It was unusual for Bentley to run with less than a full slate in the annual Seniors Bonspiel but it happened this year. Due to two teams dropping out at the last minute, 30 rinks instead of the usual 32 teams, competed from Jan. 17 to 21.
The A event final went down to the very last rock when the team of Cliff Carson from Lacombe beat Bill Gibson from Red Deer. The champions for this year were lead Harvey Rice, second Craig Shaw, third
Elaine Oldford, and skip Cliff Carson. Carson had to make his very last shot of the game after the two teams were tied 4-4 coming home. Finishing third was the Norm Start rink from Bentley and in fourth was Bud From from Sylvan Lake.
The B event was also a good game. These two teams were also tied 4-4 coming home. The Ken Brown team made up of players from Lacombe ended up winning over the Norm Crossman Bentley foursome. Brown had last rock but didn’t have to throw it. On the winning team were lead Sharron Bergen, second Emil Bergen, third Marj Gorday and skip Ken Brown. Finishing in third place was the Al Jones rink from Winfield, and in fourth was Bob Pahl from Lacombe.
Tied for first place in the C event, as it was not played out to declare a first and second place in a modified draw, were the teams of Dennis Moore, skipped by Wayne Bolseng, who ran the Paul Norvila Bentley team out of rocks, and Vernie Monroe from Sylvan Lake, skipped by Wayne Moss, who won over Merle Craven from Red Deer in seven ends.
Because it was a modified draw and only played out to the fours, there were four top teams in the D event. They were Chris Jensen (Lacombe), Ken Cookson, (Lacombe), Ted Long (Bentley) and Bud From (Sylvan Lake).
Cash was received for each game won. All curling was daytime only. There were eats provided for the curlers by volunteers each day.
The winner of the $500 worth of meat and the small deep freezer raffle this year was Bev Reid. She didn’t need the freezer so it was sold and she received the cash.
A catered banquet was held in the Bentley Ag Centre on Jan. 20 with a multitude of donated door prizes - enough that two players on each team received a door prize. There were some other special prizes and draws as well.¦Support from sponsors, donors, and volunteers remain exceptional.
As it warmed up this year, long icicles formed hanging along the roof of the lounge area and the weight eventually ended up tearing off the eavestroughing on the south side of the building in that area. It is unclear whether insurance will cover the damage.