Montague has sent a number of teams to the Canadian Firefighters Curling Championship over past decades, and now the local curling club will host the 61st edition in spring 2022.
The major tournament has been cancelled two years running due to the pandemic and hosting duties changed from Charlottetown to Montague with the capital city’s curling club shutting down. The competition features a team from every province plus northern Ontario and the Northwest Territories.
Dusty MacLure played at the nationals 10 times in the 1990s and 2000s and said it’s top-notch curling.
“The level of competition was A-1. A lot of good players – Ed Werenich, Neil Harrison, Frank McCourt, all the different names over the years. We curled them all.”
Montague Curling Club manager Larry Richards said it’s one of the top competitions in Canada. The curlers will have accommodations in Charlottetown and be bused to Montague, Richards said. That’s because the original 2020 tournament was to be in Charlottetown and hotels were booked at that time.
The hope is the club will be allowed to have spectators by the time next March rolls around.