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Peter Grainger Chronicle Special Canada's best curler will com- pete for the coveted $50,000 Labatt Brier Tankard trophy beginning March 2 at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Twelve teams representing Canada's provinces and Territories will be playing what some curling offi- cials feel will be world-class curling during this week long event. "We expect to set a Briar attendance record of well over 110,000 spectators during the 10 day event" claims K-W '86 Brier. fest Chairman Mike Wagner. (The unique name Brierfest is patterned after this area's na- tionally famous annual Oktober- fest Festival.) The Labatt Brier was also held here in 1962 - the year well remembered by local curling fans for its three-way tie for first place and the incredible sudden death playoff between Ernie Richardson and Hec Gervais. "Today players use a Scottish brush or disc broom (metal plate covered with cloth), matched Brier rocks, and play on spe- cially groomed ice prepared by a professional ice-maker." "Cully" Schmidt, former man- aging editor of the K-W Record, who remembers that exciting I962 Brier playoff, played for Ontario in the 1950 Brier in Vancouver. "Curling has come a long way since we played in the 1950's" he commented recently. "In those days we used brooms and just hoped the ice would be true and keen every day! " he re- marked. Schmidt played on Carl As- mussen's foursome out of Kitch- ener's Granite Club tied for third place in the '50 Brier. "Of course you didn't receive as much money or publicity for winning then. So there was less pressure" he recalls, "and probably more. fun and socializing among teams. You see, a special CPR charter train picked up each provincial team starting in Bali. fax. By the time we arrived in Vancouver, we had a few days to At Sears, no aopomtment us necessary to get professional auatuty photograotuc portraits We welcome adults and tarmly gtoucs Each add-honal sutotect :9 only 956 POSES OUR SELECTION Theme, attractive options avaitnble in addition to this otter Wtute Background Black Back- ground and Double" F nature Portraits Also woitlbte lnqtant Passport Photos 'Aporonmau- sum OFFER FOR PORTRAITS TAKEN THRU MARCH , Studlnc w aim! m a store for ”.vi Jud h Upcoming Brier stirs memories from years past Your money‘s worth and more "a rctad stores mum! London Check your tocal u! \tudm operation Haw your Sears card socialize with players of the other provincial teams." The Kitchener-Waterloo area has been a hotbed of curling activity for over a century. The Fergus Curling Club, for exam- ple, originated in 1834 - one of the first in Canada. (Fergus is 30 miles northeast of Kitchener) From 1930-50 Kitchener curling clubs represented Ontario ten times in the Brier competitions. The Hall brothers - Russ, Bert, and Perry - skipped six of those rinks, with Bert Hall's foursome winning the 1939 Brier Tankard in Toronto. The Brier Championship began in 1927 when eight rinks partici- pated in playdowns at Toronto's Granite Club. Since then, this national curling championship has been played in every prov- ince and every one of Canada's provincial capitals allowing curl- ing enthusiasts across the country to watch such legendary skips as Ken Watson from Mani- toba, Edmonton's Matt Baldwin and Regina's Ernie Richardson win the prestigious Brier Tan- kard. Vince Scherer, vice-president of public relations at Stedelbauer Motors in Kitchener, recently reminisced about those "good old days" of curling in this area. Scherer, a 38-year veteran mem- ber of Kitchener's Granite Club, played with Bert Hall. The first year the Brier was contested - 1927 - Scherer was a 15-year-old bank clerk at the Standard Bank (now part of Canadian Imperial Bank of Com- merce) in Plattsville, Ontario. He curled regularly on the Plattsville natural ice sheets, "There wasn't much else to do in those days" he recalls, "and being a predominatly Scottish community, the game of curling was taken seriously." Plattsville is the birthplace of Bert Hall and his brothers as well as the home rink for such well-known curlers in the 20's as the Fergusons, Hewitts, and Pratts. When Scherer moved to the K-W area in the 1940's and joined Hall's Automobile dealership, his boss Bert Hall ordered him to collection 1 22.2 2-8110s. 2-5tt7s, 10 wallet size . portrait 15L; piece Sears Portrait Studio tociudes 95t damsel join the Granite Club as part of his terms of employment. Scherer never regretted the move, He got to play - in his opinion - with the best draw curler in Canada, Bert Hall, and the sec- ond best draw man, Bert's brother Perry. (Perry Hall has been the only K-W curler ever to be elected to the Canadian Curl- ing Hall of Fame.) Membership WELCOME TO A BEAUTIFUL LIFESTYLE The Cost 45t Just per Day (Continued on page 29) SINGLE $165.00 COUPLE $225.00 (manna I may FAMILY $280.00 (Husband. WM. 1 2 (mum) SAVE UP TO 75.00 Your Exclusive Membership Includes: . 11 Racquetball Courts l . Free Beginners Clinics . Racquet Rentals . Saunas . Whirlpools . Fitness Classes . Club Rental Services . Services for both Men ' Women WATERLOO CtottmKtE, WEDNESDAY. PM 20. 1* - PAGE 21 (Mondays only) with this coupon, offer expires March 31/86 only on Monday: with Sharon O'Malley or Shelia Brick Hrs.: Mon., Tues., & Wed. 9-6; Sat. 9-4 Thurs., 3. 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