With the Alberta Boston Pizza Curling Cup just around the corner, organizers are busy setting up the rink, arranging for vendors and preparing for the big event set for Feb. 8-12.
Volunteers will begin setting up the rink at the Rotary Spirit Centre this Friday, Feb. 3 and the teams will be ready to practice by the end of the weekend.
The sheer scale of the tournament has presented a challenge for organizers.
“Westlock has never had anything this big before,” said tournament organizer Paula Clark. “That was probably our biggest obstacle. The town supported us 100 per cent, which was awesome.”
As tournament committee chairperson Lavern Bazin noted, the tournament has been in the works for more than a year.
“We started all about 14 months ago when we found out we were awarded the tournament,” said Bazin. “Some of the bigger challenges is getting the whole arena converted for a curling bonspiel.”
While setting up the rink is going to be quite the undertaking, Clark noted she had a lot of volunteers to help out.
“It’s going to take a little village,” she joked.
“We get the ice on Feb. 3, our head ice maker will be there at 9 a.m., and that’s when all the fun begins.
“We’ll get the ice put in the way he likes it, then we’ll put in the boards and then the rug.”
A minor hiccup for the organizers has been trying to tack down a proper carpet for the tournament.
“One obstacle we don’t have a backup plan for yet is that we don’t have our carpet that we need,” said Clark. “They have promised us that it will be here by the 31st, which doesn’t give us a whole bunch of leeway.”
With tournaments springing up across Canada, regulation carpet has been in short supply. The organizers ended up having to order their rug from Belgium.
“They didn’t have any of the carpet we needed anywhere in Canada,” said Clark. “It’s a certain type of carpet that you have to have. Usually you can get it from different associations, but lots of the championships and grand slam events are out east this year, so all the carpet has been spoken for.”
Bazin noted that waiting for the carpet was probably the biggest hurdle to clear for the committee.
“We actually had to go and purchase the carpeting and it’s still not here,” said Bazin with a laugh.
“It’s going to be here kind of last minute next weekend, so we’re crossing our fingers that there’s not a big blizzard or anything that prevents that from arriving on time.”
While the tournament won’t be bringing in new food vendors, a lounge and beer stations along the walking track for patrons will be set up for patrons.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” added Clark.
While preparations for the venue are coming along, another of Clark’s jobs has been getting lodging figured out for attendees.
“I had to block off the hotel rooms,” said Clark. “Everything is our expense. We have to pay for renting the facility, the head ice-maker and his assistance, we have to pay for four of the chief umpires.”
Bazin noted that finding lodging for everyone was probably the best problem the community could have at this point.
“The hotels in this town are rapidly filling up,” said Bazin. “We predict that there will be no extra hotel availability in the entire town next week.”
Also being provided is a shuttle service for athletes to get to and from the hotel and rink. Athletes will be covering their own meals.
Clark added that none of this would be possible without the support from the community and volunteers. Over 212 volunteers are involved in the effort, including the Thunderbirds football club, which has offered to handle parking.
“It’s a pretty big undertaking on our part, but the community as a whole came through with donations and sponsorships.
“We couldn’t be more proud of our community; they helped with the expenses big time. The community support has been amazing.”
