vary
Transcription
Volunteer of the Year #1: François Vary
FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2004 Volunteer of the Year #1: François Vary By Bruce Deachman Imagine the smell: melted rock handles and trophies, an incinerated piano, books and furniture turned to ash. That acrid electrical odour of a fried computer terminal; the dizzying stench of carpets, clothing, bubbling paint and countless other objects; all gone up in smoke, down in flames, and finally drenched by the fire department’s hoses. All in all, nearly a half-century of history was lost. That was the scene that faced François Vary in the early days of 2002, as he surveyed the damage caused by a Jan. 6 fire to his St. Lambert Curling Club. For Vary, then club president of the three-sheeter located across the St. Lawrence River’s south shore from Montreal, the news would get worse. The club’s insurance coverage was woefully inadequate, and when everything was tallied up, the best they could hope for was some $700,000, about half of the estimated $1.4-million replacement cost. Many members, of course, would find other clubs in which to play some tem- porarily, others permanently. Because, face it, everybody likes to watch a fire, but no one wants to curl in its aftermath. For Vary, however, walking away and writing it all off was not an option. He was determined that, like the mythical Phoenix rising from the ashes, St. Lambert’s curling club would again host bonspiels. It would once again display the camaraderie and social vigour that had made the club so popular with its members. It would, through a Little Rocks program that had, overnight, been reduced to a few pounds of melted plastic, return to continue fostering a love of curling in youngsters. Vary did all that, in a remarkably short period of time, and without adding to the club’s debt load. Just 11 months after the fire, and only four months after the longawaited insurance settlement allowed them to begin reconstruction, St. Lambert’s curlers were again back on home ice. François Vary is a relative newcomer to curling. The 52-year-old advertising consultant had, until his forties, been actively involved in tennis, including a dozen years as president of a tennis club. But by the mid-1990s, he and his wife were looking for a sport they could pursue together, something they could start from scratch. They had watched curling on TV, but just weren’t sure. Through his work, however, Vary knew Marco Ferraro (of Marco hack fame), a one-time competitive curler who had thrown second’s stones for Lawren Steventon’s 1988 Quebec Brier entry. In 1994, Ferraro decided to hold a funspiel for his industry colleagues, and invited Vary to play. Continued on page 2 CURL ATLANTIC SPRING SYMPOSIUM 2004 “INVESTING IN YOUR CLUB’S FUTURE” Curling clubs today are experiencing tremendous change both within the culture of the sport and its participants and the environment in which they exist. Demands in terms of financing, rising utility costs, competition from many more winter activities than ever before and increasing consumer demand for quality products and services are creating new pressures in the business of curling. This spring Curl Atlantic, in conjunction and in cooperation with the Newfoundland & Labrador Curling Association, the Prince Edwards Island Curling Association, the Nova Scotia Curling Association and the New Brunswick Curling Association, is pleased to announce the 1st Curling Club Symposium for Atlantic Canadian clubs. • four meals including a banquet on the Saturday night, • coffee breaks • an opening reception on Friday night, • and course materials (both a hard copy and a CD-ROM). Each of the four member associations have offered to cover some of the costs for curling clubs in their jurisdictions. Please contact your member association for details on what funding is available. We highly recommend that every curling club in Atlantic Canada attend and that they send a minimum of three people (there is not a maximum number of attendees). There are three simultaneous sessions and for your club to absorb all the information provided, three representatives would be ideal. SCHEDULE This Business of Curling Symposium will be held May 14th - 16th on campus at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. http://www.mta.ca Curl Atlantic’s goal is to bring together all curling clubs across the Atlantic Region for a weekend of learning and sharing. During this symposium, you will hear from a number of interesting and highly qualified speakers, who will offer their expertise in several key areas which all curling clubs face on a daily basis. The cost is a very affordable $180 per person which includes: • two nights accommodation in residence at the university (based on double occupancy), Friday, May 14th • 7:00pm – 11:00pm Registration & Check-in • 8:00pm Opening Reception Saturday, May 15th • 9:00am – 5:00pm Keynote Address and Business Sessions • 7:00pm Banquet & Entertainment (guest speaker – Guy Hemmings) Sunday, May 16th • 9:00am – 12:00pm • Business sessions and closing CONTENT A. Curling Club Operations 1.The Curling Club Bar • spirits, wine, and beer - acquire a greater knowledge of products and new consumer habits • learn methods for pricing individual drinks, tracking inventory, preventing loss • regulations - stay informed about new legal issues • to smoke or not to smoke 2.Our Books – Keeping Track of our Hard-Earned Money • getting comfortable with accounting software • what accounts do we need? • producing reports – when and why • to budget or not 3.Refrigeration – an in-depth look at how it all works • follow the brine from start to finish • what are the capital costs of replacing equipment including shelf life? • how to maintain equipment to lengthen life expectancy • new methods to save energy and save money 4.Making Championship Ice at Your Club • new scraping patterns and why they work • improved maintenance • innovative tips • ice technician contracts: what’s in them? Continued on page 6 What’s Inside Guy Hemmings Rockin’ the House Tour ..............1,2 Curling Clubs Go Smoke Free ............3 Volunteer Burn Out................................4 lastCCA issue 2003 Volunteer of the Year Award ..........................5 The Blind River Curling Club ..............5 2003 Curling Development Fund ........6 The Legacy of Montreal Thistle..........6 LaScie - A Success Story! ..................7 Abby and the Curling Chicks ..............7 After the game... ..................................8 Your Curling Club and the Sandra Schmirler Foundation ......8 2004 Strauss Canada Cup of Curling..................................8 FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2004 Volunteer of the Year #1: François Vary “I liked the social aspect of curling,” Vary recalls, “and within a year or so, I had jumped right in.” Just before the start of the 1996 season - Vary’s second as a member - St. Lambert’s secretary quit, and their board, aware of his experience with the tennis club, asked him to take over. From there, it was just a matter of time, two years as membership director, followed by a stint as vice-president, until Vary became club president. Danny, on Feb 10th emailed you to let you know that the 3 images for St Lambert arrived corrupt. Could you please resend? thx Kelly And then, just a few months into his term as president... poof, it was gone, in a billowing cloud of ugly black smoke. The cause of the fire was never determined, but its effects were clear. The walls remained, but that was pretty much it. About the only things that could be salvaged were the pipes underneath the ice; the plant had suffered extensive water and smoke damage, and would have to be replaced, as would the brine tanks. The two-storey lounge and all its contents were destroyed. Just about everything that the club had accumulated since it formed in 1955, with the exception of the loyalty and goodwill of its members, was gone. Even at that, though, many members were finding other places to curl. There wouldn’t be enough money from the insurance company to bring back what they had lost, and who knew when, or even if, the club would be up and running again. Things were looking bleak, indeed. “It was important to rebuild, and to do it as soon as possible,” says Vary. “If we had missed a full season, we felt, the morale of our members could have been bad. “There are other clubs in the area, and although none of them preyed proactively on our members, they were there. We could have lost many more members. “As well,” he adds, “the longer you take to rebuild, the harder it is to keep your volunteers.” So, just as he had jumped feet-first into curling a half-dozen years earlier, Vary took it upon himself to do whatever he could to save St. Lambert’s curling club. According to club member Walter Charron, it was a task that might not have happened, were it not for Vary. “I have had the opportunity to visit many curling clubs in all parts of Canada over the last 45 years,” he says. “Serving terms as director and President of St. Lambert Curling Club, the Governor Generals Curling Club and the Canadian Branch of R.C.C.C. have given me some insight and appreciation of the challenges faced my François Vary. “The rebuilding of the St. Lambert Curling Club is largely due to his efforts and leadership.” That leadership began with the club’s Rebuilding Committee, which Vary chaired. At some point over its 22 meetings that year, the club realized that it would have to act as its own general contractor if it were to successfully rebuild with the limited budget available. “We had to make some choices,” recalls Vary. “We had to build a one-storey clubhouse instead of two. We had to do away with the nice wood panelling inside. “There were sacrifices here and there, and some hard bargaining.” There were challenges around every corner, it seemed, and Vary, who had the least curling experience of anyone on the club’s board, had to manage it all. “First of all, there was a people-management challenge,” he points out. “People were very, very willing to help and participate in the project, and we had a very good board of directors. But it’s difficult to keep everything in focus. People were eager to get out and get things done regrinding and refurbishing the rocks, a loan here and there, whatever. But it had to be done in an organized fashion. “There was a lot to accomplish, and a lot of decisions to be made, and we needed everyone focussed on the same thing.” But managing the people was only half of Vary’s challenge. Rebuilding a club from virtually nothing involves a great deal of expertise in a great many areas, and getting it all done in less than a year requires that things flow smoothly and quickly. “Building a curling club, with new building norms and having to deal with all sorts of technology and decisions to be made regarding costs what kind of stove are we going to have, for example, what furniture and what sort of heating everything had to happen within a few months,” says Vary. “There was a lot to do in a very little time, and in areas of uncharted waters,” he adds. “We had to do all sorts of things, all at once. We had to have everyone agree and focus on about 60 different projects at once.” Over the 11-month period from devastation to rebirth, Vary chaired or attended about 45 meetings and devoted an average of 20 hours each week to getting curling back in St. Lambert. He handled the insurance negotiations, eventually re- continued ceiving the full policy amounts. He dealt with 15 different building trades. “History records that adversity produces great leaders,” says Charron, “and that has indeed been the case in St. Lambert.” Vary also set up fundraising and refurbishing committees. He helped organize the plan to offer members 10-year leases on their lockers, which raised more than $2,000. They sold sponsorships for their rock handles. They participated in a summertime softball game against a local radio station. “We did a little fundraising there,” recalls Vary, “but mostly it was to keep people together.” Another of his initiatives was the club’s Thank-You Wall, a display case that bears the pins of the 70 clubs that came to St. Lambert’s aid, either with material, financial or moral support. “We sent personalized letters to every club in North America,” says Vary, “with a pamphlet that shared some pointers about what we had done wrong before the fire, so that they might not make the same mistakes. “From that, the Laurier club in Victoriaville held a bonspiel and gave us half of the proceeds. Glenmore, in West Montreal, gave us $1,000. Pointe-Claire replaced our club championship trophy. An Ontario club offered us their junior rocks.” Meanwhile, Vary kept in contact with St. Lambert’s members, mailing newsletters and sending e-mails to keep them informed of the club’s progress. “Getting the club rebuilt wasn’t the end of it,” says Vary. “Once we had it up, we had to bring the members back and manage a half-season, meanwhile continuing to refurbish the club.” His efforts have paid off. St. Lambert’s adult membership, which dropped 30 percent immediately following the fire, is now back to where it was. The club’s junior program, meanwhile, boasts 30 more junior members than it had previously, and was named the best in the province by Curling Quebec last year. Vary is quick to point out that St. Lambert’s rejuvenation wasn’t a one-man job, and that it wouldn’t have happened without all the support he received. By the same token, there might not have been curling in St. Lambert today without him. “There are so many great things done by volunteers at more than 1,200 clubs in Canada,” he said upon learning that he’d been selected CCA Volunteer-of-theYear. “It’s a great feeling and a great honour. I’m going to be on Cloud Nine for the next month-and-a-half.” Web site hosting offer to member curling clubs Web site hosting offer to member curling clubs. It is almost a daily occurrence where a Canadian curling club launches a web site to promote their business and the benefits of membership. To help save your club some money and get free access to a dedicated web site address – without those annoying banner ads or pop-up windows – we can help. The Canadian Curling Association can provide paid web hosting and services to any member curling club for a one time set-up fee of $40 and a monthly hosting charge of $6. (Year One cost would be $119.84 – GST included. Year Two cost would be $77.04 – GST included) You do not require a domain name (or the annual costs of owning your own domain name). The CCA has registered www.curlingclub.ca and any club can use this domain with our hosting package by simply adding the club name, i.e. www.winnipeg.curlingclub.ca. You will not be connected in any way to www.curling.ca or any other CCA affiliated site nor will you be required to host banner ads or any other form of advertising. The package includes 10 e-mail addresses which, for example can be used for your staff and or board members: i.e. [email protected] or [email protected] or even [email protected] In addition, the following is list of services that are included in this package: a) data transfer of 2000 MB/month b) disk storage of 25 MB/month c) 10 e-mail Aliases d) a sub-domain name featuring the name of your club <www.yourclub.curlingclub.ca> e) e-mail technical support f) unlimited FTP updates which allows you to make changes to your site 24/7 g) custom ASP/CGI scripts allowed – this is for advanced users, applications like guest books, bulletin boards, etc. are allowed. h) detailed web statistic reports i) Microsoft FrontPage extensions for users who develop websites with Microsoft FrontPage j) daily tape-backup of your site – you will never lose more than one day of information! k) Windows Media (audio/video) l) MS Active Server Pages m) Free CGI Script Library n) MS SQL Server 6 o) ODBC database support p) SSL Secure Server 7 For more information go to www.curlingclub.ca or to order this service, fill out the online form at https://www.curling.ca/curlingclub/order_fo rm.asp. 2 FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2004 Volunteer of the Year #2: Joe McGill By Bruce Deachman { “The curling club was number-one, and I was number-two.” There is no anger or resentment in Kathleen McGill’s voice, just a loving appreciation of how important curling was to her husband. Joe McGill, who died last August of complications from surgery to remove a brain tumour, spent the last decade or so of his 68 years doing whatever he could for his home-away-from-home, Mississauga’s Dixie Curling Club. Joe did not save the Dixie from some sudden, unexpected catastrophe. He didn’t single handedly raise tens of thousands of dollars to pay overdue property taxes. He didn’t recruit hundreds of curlers to revive an ailing membership. Joe McGill quietly cut the grass. He cut the grass, did plumbing repairs in the washrooms and fixed the air-con- Is it true what they say about Dixie? Does the sun really shine all the time? Well do the sweet magnolias blossom at everybody’s door? Do the folks keep eating that possum til they can’t eat no more? ditioning and heating systems when they broke down. He unplugged grease clogs in the kitchen and replaced the ballast in the lights. He also solicited and examined quotes to repair the roof, refrigeration and heating systems, dehumidifiers and thermal ceiling. He got the ceiling fans working again, and replaced the boards and walkway around the club’s six sheets of ice. He painted, cleaned up garbage and removed mould from signs. If the club’s alarm went off in the middle of the night, Joe was the first one to be called. Last year, he was the club’s vice-president, yet still found the time to curl at least four games a week; a fiery competitor who might turn his back on a teammate who missed the broom, then turn around again, the whole matter quickly forgotten. “The club was his first love,” says Kathleen. “He loved going down there and working and puttering around. “Then he’d come home for a bit, but he’d have to go back to the club to do some work. I used to say, ‘You could take a bed down there and stay,’” she adds, laughing. For decades, Joe, a sales manager with an insulation firm, had curled out of Toronto’s Board of Trade. After it ceased its curling operations, he joined Dixie. “I can’t remember when he didn’t curl,” admits Kathleen. “That was his first passion. When we got to (Dixie), he just took to it like it was home.” Joe often referred to Dixie as “the old girl.” Dixie member and friend of Joe’s, Al Lauder remembers when McGill arrived. “Right off the bat he started to volunteer for things,” he says, “and the first thing you know, he knew more about the building than anybody else. He delved into every nook and cranny of that building, and he knew what was going on.” According to club president Angie Anderson, Joe used to keep track of the odd jobs he’d do, and report each month to the board. “There were never problems, only solutions,” she says. “No job was beneath him and most of the time, our board didn’t even know there was a problem until he reported at the next board meeting that it was solved. “Joe saved the day many times.” Those who knew him report that he sought no attention for his good deeds. “Whenever we tried to bestow and praise on him,” recalls Lauder, “he’d say ‘Aw, no. It’s just something that I like to do.’ “It was always a labour of love. He liked to finish a job and look at it. He got a lot of satisfaction out of doing the jobs that he did.” “Dixie was his home, his baby,” adds Kathleen. “Judging from the number of people who came to the parlour and funeral, he would have been awed that he touched so many lives in so many ways.” A fitting tribute to a not-so-fitting end, Joe McGill was buried with his curling gear: broom, shoes, sweater, the works. “If he’s not curling now,” says Kathleen, “he’s sure making a good attempt to make some ice up there and getting a team going.” TITLE for the website story??? Web sites have become effective communication and recruiting tools for Canadian curling clubs. It is critical, therefore, that you provide the 'right' content for that potential customer who may drop in to find out a little about your club. Here are five current curling club web sites that are doing a very nice job of presenting their business to the market place in an efficient and informative format. The first web site we encourage you to visit is www.unionvillecurlingclub.com in Ontario. The site is well laid out with key information for new players under New Member Info which is very easy to find. Also included are the membership fees, a schedule of events, the club’s history, and newsletters: both back issues and the current version on-line. Finally and most important, the club’s contact information is simple to find. Next is a simple yet effective site for the Mont Bruno CC in Quebec. www.curlingmontbruno.com has a clean and elegant look with all the information you might need to know about this club that is very easy to find and certainly allinclusive when it comes to content. Their newsletter is up-to-date and available from each web page under Le 9ième bout (The 9th End). The photo section is also well done and easy to navigate. A new customer would certainly see that this is a ‘fun’ club judging from the group of photos. Nice work! On to the Lakeshore Curling Club – www.lakeshorecurlingclub.com – in Nova Scotia. Again simplicity is often elegant and is certainly the case here. As a Finally, Delta Thistle in British Columbia – www.deltathistle.com offers a combination of good looks; good information and an easy to navigate structure that makes it one of the better curling club web sites. potential new member/non-curler, I find this site visually pleasing and it answered all of my questions on membership / instruction / about the club. More good work! The Leaside Curling Club in Toronto has a superb site. Go to www.leasidecurling.ca and browse around; you will be impressed at the quality of information especially for new members. Excellent stuff. Summing up the keys to success of these individual sites can be made with two statements. The first is that they developed their sites with new members in mind. They certainly have much in the way of info for their current members, but each is well prepared for that new curler who wanders by to take a look. Each of these sites gives a new curler enough reason to contact the club and ask for a tryout. The second statement is that each of these suites has easy to find contact information. You’d be surprised how many curling clubs have nice web sites with no way of contacting the club!!. Good luck with your web sites. 3 FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2004 CURLING VERSION 1.0 WCF and CCA get hip with new digital promo In the Business of Curling© program, much emphasis is placed on membership retention and keeping what we worked so hard to get. The section on membership (available at w in the Business of Curling section) contains a piece titled: Retention Realities which includes the following important points: • Many clubs give the lion’s share of resources to recruitment and spend little if anything on retention. • Curling members continually evaluate the value of their membership. To keep members, clubs must “deliver the goods”. • Paying special attention to first-year members can convert them into active lifelong members. • Retention is tied in part to how a member was recruited. It starts with the first contact. We are confident that by using this Mini CDROM as a membership retention tool, you can be successful in keeping your members, especially those who have joined the club within the last two years. By giving this Mini CD-ROM to new and/or inexperienced participants to the sport, you will be focusing on their retention, you will be “delivering the goods”, you will be paying special attention to your first or second year members, and, you will be making a great impression during that first contact with a prospective customer. The CDs are $2.00 each and must be ordered in quantities of 50. For just one hundred dollars, you will be making a giant step forward in retaining your members, growing your business and, as a Board; you won’t have to pray that your new members return next season. They’ll be back because you care. Contact Rachel Delaney at or call 1-800-5502875 (101) to place your order. You can also order on-line at http://www.curling.ca/store/ index.asp. (Note: orders are subject to 7% GST. Ontario residents add 8% PST. Shipping of this product is FREE!) IN A STUNNING DEVELOPMENT that could make an enormous impact on the age-old conundrums of novice curling promotion and retention, the World Curling Federation and the Canadian Curling Association have co-created a major promotional tool, a mini CD-ROM. The recent Continental Cup was the backdrop for the announcement, which will see thousands of CDs packed with new curler information, graphics, stills and moving pictures made available in January. Now there is some modern ammunition in the promotional curling weapon, and it’s called Curling - Version 1.0. Just as curling club owners, presidents and managers finally seem to be getting the message that they need to provide stewardship and support to new curlers once they’ve signed up, along comes a funky CD to make that orientation job even easier. Once dropped into the CD-ROM drive of any personal computer (PC platform), new recruits, prospective curlers and novice players can walk through a collection of videos, animations, still photography and text that illustrate, in a simple and easy to understand format, how to really enjoy the sport of curling. “Interest in the sport around the world is at 4 Axnick and Sticker the highest level ever, mainly due to the increased TV coverage of major curling competitions,” said WCF President Roy Sinclair. “This mini-CD will, at the touch of a button, provide the answers to the ‘what is curling’ question and will, I am sure, be a major contributor to the sport’s development.” CCA Club Development guru Danny Lamoureux is equally pumped. “We have high hopes not to make money, but to get this in the hands of the new curler and increase the curling club’s ability to retain members,” he said. “Too often we take their money at the start of the year and then ignore them until it is time to renew. Guess what? They don’t! “As part of the Business of Curling program, we are stressing to clubs that retention is critical and to retain members they need to provide them as much information about the sport and their clubs as possible. The CCA and WCF feel this mini CD is an inexpensive part of that orientation process and will help clubs cement a relationship with their first year members instead of praying like hell they come back next year.” The mini-CDs will be available for purchase by Canadian customers from the CCA office; they will be available in the US from the United States Curling Association (USCA); and, for the rest of the world, they will be available through the WCF offices in Scotland. Lamoureaux estimates that up to 50,000 new curers are recruited every year, and every year the sport loses approximately the same amount. “Our goal is to help curling clubs reduce that attrition rate to 10-15 per cent,” Lamoureaux said. “The sense of triumph will come when clubs are bursting at the seams, and we believe the sport is well positioned to do just that in the next 5-7 years Lamoureaux said. “This CD is just a small part of a larger plan of tactics aimed at improving the business of curling.” Canadian Curling News recently sat down with the hackers behind the product, the German duo of Oliver Axnick and Markus Sticker. Axnick is well-known in high-performance circles as a long-time member of the Andy Kapp team, while Sticker is a recent convert to the sport -- from his computer desk, that is. CCN: How did the two of you get involved in this project? Axnick: That’s a long story! It started with Markus, who doesn’t curl, and his daughter, who does curl... she took a curling trip to Edmonton and played many bonspiels around Europe, all of them well-funded by the German Curling Association. Markus was impressed, and then he realized curling doesn’t have a real internet presence in Germany, and he created the www.curlingbasics.com website, which in a short time has become well known in the curling world. His website prompted me to contact him regarding my idea to develop an animated curling demo, to help promote German curling. All this his happened during the season right before the Olympics in Salt Lake City -- I had personally experienced the lack of German awareness of curling during and after the Olympics in Nagano, and I wanted to do something to avoid that happening a second time. That’s how everything started. We finished version 1 of the curling demo in German and made it available for download from several websites. Then version 2 was produced for the Italian Curling Association, obviously in Italian. Meanwhile, Markus created the German Curling Association website: www.dcvcurling.de, but despite all that we wanted to spread our curling message to the world, and so we contacted the WCF. CCN: Who from WCF or CCA oversaw the project? Axnick: I contacted my friend and former German national coach Keith Wendorf, who works in development for the WCF, in early 2002. Keith liked it, convinced the WCF to invest, and since then has been the key driver for the project. At a summer curling camp in 2002, Keith introduced me to Danny Lamoureux who was preparing an animated demo for the CCA at the same time. We agreed that we should work together on the WCF demo and exchange knowledge. That was the first time we thought about doing this for the CCA, when Danny expressed his interest in distributing the curling demo on a CD in Canada. CCN: How did the team work? Axnick: This was excellent virtual team work that required a ton of discipline. Our group only met in person for the first time at least a year after we started, in summer 2003, and that was also the first time I’d actually met Markus face to face, we’re about 500 kilometres apart. Keith did a tremendous job with the content, especially the technical aspects of curling, as accurate as possible. He was the subject matter expert, the reviewer, and had to sign-off on the finished product. Danny and the power of the CCA was a big motivator; just knowing that the product would be used in a country where curling has an outstanding reputation and importance was huge. Danny’s flexibility and resources gave the demo a “complete” feel. Markus, of course, was the most important guy in the team. He had to translate all the curling-specific information into computer language, and spent tons of time on new animations, piece-by-piece assembly... really the guts of the CD. CCN: Okay, obviously Oliver isn’t going to blow his own horn. Markus? Sticker: The entire project was Oliver’s idea. He structured the project and is the architect of the whole technical content of this curling demo. He’s the one who managed communication, who did the first translations, conceptual design, structure and support... he by George Karrys was the project manager. I don’t think I would have finished my work without Oli’s direction and positive vibes. I want to use this opportunity to thank all the individuals that somehow helped and supported this project with pictures, reviews, background painting, video digitalization etc. This is why this Version 1 looks like it could be Version 5. CCN: Was it difficult for a non-curler to deal with the details of curling animations? Sticker: Well, when we met this summer Keith told us about a draft version of the demo he showed to a Canadian audience. I was told that pebbling is like going down the ice sheet with a watering can, so that is what I showed in the initial animation, pouring water directly onto the ice and walking over it in a forward motion. Apparently the crowd laughed big time, and obviously I changed it! CCN: You have competed for a long time Oli -forgetting that you are intimately involved for a moment, what do you think about the project concept and its importance for curling? Axnick: Curling is a very complex sport. Everyone who sees the game for the first time has so many questions, like “how heavy is the rock?”, “why do you sweep the ice?” I believe the secrets of this entertaining sport come to the surface if the spectator has an understanding of the basics. Therefore education is the first step in strengthening curling’s reputation and importance. At the same time, Canada is basically another planet in curling terms and that’s why we also focused on technical aspects, like the delivery, in addition to the basics. The possibilities that modern media allows were obvious. Today a computer is what the TV became 30 years ago, almost everyone has one or can use one. The CD is simply put in a computer and the demo easily starts. It explains and shows more than any brochure can. And it’s even possible to display the excitement and the atmosphere of curling... I still get goose bumps when I see Guy Hemmings’ last rock in that video we included (Ed note: naturally this was Hemmings’ winning shot in the 1999 Brier semifinal). This is what you need to finally convince people that curling is exciting! CCN: Is this a one-time project? Axnick: We hope not! I hope we get lots of feedback in order to get new ideas on how to enhance the curling demo. Keith has also prepared a document that can be used by other curling associations to translate the English version into different languages. Markus then uses this document to change the language of the contents on the CD. CCN: Okay, why doesn’t Markus curl and when is he starting? Sticker: I do not curl because I am much to lazy to get up at 5:30 AM on Saturday morning to go to Düsseldorf Ice-Stadium. The training there begins at 7:30 AM because curlers only get the ice before the hockey players arrive. The conditions in Düsseldorf are not good; the ice is not prepared for curling, the rings are not drawn into the ice, we have to draw it using textmarkers. I don’t think these are the conditions for me to start learning curling. At 5:30 on Saturday mornings, I want to sleep. FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2004 Bénévole de l’année # 1 : François Vary par Bruce Deachman (traduit par Chantal Poulin) Imaginez la senteur : des poignées fondues, ainsi que des trophées, un piano incinéré, des livres et des articles en poussière. Une odeur désagréable de fils électriques d’ordinateur cuits; une puanteur de tapis donnant le vertige, des vêtements, des bulles de peinture, sans compter tous les autres articles; tous partis en fumée, dans les flammes et finalement arrosés par les boyaux des pompiers. En un mot, près d’un demi-siècle d’histoire qui était perdu! Voilà la scène à laquelle François Vary a fait face au début de l’année 2002, alors qu’il inspectait les dommages causés par l’incendie du 6 janvier au club de curling St-Lambert. Pour Vary, président de ce club de 3 glaces situé sur la rive sud du St-Laurent à Montréal, les nouvelles ne pouvaient pas être pires. La couverture d’assurance du club était totalement inadéquate, et après avoir fait le bilan de la catastrophe, le mieux que nous pourrions recevoir était la somme de $ 700 000, à peu près la moitié du coût d’estimation de remplacement pour l’évaluation de la bâtisse qui représentait la somme de $ 1,4 million. Plusieurs membres, bien entendu, ont alors trouvé d’autres clubs pour y jouer temporairement, d’autres y sont restés sur une base permanente. Pourquoi? Faisons face à la musique! Parce que beaucoup aiment regarder un feu, mais peu aimeront jouer à l’intérieur par la suite. Pour Vary, cependant, quitter la scène ou radier le tout n’était pas une solution. Il était déterminé, tout comme le mythique Phoenix qui surgit des cendres,… le club de curling St-Lambert serait encore l’hôte de bonspiels. Ce club présenterait encore une atmosphère de camaraderie et un côté social qui a permis à cet établissement de devenir si populaire pour ses membres. Il organisera encore un programme de petites pierres, alors que ces dernières sont présentement réduites à un amas de plastique fondu, afin de continuer à donner aux jeunes cet amour qu’ils ont pour notre sport. Vary a tout fait ça, dans un laps de temps absolument remarquable, sans augmenter la dette du club. Onze mois après l’incendie et seulement 4 mois avant la longue attente du règlement final en ce qui a trait à la couverture des assurances, ce qui leur permettrait de commencer la reconstruction, les membres du club St-Lambert sont revenus sur leur propre glace. François Vary est relativement un nouveau venu au curling. Le consultant spécialiste en divertissement de 52 ans, a jusqu’à ses 40 ans, été impliqué au tennis, en incluant ses 12 ans comme président d’un club de tennis. Mais durant le milieu des années 1990, lui et son épouse étaient à la recherche d’un sport qu’ils pourraient jouer ensemble, quelque chose où ils pourraient partir de rien. Ils avaient regardé le curling à la télévision, mais ils n’étaient pas sûrs d’aimer ça. Par le biais de son travail, cependant, Vary connaissait Marco Ferraro, (des blocs de départ Marco), un ancien compétiteur qui avait joué au poste de 2e pour Lawren Steventon au Brier en 1988. En 1994, Ferraro a décidé d’organiser un Bonspiel pour ses collègues industriels, et a invité Vary à jouer. « J’aime l’aspect social du curling, » a dit Vary, « et en l’espace d’à peu près un an, j’étais vraiment embarqué dedans. » Juste avant le commencement de la saison 1996 – la 2e année pour Vary – le secrétaire du club St-Lambert a donné sa démission, et leur conseil d’administration, connaissant son expérience avec le club de tennis, lui a demandé de prendre la place. À partir de là, il ne s’agissait que d’une question de temps, 2 ans comme membre directeur, suivi par une année à la vice-présidence, pour devenir président par la suite. Et puis, tout à coup, après quelques mois, au début de sa présidence, … pouf, tout était parti, dans un gros nuage de fumée noire. La cause du feu n’a jamais été déterminée, mais les effets ont été clairs. Les murs ont tenu le coup, mais c’est tout ce qu’il restait. Les seules choses que nous avons pu sauver ont été les tuyaux en dessous des glaces; l’emplacement a subi des dommages causés par l’eau et la fumée intense, et devront être remplacés, ainsi que les réservoirs de saumure. Les salles des 2 étages et tout ce qu’ils contiennent ont été détruites. `Tout ce que le club avait ramassé depuis sa fondation en 1955, à l’exception de la loyauté des membres et leur bonne volonté, était parti. Et qui plus est, , malheureusement, plusieurs membres se sont joints à d’autres clubs où ils ont pu jouer. Il n’y aura pas suffisamment d’argent en provenance des assurances pour redonner ce que nous avons perdu, et qui pouvait dire quand, avec des si, … que le club pourrait fonctionner un jour. Les choses semblaient vraiment très ternes. « Il était important de reconstruire, et nous devions le faire la plus rapidement possible, » a dit Vary. « Si nous laissons passer une saison entière, nous étions sûrs que ça affecterait probablement le moral de nos membres. » « Il y a d’autres clubs dans les environs, cependant aucun d’eux n’a tenté de rapatrier nos membres, ils étaient tout simplement là! Nous aurions pu perdre davantage de membres ». « De plus, a-t-il ajouté, plus vous prenez de temps pour rebâtir, plus il est difficile de conserver les bénévoles" » Et puis, tout comme il avait plongé les pieds devant dans notre sport il y a une demi douzaines d’années auparavant, Vary a pris sur lui-même de faire tout ce qu’il pouvait pour sauver le club de curling St-Lambert. Selon un membre du club, Walter Charron, « C’est une réalisation qui ne serait peut-être pas arrivée, si ça n’avait pas été de Vary ». « J’ai eu l’occasion de visiter plusieurs clubs à travers le pays depuis les derniers 45 ans, dit-il, « En servant le club de curling St-Lambert en tant que directeur, puis président, ainsi que le club de curling Gouverneur et la « Canadian Branch of R.C.C.C. », tout ça m’a donné une vision et une appréciation des défis vers lesquels François Vary avait à faire face. « La reconstruction du club de curling St-Lambert est due largement à ses efforts et à son leadership ». Ce leadership a débuté avec la formation du comité de reconstruction, alors que Vary en était le président. En tout et partout, plus de 22 réunions ont été nécessaires durant l’année, le club a réalisé qu’il devrait agir comme son propre constructeur s’il voulait reconstruire avec succès tout en respectant le budget disponible. « Nous devions faire des choix » a rappelé Vary. « Nous devions construire un club à un étage au lieu de deux. Nous avons dû sacrifier les boiseries que nous avions à l’intérieur. « Il y a eu des sacrifices un peu partout, et nous avons dû courir les soldes ». Il semblait y avoir des défis à tous les coins de rues, et Vary, qui était celui qui parmi les membres du comité avait le moins d’expérience, a dû prendre les choses en main. « En tout premier lieu, il y avait un défi au niveau de la direction et de son monde », avait-il précisé. « Les gens étaient très prêts à aider et à participer au projet, et nous avions un très bon Conseil d’administration. Mais il est difficile de garder le « focus » sur toutes ces choses. Les gens étaient empressés de commencer et de faire des choses concrètes, telles que de replacer des pierres, avec un prêt ici et là, peu importe. Mais ça devait être fait d’une façon organisée et bien fait. « Il y avait beaucoup à faire, et il y avait beaucoup de décisions à prendre, et nous avons besoin que tout le monde soit sur la même longueur d’onde ». Mais diriger les gens, était seulement la moitié des défis de Vary. Reconstruire un club à partir de rien demande beaucoup d’expertise dans plusieurs différents secteurs, et le faire dans un délai de moins d’un an demande que les choses soient menées doucement et rapidement. « Construire un club de curling, avec les nouvelles normes et avoir à rencontrer toutes sortes de technologies ainsi que toutes sortes de décisions en ce qui concerne les coûts, par exemple : quelle sorte de cuisinière allons-nous acheter, quelles sortes d’ameublement ou quelle sorte de chauffage allons-nous avoir, tout ceci devait être fait dans quelques mois », dit Vary. « Il y avait beaucoup à faire dans un court laps de temps, et dans des secteurs inexplorés, ajouta Vary. « Nous avons dû faire toutes sortes de choses pour la première fois. Nous devions tous être d’accord et diriger nos efforts vers environ 60 projets différents en même temps ». À partir du 11e mois de la dévastation jusqu’à sa reconstruction, Vary a dirigé et assisté à environ 45 réunions et s’est dévoué jusqu’à 20 heures par semaine pour reconstruire le club de curling de StLambert. Il a mené les négociations avec la compagnie d’assurances, pour recevoir éventuellement la totalité du montant de la police. Il a traité avec plus de 15 différents constructeurs. « Les statistiques de l’histoire révèlent que l’adversité produit de grands leaders » dit Charron. « et c’est ce qui s’est produit dans le cas de St-Lambert ». Vary a également organisé une campagne de levée de fonds et un comité d’installations. Il a mis sur pied un plan pour offrir aux membres un bail de 10 ans en ce qui a trait aux vestiaires, ce qui a permis de ramasser $2 000. Ils ont vendu en commandite les poignées de pierre. Ils ont organisé une partie de balle molle contre une station de radio locale. « Nous n’avons fait qu’une petite levée de fonds avec ça, a dit Vary, mais le plus important était de garder les gens ensemble». Une autre de ses initiatives a été la l’instigation du mur des « Mercis », un présentoir qui permet de voir les 70 épinglettes des clubs qui nous sont venus en aide, autant par du côté matériel, que financière, ou simplement avec un support moral. « Nous avons envoyé des lettres personnelles à tous les clubs de l’Amérique du nord, dit Vary. « avec un dépliant leur démontrant les erreurs que nous avions fait avant l’incendie, afin qu’ils ne fassent pas les mêmes erreurs que nous ». « Durant la saison, le club de curling Laurier de Victoriaville a organisé un tournoi et nous a donné la moitié des revenus ». Le club Glenmore, dans l’ouest de Montréal, nous a donné $1 000. Pointe-Claire a remplacé notre trophée de champion du club. Un club de l’Ontario nous a offert ses mini pierres. ». Pendant ce temps, Vary a continué à garder le contact avec les membres du club St-Lambert, en postant des lettres d’informations et en envoyant des courriels pour les informer des progrès du club . « Reconstruire le club n’a pas été la fin de l’histoire », dit Vary. « Un fois que nous l’avons mis sur pied, nous avons dû rapatrier les membres et organiser un demi saison, en d’autres mots, continuer à installer le club ». Ses efforts ont porté fruits en ce qui concerne le « membership » chez les adultes du club St-Lambert, alors qu’il avait baissé de 30% suite à l’incendie, aujourd’hui tout est revenu comme auparavant. Le programme junior, a même augmenté de 30 membres de plus qu’avant le désastre, et il s’est mérité le titre de meilleur programme pour junior dans la province l’an passé. Vary est empressé de dire que le rajeunissement du club St-Lambert n’est pas le travail d’une seule personne, que tout ceci ne serait arrivé sans le support qu’il a reçu. Soyons honnête, les faits sont là, il n’y aurait probablement pas eu de club de curling à St-Lambert sans lui. « Il y a tellement de travail d’accompli par les bénévoles dans plus de 1 200 clubs à travers la Canada., dit Varry, lorsqu’il a appris qu’il avait été choisi comme bénévole de l’année par l’Association canadienne de curling cette année. « ¸Ça fait chaud au cœur et c’est un grand honneur. Je vais flotter sur un nuage durant le reste des 9 mois et demi de l’année ». 5 FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2004 Volunteer of the Year #3: Paul McLean By Bruce Deachman It’s a classic story, really, one used in everything from fiction novels to western movies to romance tales. A stranger shows up in some little town somewhere. The locals might be suspicious at first; the way he does things, well, it just ain’t the way things are done here. Soon, though, they’ve warmed up to him a little, and they’re thinking, well, maybe we could try it that way. And before too long, they’re darn near deputizing him, they like him so much. Meet Paul McLean, a cowpoke who rode into St. Andrews, NS, five years ago and changed the way they curl there. Now you have to understand, St. Andrews, just a few kilometres south-east of Antigonish, is a small town. When they built their three-sheet Highlander Curling Club in 1991, they couldn’t find the big corporate bucks they needed, so 160 community minded investors each ponied up smaller bucks, and they pretty much put the whole thing up with only volunteer help. Much like a barnraising, really, only it took a little longer than a weekend. At that time, Paul McLean was doing his curling in the big city Halifax/Dartmouth, where he served as, among other positions, president of the Dartmouth Curling Club. He was involved in the Brier, while at Highlander, the fiercest competition you’d see at the curling rink was a friendly draw-fromthe-board. They hadn’t ever held an ‘event’ there, and they weren’t sending teams to provincials. Then one day, McLean showed up, with his wife, Sharon, and two kids, Robby and Shannon, in tow. He was the new manager of the Antigonish Mall, but chose to live in St. Andrews to be near the club. He and Sharon signed up to curl in the Sundaynight mixed league, and Robby, along with his Level-1 coaching dad, began taking part in the club’s junior program. What followed was a steady blossoming, as McLean sometimes almost unwittingly added one piece after another, transforming the once-sleepy backbencher into a vital force in Atlantic Canada’s curling scene. Culminating in his selection as runner-up CCA Volunteer-of-the-Year, the 45-year-old McLean left his prints on every aspect of the game in St. Andrews, from the oncea-week recreational curler on up to the top. From working with juniors, McLean soon found himself coordinating the hosting of the PANS (Police Association of Nova Scotia) March Break event, an annual competition of under-17 curlers. If it seems a daunting task to arrange for 50 teams to play a four-day bonspiel at a three-sheet club, it is. “It was quite a balancing act,” recalls McLean. “But we got through it, and that was the club’s first taste of a competitive event.” McLean continued working with Dominic Daemen’s junior team, taking them to numerous competitive ‘spiels, zone playdowns and Canada Games qualifiers. Last February, he coached them to Nova Scotia’s Under-17 title, and followed that three months later with a win at the Atlantic Junior men’s championships in Summerside, PEI. “(Paul) takes great care to show these boys the importance of giving back,” says Highlander’s past-president, Garrett Juurlink. “His players are becoming wonderful volunteers in the community under Paul’s lead.” “His coaching made other clubs take notice when a Highlander team arrived to play.” Meanwhile, with McLean’s help, some of the best curlers in the Maritimes, including Russ Howard, Sean Adams and Paul Flemming, started showing up at Highlander. A local building supply company wanted to sponsor a bonspiel, and they asked McLean to chair the event. And so was born the Central Home Improvement Hammer Classic, which offers close to $20,000 in prize money, is now one of the stops on the Atlantic Curling Tour. “Without Paul’s tireless effort,” Juurlink notes, “our members would not have the opportunity to see this caliber of curling.” But McLean’s efforts at Highlander go deeper. He serves on the Ice Committee and, with a group of adult and junior assistants, is the person out there shaving, sweeping, pebbling and flooding the ice. He was instrumental in having inserts put in their rocks, also implementing the rock sponsorship program that paid to have that done. And he gave St. Andrews curlers an opportunity to play competitively at the club level, forming the club’s first fixedteam league. “When I got here,” says McLean, “there was no competitive curling. You’d go, sign up for the night, draw names out of a hat and that was your team. “I said, ‘This is crazy. This is why you’re losing members.’ That’s fine when you have a new club and nobody’s ever curled before. But when you’ve curled for four or five years, you’d have maybe a dozen players that were good enough to want to be on a regular team.” Still, McLean faced some opposition from a membership that had, up until then, been entirely non-competitive. “But we convinced them to set one night aside and try it,” he says, “and now we have a competitive night with eight teams.” On top of it all, he’s also the fifth man and coach of Kevin White’s men’s team, which qualified this year for provincial playdowns, finishing second in zones to Flemming, and was elected last year to Highlander’s board of directors, where he serves now as second vice-president. According to club president Harry Daemen, “Paul McLean is so interwoven into every aspect of the Highlander Curling Club fabric of volunteers, that it is hard to separate his leader and do-er qualities. Underlying and driving his contributions is the basic love for the sport.” CURL ATLANTIC SPRING SYMPOSIUM 2004 “INVESTING IN YOUR CLUB’S FUTURE” Continued from page 1 5.Club Insurance / Liability / Property Taxes • do you have suitable coverage and are you paying too much? • what is Directors and Officers coverage • property Taxes – how to ensure you are paying your fair share. B. People 1. Recruiting New Customers • are we missing out on new markets? • how to design an effective recruiting campaign • sealing the deal 2.Retention or ‘Keeping What We Worked So Hard To Get’ • what is customer service • orientation – a new buzz word • 5 Effective Steps to Retention 6 3.Volunteering – our valuable workforce • creating an effective volunteer plan; • recruiting much needed help; • “paying” our volunteers for their work 4.Junior and School Programs • who is responsible to deliver programs for our teenagers? • key components of a successful junior program • how to partner with schools for effective and ‘lucrative’ programs • safety issues 3.Board Governance • what type of Board of Directors should we be? • roles & responsibilities • committee structures • duty of care C. Learning 1.Corporate Days / Charity Events • how to take advantage of this new trend in corporate recreation and charity fundraisers 2.Show me the money! • how to write effective & successful sponsorship proposals • hosting championships – the pros and cons • where are the grants that can help your club and how to write the application 3.Technology and how it affects the business of curling • membership databases – why you need them • web site design – their value as an information and marketing tool • e-mail newsletters – everyone reads them 4.Adult Intermediate Development • golfers, regardless of handicap, can get instruction to improve their game. Now curlers of all skill levels can too! We will show you how to implement and deliver an effective program for your members. 5.The “How To Guide for Little Rocks” (or youth curling) • everything you need to know to organize and operate and successful Little Rock Program To register your club, contact Karen Ouellette, regional development coordinator for Curl Atlantic, at [email protected] or call 1-902-463-8847. FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2004 On the road again. Going home from Deer Lake, Nl (Oct '03); Guy will log more than 40,000 miles this year. Anxious young curlers getting their first lesson (Chicoutimi, Qc - Dec '03) ritish uesnel CC in B Q e th t a ll fu A club '04) Columbia (Jan Gerald Shymko versus Guy Hemmings. A replay of the 1999 Brier semi-final. Rumour has it, the Green Giant extracted a bit of revenge!! Guy is standing on the end boards by the way. (North Battleford, Sk - Nov '03) An on-ice battle with members of the o (Oct '03) Virginiatown CC in Northern Ontari ord. The Hemmings Tour has A visit to the school in North Battlef nds of elementary and high school been fortunate to have visited thousa students since 2001. Guy feels stron gly about visiti ng se residences to sa y hello and mee nior ting big television fans of our sport (N orth Battleford, Sk - Nov '03) My first slide...and not my last!! (Chicoutimi, Qc - Dec '03 ) Young curlers in Englehart CC in Northern Ontario(Oct '03) 7 FEBRUARY/FÉVRIER 2004 The Sandra Schmirler Foundation has a new pin for sale in 2004. It is only $5 and your purchase of this pin will help this important foundation achieve its mission. The Sandra Schmirler Foundation was created in January, 2000 as a legacy to Sandra in recognition and celebration of her love of family. The realization of this idea was a collaborative effort by the Canadian Curling Association, Scott Paper Limited (founding sponsor of the Scott Tournament of Hearts), family and friends. Working hand in hand, the Foundation’s mission is to help families with children challenged by life threatening illnesses. Since its inception, the Foundation has proactively provided support to charities that are interfacing with the lives of families in need. To order your pin, call Joanne at 1-800-550-2875 (108) or e-mail to [email protected]. Best Western International is a supplier to the CCA's Season of Champions and to the Guy Hemmings Rockin' the House Tour. In cooperation with the Canadian Curling Association, they have designed the Member Value Program for the benefit of all Canadian curlers and their families. As a member of the Canadian Curling Association, you are entitled to savings up to 20% at more than 4000 Best Western hotels worldwide... each featuring the service and amenities you want at a price you're willing to pay. Space for Danny MultiCast Networks Inc. (MCN) MultiCast Networks Inc. (MCN) a leading sports and entertainment web streaming solution provider, in co-operation with the Canadian Curling Association will be providing a global, web-casting Pay-Per-View package for the Nokia Brier being held in Saskatoon, Sk, March 6th to 14th, 2004. MCN Sports will be webcasting the event using the highest quality of Internet technology, showcasing an exciting brand of world-class curling at Canada’s premier curling event. MCN offers unprecedented simplified streaming solutions “as a service”, so media, sports and entertainment content providers have ready access to the power and technology they need, whenever they need it. “The excitement and quality of competition displayed at the Continental Cup of Curling tournament will be delivered throughout the world at a very affordable price through our exclusive SX4 (v.2) software and delivery model” said Marc Brunet, President and CEO of MCN. To sign up for streaming of the 2004 Nokia Brier, look for this logo Use this service for bonspieling, business travel, family vacations or any reason to stay at the world's largest hotel chain! Simply call your special MVP telephone number and mention the Canadian Curling Association number and start saving today. MVP Toll Free Number 1-800-441-1114 code number for eastern Canada 00154250 code number for western Canada00151970 Have a safe trip! Privacy Notice - The Canadian Curling Association is committed to respecting the privacy of visitors and electronic members to the web site. The CCA does not and will not gather any specific personal information from this service. on the main page of the CCA’s web site at http://www.curling.ca or go directly to the MCN site at http://sx4.mcnsports.com/events. The cost for the 2004 Nokia Brier webcasting packaging is $19.95US. Enjoy! Editor - Danny Lamoureux, Canadian Curling Association • 1660 Vimont Court, Cumberland, ON K4A 4J4 1-800-550-2875 (106) toll free in Canada only • 1-613-823-2076 (106) all others • 1-613-834-0716 facsimile [email protected] • www.curling.ca 8
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