Jam pail curling in Old Market Square went to a whole new level today when Mayor Brian Bowman stopped by to play a friendly game with us on the new rink.
To say he stacked his team would be a huge understatement. His team consisted of 2018 Olympic gold medal winner Kaitlyn Lawes, Jeff Stoughton – coach of the Canadian Mixed Doubles Olympic Team, Selena Kaatz – Member of the Wild Card Team (Team Einarson) in the 2018 National Scotties tournament of Hearts, Darren Oryniak – member of the Provincial Senior men’s Team, Laurie Macdonell – who curled in the Provincial Scotties Tournament of Hearts with Lisa Menared, and Craig Baker – Executive Director of Curl Manitoba.
“When the Mayor asked if we’d be up for a friendly game of curling with our experimental jam-pail rocks, I had no idea that he would bring such a world class team with him. Most of us have only curled a few times. But we were really excited to have these incredible athletes out to help us break in the ice,” said David Pensato, Executive Director of the Exchange District BIZ.
It was a beautiful sunny day but the ice held up and we had a great crowd of media and spectators out for the event. Even with Kaitlyn Lawes as skip for the mayors team we’re pretty sure the All-Stars took it easy on us, keeping the game casual and fun.
“It was a really fun day,” said Pensato. “It was great to be out using the ice and have such high profile guests. We worked hard to get the rink up and running. Nick Van Seggelen of Bodegoes and Mike Del Bueno of King + Bannatyne put in countless volunteer hours to get the rink built. And we’ve worked out the kinks for some rough and ready jam pail curling, creating make shift hacks and finding creative solutions to get our rocks to slide— adding some Olympic spirit today really makes it feel complete.”
We are excited to continue our Thursday Throw Jam Pail curling every Thursday between 11:30-1:00 for as long as the rink holds up. Bring your friends, your coworkers, or just come on your own and join a team, the more the merrier! And of course, you can bring your skates down anytime and have a nice skate in the heart of the Exchange District.