Photo: George Cook throwing first rock, swept by Leigh Armstrong and Susan McInnis

Round robin play got underway on Wednesday at The Dominion Curling Club Championships, being played at the Charlottetown and Cornwall curling clubs.

A capacity crowd packed the Cornwall Curling Club Wednesday night for the moving experience of watching 28 men’s and women’s teams piped onto the ice for the traditional opening ceremonies of The Dominion Curling Club Championship.
Led by Leigh Armstrong with the Canadian flag, the assembled curlers once again held the honour of being the only gathering to include teams from every one of Canada’s provincial and territorial curling associations, as well as the largest national curling championship in the world.
Players stood at attention and displayed their respective provincial and territorial flags while Hilary Campbell sang the national anthem. The piper, Matthew MacLaine, was then ceremonially toasted by George Cooke, Leigh Armstrong, Shirley Lank and Jim Mann, who emceed the program that followed. Words of welcome were offered by Jim Mann, Karen Currie and John DeLuca of the Cornwall Curling Club (the latter en français), and Glen (Barney) Fullerton, the new mayor of the Town of Cornwall, before Host Committee Chair Shirley Lank declared the event officially open.
The first rock was thrown by George Cooke, President and CEO of The Dominion, with Shelly Rae of The Dominion as skip,
and Leigh Armstrong and Host committee Chair Susan McInnis sweeping.

Organizers say they have been very excited to see the number of spectators who turned out not only for the ceremonies, but also for the draws at the Charlottetown and Cornwall Curling Clubs, which are continuing all week, with the finals set for Sunday at 2 pm at the Charlottetown club.

Click to view a photo album from the opening ceremonies.

(Story by Adam Santangelo for The Dominion Daily)