Shelburne Curling Club hosts Glow in the Dark Bonspiel

Written By Brian Lockhart

The Shelburne Curling Club opened a new dimension for the sport when it hosted its annual Glow in the Dark Bonspiel on Saturday, Jan. 20., at its Shelburne location.

Members from other curling clubs from around the province signed up to participate in the event, featuring the entire playing area filled with black lights that created a fun and rather eerie Glow over the ice sheets.

Everything from the numbers on the scoreboards to the rings on the playing surface was illuminated and glowed under the black lights that filled the ceiling of the building.

Players were also adorned in colours that glowed.

“We've got of lot of returning clubs to this event,” said Jamie Horne, Shelburne Curling Club member and organizer of the Glow in the Dark Bonspiel. “We have people from Mississauga, Chinguacousy, Collingwood, and Alliston, who have come to compete. This year we have 48 players with a random start. Who you play next depends on how a team does. We play winners against winners, and losers against losers. You play three, six-end games.”

Jamie has been organizing this event for the past eight years.

“I joke that it's like playing billiards on ice,” Jamie said of how the game plays out with everything reflected under the black lights. “We paint the rings in the spring, but we paint for this event. It's all florescent paint on the ice. On a normal day, all you see is orange and green but under the florescent lights they pop. We also have skirts that glow on the rocks. You have to see the Skip at the other end of the ice, so we have paddles that are florescent and florescent glow sticks on the ice. We'll have two winners – an early draw and a late draw. We also have prizes for the best dressed team.”

Players can dress to glow in the dark. They quickly learn that some materials don't have the right effect while others work very well and light up.

Some players have it all figured out and look like walking, glowing stick figures under the black lights.

It's a lot of work to get ready for the event, but it's worth it as everyone has a lot of fun and enjoys playing a few games in the different Glow in the Dark atmosphere.