After our ‘Red and Blue’ junior event on Saturday, the curling fun continued into the late afternoon as we welcomed our friends from the Immigrant and Refugee Services (IRSA) organization!!

What a great day of curling, with 19 participants enjoying a fun two-hour “Learn to Curl” session with our club volunteers!

Board of Director Member and Chair of Curling Development Bill McGuire lead this instruction session, and it was a great success…! Thank you Bill for the time you spent organizing this session and your time serving on the Board of Directors.

Thank you to Valerie Fitzpatrick, Canada Connects Coordinator for IRSA, for organizing this event on the front end with the IRSA community!

The work that Valerie and IRSA do to support our communities in welcoming new community members, and also the support IRSA provides those who are new to our country and province,  is invaluable and appreciated!
We were happy to have been a small part of their programming this year with this “Learn to Curl” session.

Bill sent the below lovely and meaningful message to the volunteers for this event: Connor, Oliver and Richard MacEwen, Landon Warder, Board Member David Fullerton, Shelley Ebbett, Nate MacCrae, Kacey Gauthier, and Ella Lenentine.

“Hello:

Thanks again for volunteering for more than two hours on Saturday, April 16, 2022, to coach and instruct a group of newcomers to the sport of curling. More than 20 members of the Immigrant and Refugee Services Association of P.E.I. (IRSA ) — adults and children — got their first personal experience with curling at the club level in the community. They all seemed to enjoy the late afternoon open house format.

To offer newcomers this fun introduction to curling, the club depends on volunteers who took time away from their busy Easter holiday weekend to help out.

You all did an outstanding job providing instruction and help to this group. It was the first time on the ice for our newcomers, which offered its own challenges, but there were also some language issues, which everyone dealt with on a professional, helpful and understanding basis.

I want to gratefully acknowledge your help  with our learn to curl clinic for our newcomers to Prince Edward Island.”

Here’s a photo gallery from this event. Click a picture to enlarge, and use arrows or swipe to go ahead/back.