Fall Renovations!

The club has undertaken a number of renovations this Fall in the ice shed prior to the start of the ’25-’26 season. The majority of the old walkway has been torn out and replaced with a new, pressure-treated walkway. The old carpet is being replaced with rubber horse stable mats around the entire walkway – this should improve traction throughout.

A new de-humidification system has been installed in the ice shed along with a shiny plenum to distribute the dry air throughout the rink. This should help with the shoulder seasons where we have trouble with condensation and frosting of the ice surface.

To further address the condensation issues, there’s been a big effort to seal the insulated ceiling by connecting the existing ceiling to the side walls as well as patching the many, many gaps in the central ceiling. This is difficult overhead work, requiring moving ladders over and over again.

In addition foam spray insulation has been applied between the outer walls of the building and the inner skin wall upon which the signs are hung. This should reduce the impact of wind and temperature swings on the ice, particularly towards the end of the season.

The final two areas of work are in the plant room: there’s been a tremendous amount of work done on the plant room roof to keep the rain & melting snow from falling dropping down the necks of the ice crew AND there’s a long-needed fix the plant’s control system underway to provide better temperature control and to help reduce the cost of running the plant.

Mixed Bonspiel Champions!

Champions: Kara and Cliff Taylor are presented with their winnings by spiel organizer, Dave Quann (left).

Other notable team are, from right to left: Runners-up Alta Munroe and Art Kennedy, Third Place Janice and Dylan Hiltz, Winners of Consolation Bracket: David and Kim Quann

175th Anniversary Funspiel Saturday, Feb 22

Our 175th Anniversary is going to be celebrated with a Funspiel this Saturday, February 22nd. Men’s, Ladies’ and Juniors’ games will be held starting at 9AM, featuring teams from our club and other clubs around Pictou County. The draw times are

Men09:00
Ladies09:45
Juniors10:30
Men11:30
Ladies12:15
Juniors13:00
Men14:00
Ladies14:45
Juniors15:30

Ship Hector Bonspiel a success!

Last weekend, Feb 7-9 2025, the New Caledonian Curling Club hosted this year’s Ship Hector Bonspiel. The 51st edition of this popular curling tournament was held in Pictou county at our 4 area curling clubs; the Bluenose (New Glasgow), the Stellar (Stellarton), Westville and the New Caledonian (Pictou). There were 56 teams from around Atlantic Canada and Saint Pierre and Miquelon who took part over the weekend in 136 games culminating in various events & trophy finals as well as a bonspiel championship game Sunday afternoon, held across all four clubs.
The Pictou Curling Centre held the finals for the 2025 Tweed event, 2025 New Caledonian Trophy and the 2025 Ship Hector Championship. In turn, the winners were:

2025 Tweed Event winners – Team Campbell (Mayflower CC); Liam Campbell (skip), Violet Campbell (mate), Allen Campbell (second), Ed MacKenzie (lead)

2025 New Caledonian Trophy winners – Team Kent (Lakeshore CC); Samantha Kent (skip), Jolena Rafuse (mate), Heidi MacDonald (second), Kourtney Rodgers (lead)

2025 Ship Hector Bonspiel Champions – Team Hurley (Halifax CC); Alex Hurley (skip), Joshua Henderson (mate), Mark Gordon (second), Ben Parker (lead), Stephen Allen (spare)