THROWING STONES is a half-hour domestic drama (with a healthy dose of comedy) airing on the CBC on Wednesday July 15th at 9pm Atlantic. The show stars Academy Award winner Patty Duke, Gemini Award nominees Lolita Davidovich and Caroline Neron, as well as Barbara Radecki and Stephanie Anne Mills. Throwing Stones also features a cameo by curling legend, Jennifer Jones!

Meet Patti, Shirley, Annette, Cindy and Marge.  Five very different women just trying to stay afloat amidst the chaos of life: demanding children, high-maintenance husbands, mortgages that keep them awake at night, uninspiring jobs, and all the challenges that come from being a wife, a mother and more significantly, a woman. They’re working class women who do it all and more. And they’re just desperate for a little me time. They are the real desperate housewives.

BUT all is forgotten, all is left behind when they are together, playing, training, and competing for their true love curling. They are proud members of the West Kildonan Curling Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The show uses the principles of curling as a metaphor for life. Patti (played by Patty Duke) believes that all the lessons, rules and wisdom you need in life, you can learn from curling. Every episode begins with Patti philosophizing about one aspect of curling. It is this principle of curling and its larger application to life that will be explored in the episode.

Directed by the acclaimed director that brought you, “ZOS: Zone of Separation”, Mario Azzopardi and writers Lara Azzopardi and Julia Cohen, comes a show about life, love, and the power of friendship. Produced by Lara Azzopardi, Julia Cohen, Mario Azzopardi and Kim Todd (Original Pictures).

THROWING STONES is an original pilot developed and produced for the CBC, who loved the pilot, but chose not to pick up the series due to the economy and programming realities. That means that the show will be airing on July 15 with very little publicity or promotion. To that end, the producers are trying to get the word out to people across Canada – especially curlers. They are very proud of this series and want as many people as possible to tune in, watch it and send their feedback to the CBC! (http://www.cbc.ca/contact/)

Source: Canadian Curling Association

 OTTAWA,…The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Canadian Curling Association (CCA) was held in Gatineau, Quebec on Saturday, June 20.
 
The CCA is pleased to report that, for a second consecutive year, it will finish the fiscal year well in the black, with a continued positive financial outlook.  The Association tabled a financial surplus for the 2008-09 year of $879,692, resulting in a total accumulated surplus of $1,703,952, almost all of which has been allocated to the CCA’s long-term reserve fund.
 
“This past year has been an absolute pleasure,” stated the CCA’s Chief Executive Officer Greg Stremlaw.  “Our organization has built on the success we collectively had last year and we feel very confident that this will continue as we move forward.  We have worked exceptionally hard to achieve these results, and I think the time we spent last week at our National Curling Congress (NCC) really demonstrated that all stakeholders are working much more collaboratively together to address the future of this great sport. This was evidenced in some of the presentations on items such as the CCA’s new Long-term Athlete Development Plan, Leveraging 2010 and the opportunities related to the Winter Olympics, and the CCA’s key strengths in the post-2010 era.”
 
During the Congress, it was noted by Jan Meyer, Senior Program Officer with Sport Canada, that the CCA’s financial performance has been particularly outstanding and that some of the results are hard to believe given where the organization was only a few short years ago.
 
Some other notices of motion were passed by the General Assembly. Highlights included:
 
– The CCA will investigate the possibility of establishing a Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship.
 
–  The CCA will implement one competitor’s fee, starting in 2010-11, that will allow competitors to enter all disciplines which require the payment of a fee.
 
– A member association code of conduct will be developed for presentation and approval at the 2010 National Curling Congress.
 
– Subject to the ongoing work of the Team Entry Committee and the acceptance of an implementation process of the membership at the 2010 Annual General Meeting, all member associations will have the ability to access all national curling championships. The intent of the motion passed is to begin with the implementation of the Mixed, Senior Women’s and Senior Men’s in 2012.
 
Graham Prouse of Fort Nelson, British Columbia was elected to the office of Chair of the Board for the 2009-10 season while Jack Bowman of Victoria, British Columbia was voted to the position of Vice-Chair. 
 
In the order of progression, CCA Governor Lew Andrews of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador retired from the Board as did Beth Sullivan of Bathurst, New Brunswick.  Both had completed their five-year terms.
 
Newcomers to the Board are Elaine de Ryk of Greenfield Park, Quebec and Ron Hutton of Saint John, New Brunswick.  A two-year term on the Board was left vacant when Governor Janie Hobart resigned in February for personal reasons.  Georgina Granchelli of Sydney, Nova Scotia was elected to the two-year term position by acclamation. 
 
The next National Curling Congress and AGM will be held in Ottawa, June 17-19, 2010.
 
The CCA manages a number of major Canadian curling championships, including the Tim Hortons Brier, Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings, Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Canada Cup and M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, in addition to partnering with the World Curling Federation in hosting the Continental Cup and the Ford World Curling Championships (men and women), when held in Canada.
 
The CCA also directs the high performance programs for Canada’s national elite athletes and provides various programs and services for its member associations Canada-wide.
 
The CCA’s exclusive television partner, TSN, will air more than 220 hours of live coverage in 2009-10 of those curling championships, which comprise the Season of Champions.