(by Fred Rinne)

For Charlottetown’s Suzanne Birt, the odds of winning The Scotties might be akin to winning the lottery.

Oh, but she did that too.

Birt won on a Classic Ruby scratch ticket in her home city last year to the tune of $500,000, and turned a lot of that into charitable giving.

Though still young on the scene at 34, she seems to have been around the game forever. She is undeniably part of the Island’s curling royalty.

Team P.E.I. (left to right) Skip Suzanne Birt, third Robyn Green, second Meaghan Hughes, lead Marie Christianson. (PEI Curling)

Joining her this year are third Robyn Green and second Meaghan Hughes, both from the 2014-2015 runner-up team skipped by Kathy O’Rourke along with lead Marie Christianson. Christianson is from Nova Scotia, where she skipped the provincial women’s runner-up team in 2010, their alternate is Sinead Dolan and they are coached by Danny Christianson.

In 2003 coming off a stellar junior career, then Suzanne Gaudet went 10-1 before losing a semi-final to NL’s Cathy Cunningham and then dropping bronze as well to finish 10-3. But she has been back to the big dance many times since, including a rousing hometown tilt in Charlottetown in 2011.

“My experience with past Scotties and playoffs has helped me grow over the years and I know what to expect. It is definitely different mentally in bigger games and how you control your emotions. We are ready!” she said.

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