More than 100 women made their way to the Quesnel Curling Club this weekend and amid the smiles and laughter, they found time to do some curling.
When the last piece of straw was swept from the ice, skip Terry Shpak finished atop the heap of 30 teams vying for the 52nd Annual Wheel-n-Spiel ladies bonspiel title.
Shpak, together with Carol Reid at third, Judy Andrews at second and Dianne Sanderson at lead, took first place with a 7-5 win over the Crystal Haller rink.
“They made great shots,” Shpak said of her team.
Although Shpak won by two points, the game was close fom begining to end and proved to be a challenge, Shpak said.
“We had to keep our focus,” Shpak said.
“We would build up an end and she [Haller] was dynamite.
“She kept saving the end for them.
But the seventh end proved to be key.
Shpak took four points to take a 6-4 lead and then held on the rest of the way.
Coming third in the A event was the Lindsay Bentley team, and fourth in the A event was the Dana Johansen rink, both from Quesnel.
The Bentley rink also distinguished themselves last Friday evening in the opening round of the bonspiel.
Bentley, along with third Stacey Peters, second Alice Grant and lead Jennifer Woollends recorded an eight-point end.
“We just made all of our shots and they had a bit of trouble,” Bentley said of the eight-point end.
Bentley’s rink was counting two before she stepped into the hack for her final stone and to count eight she had to throw a take out.
Despite being nervous, Bentley made the shot and that drew handshakes all around.
Bentley, who’s been curling for 23 years, was modest about the feat.
“It was luck of the draw,” she said.
It is the second eight-point end to be recorded this month at the Quesnel Curling Club.
In addition to curling, the women had plenty of opportunity to socialize and have fun, as bonspiel organizers planned plenty of social events beginning with an ‘Appy Time’ that featured an assortment of delicious appetizers supplied by members of our Quesnel Ladies Curling Club.
Saturday evening was the banquet which also included a costume content centered around the theme for this year’s bonspiel which was An Evening in Paris.
The contest drew curlers dressed as Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine as well as a coterie of mimes and lovely ladies in exquisite gowns,” organizer Lorna Schley said.
In other action, the Loreen Amonson rink from Prince George swept to an 8-4 win over the Joanne Doddridge rink from 100 Mile House in the B event final.
Coming in third and fourth in the B event were the Anna Johnson rink, and the Lori Durocher rink, respectively, both from Quesnel.
The C-event final went to Yvonne Teskey of Williams Lake with a 7-4 win over Trudy Bentley of Quesnel and her crew.
Of the 30 teams, three were from Prince George, two from Williams Lake, one from 100 Mile and one from Kamloops.
Sponsors for each event were Willis Harper for the A event, Karin’s Deli sponsored the B event and Westside Liquor Store sponsored the C event.
“It was a resounding success,” Schley said of the bonspiel.
