New lights at the Curling Club

By Grant Cree

The Morinville Curling Club lighting is now 20 percent brighter after a team of volunteers gathered on April 18 to install new LED bulbs. Don Bodinsky, President of the Morinville Seniors Curling Club, and a work crew completed the task in three hours during a busy morning.

“We replaced all of the lights in the main rink and in the front reception area with LED bulbs,” said Bodinsky, an avid curling enthusiast. “They were just straight fluorescents before. On a light meter, it showed over 20 percent gain in light. Plus, it’s pure white instead of a yellowish light. So it’s a huge, huge difference.”

Bodinsky noted the Curling Club has been in town since 1954. “We’ve got senior members as old as 88, still curling. We introduced stick curling a dozen years ago or so, and it’s allowed all the curlers to keep going.”

Club members persevered during the pandemic challenges. “We were up and down, depending on the lockdowns,” he said. “We did open earlier than many places because we had everybody a double and triple vaccinated. Seniors are very cautious.”

The club adopted safety rules so members could enjoy their time on the ice. This included wearing masks, placing teams at opposite ends of the ice and enforcing social distancing guidelines.

Bodinsky thanked all the volunteers for rallying to help brighten one of their favourite places to enjoy friendship and curling fun. “A special thanks to Darryl Brennies; he’s a member of the club who provided the lights at a real discounted price. He closed his electrical business and retired.”

The Morinville Curling Club opens for registration on September 10, and curling is scheduled to begin on October 1. “It all depends on when the ice goes in,” said Bodinsky. “Everybody will come in then, and we’ll show off the new look.”