I am so very honored to have the opportunity to represent this club as President. In many ways, this is an historic moment for our club. As you may know, I am the first female President of the Fort Rouge Curling Club; I am the daughter of a past president; I grew up in this building and spent many hours at the Rouge, both on and off the ice. This club is truly a part of my life, and I am looking forward to helping it grow into new seasons and opportunities.
I am so proud of our curling community for the way we have supported each other, especially over the last 4 years. Our membership is, as a recent past president stated, “the most loyal, most generous members of any curling club in the world”. You are the best! Our club has been represented at many Provincial and National competitions; we often see some of the best curlers in the world throwing rocks on our ice; we have dedicated volunteers; we have great food and service available from A&V; manager Dennis Sworyk, the lounge staff, and Head Ice Technician Churchy and his staff keep this place running smooth in professional fashion. We are truly fortunate.
I joined the Board in 2017 as the Junior chairperson because I was concerned about the state of the Junior program. I have seen the Junior program shrink and grow substantially over my lifetime. When I was a junior here, we had 2 FULL leagues, one for girls and one for boys. These days, we have one mixed Junior program that runs 3 different groups on Saturday evenings. It is still very much a grass roots program, run by volunteers and open to all skill levels for youth 6-20 years old. Making the transformation to our current format has helped attract a larger number of registered kids than we’ve had in quite a while. I am very hopeful that soon we will be able to run 2 time slots for Juniors again. A girl can dream...
Speaking of dreaming, some of the things I hope to accomplish in my 2-year term are developing plans to renovate the basement to include new locker rooms, which would likely include some renovations to the main floor as well; increasing our membership to match or exceed the numbers we had pre-pandemic; making year-round use of the clubhouse/lounge with social activities which would also benefit our kitchen leasee; improving the communication between the club and membership including the website and social media presence; a variety of FRCC retail merchandise to help advertise and celebrate our club; continued Hardline broom fundraisers; all this in addition to the regular business of running a curling season with in house leagues; rental leagues and special events.
The Board of Directors will have some new faces as we say goodbye to long-serving board members Glen Tobie, Randy Baraniuk, Candace Parker and Caroline Madarino. I’d like to thank each of them for their many hours of dedication and volunteer time. Erik Wallace will move into the role of Past President after over a decade in various roles on the Board.
We have some brand-new Board members joining...Welcome Cam Owens, Ian Campbell, Jeremy Lokstet, Paige Beaudry. And welcome back Jim MacGregor. Caroline will also stay involved as part of a renewed committee... The Special Events team! She will be joined by Kristin and Allison Shiach, and hopefully a handful of other volunteers who will look after the planning and implementation of things like the Kids Holiday Party, and the annual golf tournament. We are hoping to add other events such as poker tournaments, cribbage tournaments, a Trivia Night, Puzzle Mania, paint nights, karaoke, special wining-and-dining evenings... there are so many possibilities.
Thank you for taking the time to read my message. I believe that we all want continued success for our club and our sport. This only happens with considerable effort and community involvement. Please participate in our club organized events; answer the call to volunteer when you are able; bring your friends and family to the club; share your love of curling with someone new. These are the things that you can do to ensure curling doesn’t fade away. If we are all the person who asks, the future of curling becomes more secure.
On behalf of the 2024-2025 Fort Rouge Board of Directors, we are very excited for the upcoming season and thank you for being a part of our community! Hope to see you on the ice real soon!
Kara Balshaw
President
