It all started way back in the 1800’s, when curling was played, outside, on the Mill Pond. Curlers brought their own rocks, heavy coats, the brooms from the kitchen and warm boots. Teams from Milton would compete against neighboring towns like Fergus, Guelph and Brampton. I’m sure the prize would have been bragging rights and good bottle of scotch.
We then moved into the early 1900’s when curling took place on natural ice on either side of the outdoor skating rink on Mill Street at Garden Lane. There was one sheet of curling ice outside of the hockey boards. These sheets of curling ice were where people would stand to watch the hockey games. I’m pretty sure ice conditions for curling were not what we are used to today. This rink was demolished and there was no place to curl in Milton. Players would then travel to Guelph, Brampton and Toronto to participate in the sport of curling.
In the late 1950’s early 1960’s a hard-core group of curlers started talking about the need for a new curling rink in Milton. These conversations continued for the next few years.
Now, cast your minds back to 1964 in Milton Ontario. I know a lot of you were not even born at that time, but Milton was a small town.
We had Steeles avenue to the north, Bronte Street to the west, Ontario Street to the east and Derry Road, which at the time was really out in the country to the south. Inside this perimeter was about 6,000 people and Gord Krantz was not yet our mayor. I know, most of you probably think that Gord is the only mayor that Milton has ever had.
Outside of this perimeter was corn, cows and chickens, Milton was farm country. Everybody knew everybody back then and everybody knew everything about everybody back then.
Word spread about the possibility of a new curling club coming to Milton. A group lead by Ernie Millson, Bill Randall, Bob Reed and others, started.
Asking people from the community to purchase non-dividend debentures at a cost of $150.00 as seed money for the project. Over 200 debentures were sold and by February of 1964 the “new” Milton curling club had over $30,000.00, to put towards the project.
A meeting was held at the town hall and Bob Reed was elected president along with a full slate of officers. The next order of business was to find a site. It was decided to purchase the current property from Dr. Carl Martin, for $10,000.00. With the site in hand, the design and construction work were contracted to a Georgetown firm and construction began in the summer of 1964.
A mortgage of $85,000.00 was secured from the Halton & Peel trust co. The building was partially finished and the ice was installed in November and the first rocks were thrown on November 27th,1964. The official “grand opening” was scheduled for December 30th, 1964, but had to be cancelled because the building construction was not completed. Construction was completed in March of 1965. The new official opening was held on October 15th,1965 which was marked by a two-day mixed bonspiel.
Curling officially had a new home in Milton!
While the men of the Milton curling club were busy with the building of the club, a very energetic group of women were busy in the community forming the Milton ladies curling club. These ladies began curling in the winter of 1965. They would go on to become a very integral part of the fabric which made up the Milton curling club. The first AGM was held on April 26th,1965. President Bob Reed gave an update on the club’s progress. There were 236 debenture holders, curling took place five days a week, with ladies playing during the daytime, men playing in the evenings and men and women playing in mixed leagues two evenings a week. The total costs of the lands, building and contents was $134,600.00. The club had a mortgage of $115,000.00 at 7.25%. Monthly payments were $594.30 per month.
Bar prices were $0.40 for a beer and $0.60 for liquor.
For the rest of the 1960’s, the men and women of the Milton curling club focused on two things, making sure the club could pay their bills and learning to curl. Imagine almost all of the members at the time were new to curling. They had very few people to help the newbies learn to curl. They obviously picked up the game quickly and the club had around (200) members curling on a weekly basis.
Here comes the 1970’s! The town of Milton began to grow with the population exploding to over 25,000. Along with this came many new “experienced” curlers from all over. This allowed the mcc to grow its membership and accelerate the calibre and skill of our curlers. The club implemented a junior curling program to teach high school students how to play. The MCC now had close to 300 members and curling was now being played during the day and evenings five days a week with a bonspiel almost every weekend. Bar prices in 1974 rose to $0.50 for a beer and $0.75 for liquor. It should be noted that there are still several curlers playing at the MCC who were participants in that junior curling program from the 1970’s.
Along came the 80’s & 90’s and beyond. On April 20th,1982 the executive of the club decided to pay off the remaining $23,641.86 of the mortgage. The club was now owned and operated by the members. The club continued to grow with membership at about 375. The skills of our players continued to improve and we had several teams playing throughout Ontario at a competitive level. We had teams compete in multiple provincial championships in women’s, junior boys, junior girls, OFSSA (which in 1984 was won by Steve Oldford, Scott Kerr, Drew Wilson and Al Haringa), intermediates, senior women’s, senior men’s and in 1984 we even had a team compete in the Ontario tankard championships. The team of Ron Rowley, Fred Bell, Craig Thomas and Loris Faggion played well but in the end the likes of Ed Werenich and Russ Howard proved to be too much for the young team from Milton.
As you can see by the banners on the wall our members have won many provincial championships and continue to compete at the provincial level year after year. Over the years we have had curlers like Leigh Armstrong and Kirsten Harmark who have competed at the national and Olympic level. It is my hope that with the strong junior program we have today we can produce a team that will someday compete and represent Milton at these lofty levels. Milton continues to be a very vibrant and competitive club today. We now operate at full capacity with curling seven days a week and a strong membership of over 400 members. Curling is enjoyed at all skill levels. We have social, competitive, junior and senior leagues.
As I reflect on my over 50 years as a member of the Milton curling club, I think back to the thousands and thousands of members that have thrown rocks at these houses. To the many great times and friendships made along the way. But the most important reflection is the huge debt of gratitude that I, and all past, present and future members of the Milton curling club owe to 27 presidents that are recognized on the wall above the windows. These men and women along with the hundreds of directors who stood up to lead the Milton curling club deserve a tremendous round of applause and thanks from all of us.
The foundation of the “building” is made of concrete and blocks but the early leaders created the foundation of the “club”. They decided that the MCC would have a culture of volunteerism. It is that culture and the willingness of all members to do their part and help with operation of the club that has allowed the Milton curling to club to survive, continue to maintain and continuously improve. It is my hope that this culture of volunteerism will continue until the 100th anniversary! If it does, i’m confident that the milton curling club will continue to be “the best 4 sheet curling club in Ontario”.
Craig Thomas
Past President 2007-2009
