64 rinks and 8 youth teams compete at 6th annual Farmers and Friends Bonspiel
April 4, 2023, 11:48 am
Donna Beutler
After a weekend full of bonspiel fun during the 6th annual Whitewood Farmers & Friends, the top teams walked off the ice with a huge sense of accomplishment after more than three days of curling in the largest bonspiel under one roof.
The 64-rink bonspiel plus the eight-rink youth bonspiel was held at the Whitewood Community Centre March 23 to 26 and featured a live auction, a Calcutta, a draw to the button, silent auction and more.
The championship team from Regina’s Highland Curling Club consisted of Ben Gamble (skip), Rory McCusker (third), Jade Bloor (second) and Giovanni Wright (lead). The team went undefeated through the entire weekend, winning in the end against the Ray Krupski rink from Lemberg.
Capturing the B Event title was Grenfell Curling Club’s team of Kelly Hollinger (skip), Jordan Hollinger (third), Bowman Bryant (second) and Marc Sales (lead). They won against Yorkton’s Jason Morris team after sailing through the spiel with one loss.
The Vern Stanhope team from the Moosomin Curling Club took top honours in the C Event and included Vern Stanhope (skip), Jeff Warkentin (third), Steve Warkentin (second) and Chris Mannle (lead). Their win came at the expense of the team known as Dickies Angels which consisted of players from Maryfield and Whitewood.
Skip Scott Mannle of Whitewood and his team which included Bryce Olson (third), Todd Miskiman (third) and Blair Jones (lead) won the D Event in an extra-end playdown against the Karen Beutler rink of Wapella.
In the Junior A Event final, the team from the Esterhazy Curling Club team won out over the Bartlam team of Whitewood. The team consisted of Brandon Weiss (skip), Treston Stewart (third), Nathan Weiss (second) and Elijah Chomos (lead). Their final game was played against the Kenneth Bartlam (skip) rink and his team of Izaac Peter (third), Jake Domres (second) and Damon Stevenson (lead).
This year marks the 6th annual Farmers & Friends Bonspiel. Covid hindered the full continuation of the event for consecutive years, but thanks to a remarkable group of volunteers, they did not allow anything that would cause them to lose their momentum and came back last year stronger than ever. This year they added eight youth additional teams on top of the 64 they have each year.
Not only was there some great curling competition but this event has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. In fact, in the five years prior to this that the bonspiel was held, a remarkable $355,000 was raised. This year the live auction netted $96,750; $5,670 from the bonspiel’s portion of the Calcutta; and $8,700 from the silent auction.
The Farmers & Friends bonspiel recognizes a community member that has devoted much of their life to recreation and this year’s Recreation Lifetime Achievement award went to long-time Whitewood resident and former school teacher and principal Russ Hamilton of Whitewood.
Sponsors from all around the area have provided great items for the live auction. This year alone saw 56 items—the most ever. There was some strong bidding from a full house of bidders and spectators and almost all of the items sold for more than their value.
According to Farmers and Friends organizer Jennalee Beutler of Whitewood, the total calcutta pot was $37,800.
“The bonspiel keeps 15 per cent and then 85 per cent as follows: A Winner gets 30 per cent, A runner up and B winner get 15 per cent, B runner up, C Winner and D winner get 10 per cent and C and D runner ups get 5 per cent,” Beutler explained, “so the ‘buyer’ of A winner team got $9,639.
“The 50-50 went to the Whitewood 4-H Beef club,” Beutler added in an interview with the World-Spectator following the event. The 4-H Club received $1,970 and both 50-50 winners donated some or all of their winnings back to the Farmers & Friends.
“Non-profits that helped with bar shifts and who will receive donations were Whitewood Fire Fighters, Grenfell Curling Club and Whitewood Wiggles & Giggles Daycare,” Beutler added. As for the kitchen shifts, they were manned by members of the Whitewood Skating Club and will also receive a donation.
The Farmers & Friends committee are already working towards next year’s event which will definitely include the Junior event as well as the 64-rink spiel. Forty-two teams have already entered for the 2024 event which will remain open for registration of this year’s participants until December 15. If there are spots open after that date, the committee will look to the waiting list which currently has more than a dozen teams waiting for a chance to be part of the next big event.
The door prize elimination draw of $2,000 was won by the Colton MacPherson rink and the draw to the button contest ($500) was won by Aaron Hershmiller with Jason Morris throwing for him. Hershmiller had his name twice in the top 10 so he had to pick someone else to throw his second entry. Since it didn’t cover the pin, the progressive entry pot will carry over to next year and will now start at $2,780 next year.
Beutler said the business support for sponsorship has truly been remarkable. This year there were 100 either silver, gold or event level sponsors plus bronze sponsors on top of that.
“Overall,” Beutler concluded, “it was another tremendously successful weekend with nothing but positive comments from curlers, sponsors and spectators! Raising this amount of money over one weekend in our small town is nothing short of remarkable and it takes many different groups of people to make that happen––sponsors, auction supporters, curlers, volunteers and committee members!”
Next year’s spiel is slated to run March 28 to March 31. Tweet
