The Cornwall Curling Club held its Annual General Meeting on Thursday evening, with around 33 physically-distanced attendees (counting Board of Directors members and Club Manager).
Here are some of the highlights:
Committees
Finance chair Jennifer Lenentine reported a profitable season, despite the early shutdown due to COVID-19, which resulted in the Maritime Masters being cancelled mid-championship, and the Red vs Blue Closing Bonspiel not being held. Total revenue was down around $7000 over the previous season, but expenses were down too, by around $9000, resulting in a net income of $2915.12.
Doug Campbell reported that Membership was on par with the previous season, while Lacey Gallant reported a very successful bonspiel season, despite the early termination of the Maritime Masters and the shortening of the Kenmac Energy Spiel due to weather. The U13 Funspiel was a big success due in part to a great new sponsorship from CIBC Wood Gundy Picard Financial Management, plus generous food donations from several sponsors.
On the facilities front, President Bryan Sutherland reported that the Town was currently working on fixing drainage problems, as can be seen by the installation of new siding and a sump pump.
Development director Peter Murdoch reported participation numbers “up across the board”, with successful Intro to Curling evenings, and increased Little Rocks and Novice numbers. The U-16 league was brought back, with Pepsi as a sponsor, and a full roster of 8 teams.
Chris MacDougall reported a successful fundraising season with draw prizes and other donations received. Early season termination resulted in some prizes not being awarded for the last draw.
One new sign went up in the ice house. Gift certificate winners are encouraged to use them as soon as possible to support their sponsors.
The Club is lucky to have great volunteers, which stepped forward again to help out at many events, as highlighted by Etta Reid in her report.
Other business:
Election of new Board Members
Nomination committee chair Gary O’Sullivan was unavailable (self-isolating) so President Sutherland presided.
The following six members are leaving the Board as they have completed their term:
Doug Campbell
Greg Groves
Laurie Kelly
Gary O’Sullivan
Etta Reid
Kellie-Lynn Younker
New Board members who agreed to put their name forward are:
Sharon Campbell
David Fullerton
Debbie Rhodenhizer
All three were voted in by those in attendance. No nominations were received from the floor.
This leaves three vacancies on the Board. If anyone is interested, please get in touch with Gary.
The Executive officer roles will be chosen at a Board of Directors meeting later this month.
Removal of Boards
Icemaker Brent Irving submitted a proposal to remove the dividing boards between the ice sheets, saying that it would be much easier to maintain, would result in less debris, and would give the Club better ice.
In discussion, concerns were expressed about having to watch for rocks from other sheets, but the motion to remove the divider boards passed successfully.
Return to Play Guidelines
Return to Play committee chair Peter Murdoch led a discussion on the draft Return to Play Guidelines. He stated that he was confident that they would be finalized in time for curling to start at its regular time (mid-October), although there may be delays with getting the junior program and some other activities. A five-page Executive Summary of the guidelines was sent out to members in advance of the AGM. and the full document will follow when complete and reviewed by the various stakeholders, including the Town of Cornwall, Curl PEI, and the Chief Public Health Office. Rules apply to the entire Cornwall Civic Centre, not just the curling club part, so capacity planning and other considerations will have to be done in consulation with the Town, who own the building. Total building capacity would be around 150.
Current Return to Play Concept of Operations
Club house:
Peter mentioned that the proposed Concept of Operations requires that all Curling Club members enter and exit by the west door (by the playground), with the centre door to be used by other building tenants. Club members would be required to sign in, as the Clubs must keep a list of everyone in attendance. The curling club and irs bar would both be divided into 2 sections – one for those who are preparing to play, and one for those who have completed play and are socializing after their game.
Lockers would not be available, at least initially, so players would arrive dressed to curl, would put on their curling shoes, and would enter the ice after the previous draw is complete, using the door by sheet 4. They exit post-game using the door beside sheet 1, and eight players from one sheet would be able to sit at one table. Bar service would respect physical distancing. Washrooms would be open, but some fixtures would be taped off to allow physical distancing.
Ice house (game play):
Rocks would be sanitized between draws, using sanitizing wipes.
The Curling Canada Physically Distanced Traffic Flow (see previous post with video and illustrations) would be followed for standard gameplay.
Coin toss would be hands-free using, for example a phone app or website such as justflipacoin.com.
Curl PEI is currently asking that the scoreboard numbers not be used due to concerns about time and effort to sanitize the numbers between draws. Several members suggested that using less-visible alternative scoring means such as pen and paper would make the games difficult to follow for players, coaches, chaperones, any permitted spectators, etc., and proposed either having spare sets of numbers so they could be sanitized when time permits, or having paper numbers/Post It Notes that could be put on the scoreboard and thrown away after a game. If necessary, one person could update the score for both teams to minimize any cross-contamination. It is possible that further discussions will take place with Curl PEI on this.
Measuring devices would be used by players as usual and hands would be sanitized before and after.
Peter said that the current expectation is that curlers would be able to play a full eight-end game in the time allotted.
AGM Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.