That proud participant would be me, even though I was on one of the three non-winning teams (a term much preferred over LOSERS) participating in the Bonspiel, the preferred term for the past three or four centuries for a curling tournament.  They were/are as follows:  the winning SnowSource team, The Stoners, Team Alpine, and Orange Crush… my team, so named 9 years ago since each of the original members owned a blaze orange knit cap to keep us alive during November’s deer hunting season here in the Rangeley Region.  That was, and still is, the closest thing to a team uniform worn by these intrepid curling enthusiasts. 

First the facts from yesterday, February 25th, 2024.  The winning team, SnowSource, consisted of the following:  Connie Copp, Captain Greg Andrews, Ken McDavitt, Heide Hale, and Cliff Raymond.  The winners each received a gift certificate to Classic Provisions and the much-coveted inscription of their name on the 2024 brass plaque to be affixed to the one-of-a-kind Chris Devine Curling “Stone”.  The word “stone” is in italics because the club’s founder and spiritual leader, (so to speak), made the first set of 16 stones out of concrete poured inside two stainless steel mixing bowls…..no kidding! (see the photo of the trophy). 

The proud part is associated with two significant elements:   

1. The entire phenomena of outdoor curling in Rangeley is due to the enthusiasm and leadership of the aforementioned Chris Devine.  He literally MADE it happen in large part by actually making 16 very unique and functional concrete curling stones.  He organized the first club formation and basic curling instructional meeting one evening a dozen or so years ago at Ecopelagicon nature store (now The Rangeley Adventure Store) on the shore of Haley Pond in downtown Rangeley.   

Chris arrived in Rangeley in 2012 with his expertise in environmental management and his enthusiasm for outdoor sports in tow…to devote 5 years as the Executive Director of the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust (RLHT)  He made his mark championing added programs, certifications and improvements to the fine organizatio….and almost concurrently, he made his recreational mark with the establishment of the Rangeley Lakes Curling Club.   

Sadly, he resigned his position at the RLHT in 2017 for health reasons, and three years later in 2020 he passed away due to cancer at the age of 51.  He remains very much missed by both organizations.  The members of the curling club created a handsome trophy (the wooden base by member Jeff Zapolsky and the re-created original “stone” by member Peter Christensen).   A small plaque is added each year since the inception of the annual BONSPIEL TOURNAMENT with the names of the winning team members inscribed.   A large plaque is affixed above the first nine annual plaques with the following inscription: 

 THE CHRIS DEVINE Curling “Stone” 

 IN HONOR OF OUR FRIEND, AND ENTHUSIASTIC
DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE SPORT AND
COMRADERIE OF CURLING IN RANGELEY, MAINE 

 The trophy may be viewed inside The Rangeley Adventure Store during business hours. 

2.  The competitive fun and camraderie associated with the Rangeley Lakes Curling Club that has existed for at least a dozen years.  How can one not have fun given that this curious sport consists of terms such as: hog line, button, house, sheet, hammer, rock, hack, slider, stone, broom, end, and so forth.  I will leave it up to you, the reader, to Google curling, then put those and other terms together to create a general set of rules in your mind of this sport of ancient Scottish origin. YouTube would be an added resource.  Note: The American Olympic Curling Team, based in Duluth, Minnesota, won the gold medal in the most recent Winter Olympics.

Each “stone” (the large object that one propels the length the ice or “sheet” must weigh between 44 and 38 lbs. and ideally is quarried from granite, most ideally from a quarry in Scotland).  There are many techniques employed to occasionally make the stone travel to where the player wants it to go.  Outdoor curling is extra tricky.  An indoor curling venue would be great with their Zamboni-nurtured ice, but they are fairly expensive to build and maintain.  Are you paying close attention…my charitable cold weather sports enthusiast readers? 

So there you go, the Cliff’s Notes version of the ongoing history of curling in Rangeley, Maine.  It is not the only winter sport in this fine community.  We also have downhill skiing at Maine’s Favorite Ski Area: Saddleback, the Rangeley Snowmobile Club, arguably the state’s best with the most extensive groomed trail system, and the Rangeley Region Trails Center with groomed trails for classic and ski-skating cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, fat bike cycling, and hiking year-round.  The winter sports competition is stiff…but always friendly.  So, I implore you to join us next December for the 2024-2025 season on the sometimes variable ice of Haley Pond.  it is an infectious sport in the most positive sense of the word!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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