Approximately 50 French-speaking curlers were at the Cornwall Curling Club on Saturday for the first annual “FrancoFun” spiel, which attracted curlers from around the Island, and even some from Quebec. The tournament started with some instruction for the “débutants”, and, following the official opening, where the teams were piped onto the ice, proceeded with two four end games per team, red teams vs blue. A traditional Acadian meal was served, featuring chicken fricot (stew), mussel stew, rapure (a grated potato pie) with molasses, and apple and raisin pie for dessert. The day concluded with prizes for the winning red side, other door prizes, and the grand prize of a round trip for two persons and an automobile on the CTMA ferry from Souris to the Magdalen Islands, which was won by Mitch Freeman (Mitch is currently finishing up French language training with the federal government).
Special guest stars at the event included former World Junior curling champion Stefanie (Richard) Clark, who wished all the participants “bon curling” before they went on the ice, and Quebec curling coach Marc Pelletier.
Photo: Edmond Richard, Stefanie (Richard) Clark
Matthew Grégoire of SRC (CBC French) shot a great story on the event, which appeared on the 6 pm news on channel 2 on Saturday evening.
Notes: it’s in French, and you have to advance to the third part out of six. It starts at 1:49 into the clip.
Event organizers included John De Luca, Edmond Richard, Ray Biagé, Hélène LaPalme, and Danielle Girard.