WINNIPEG – It’s just frozen water.
But there’s a lot more that goes into making a good curling sheet.
“Temperature, humidity and water quality,” said Harvey Lyons. “All of those things.”
Lyons would know. The Lorette curler is obsessed with ice. A passion that has paid off.
“I’m going to the Brier,” said Lyons. “I couldn’t make it as a curler but I’m going to the Brier!”
Lyons will be recognized this week with Curling Canada’s volunteer of the year award at the national men’s championship for saving his town’s rink.
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“The ice got really bad here for awhile,” said Lyons. “A lot of us just left. We went someplace else.”
Members started to abandon the Lorette Curling Club a few years ago due to poor ice conditions. The lowest point came during the 2012-2013 season when the men’s league moved to another town.
“It was very swingy,” said Denis Sarrasin, one of the curlers who play in Lorette. “Whenever your ice curls too much, it’s unpredictable. It’s very frustrating to try and curl on ice like that.”
Afraid his club would be a complete wreck, Lyons took it upon himself to transform the ice.
“We were scrambling,” said Betty Ann Orr, the Lorette Curling Club’s past president. “We knew we had a crisis. So when Harvey approached me, I was very open to any ideas.”
Lyons talked to other ice makers, took courses and installed a filtering system, volunteering roughly 40 hours a week at the club for an entire winter.
“I’m not sure we would have had the success we have had without Harvey’s contribution,” said Orr. “I know we wouldn’t have.”
Not only did curlers return to Lorette, membership also grew.
“It takes another person, somebody else who takes the initiative to step up and do something with the ice,” said Lyons. “People follow once you go. That’s where I’ve gone.”
Lyons will receive his award during Saturday’s Brier semifinal.
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