Schenectady and Albany will be hosting the Gordon International Medal March 13-15, 2008. This event is a contest between the Grand National Curling Club and the Royal Caledonian Curling Club of Quebec that has been going on since 1884. This event rotates annually between a Grand National site and The Royal Caledonian sites in Montreal. It is an invitational event in which team slots will be held open for returning skips until January 31, 2008. This year's competition will be limited to 20 US teams and 20 teams from Canada.

The format will remain the same with two Friendly games (1 Thursday and 1 Friday) preceding two Gordon Medal Matches on Friday and Saturday (a few teams will play both Gordon Matches on Saturday). The Friendly games are 8-end point competitions with the high point winners receiving the James C. Stevens Memorial Shield as well as awards for the 1- and 2-game high winners for both the American and Canadian teams. Each team will play two 10-end Gordon games with all players of the winning country receiving a Gordon International medal and the "high plus" individual team from either country winning the Add Hastings Memorial Bowl. There will be an Awards Banquet Saturday night, men only*, sports jacket required.

As in prior years, accommodations have been set up for curlers at the Holiday Inn in Schenectady. The rate is $69 per night for single or double with $10 additional charge per person for up to 4 people per room. You can book your rooms directly with the Holiday Inn - telephone (518) 393-4141. Rooms should be ordered by February 10, 2008 to take advantage of this rate. Ask for the "Schenectady Curling Club Gordon Int'l Rate". If you are staying at another location, let me know the name and phone number in case we have to reach you. Good curling and I'm looking forward to seeing you in March.

Fred Hicks
GNCC Gordon International Chairman
(315) 829-4425

* The presidents of each of the host clubs and the GNCC are invited to the banquet regardless of gender.

The Gordon International Competition was first held on February 8th, 1884 in Montreal between two rinks each from the United States and Canada, and was won by the Milwaukee Curling Club, 36-28. Thus began a long-standing friendly rivalry between the Canadian Branch of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and the Grand National Curling Club. Each year, representatives of these curling organizations compete for the Gordon International Medal, originally presented by Mr. Robert Gordon of the St. Andrews Curling Club of New York. Mr. Gordon was born in Dumfries, Scotland on November 17, 1829, and came to New York in 1849.

This occasion marks the 125nd year of the Gordon International Competition, and the 113th time the competition has been held. The competition was not held in 1885-87 (smallpox epidemics), 1892-93, 1897-98 and 1902 (lack of ice), 1916-18 (World War I), and 1945 (World War II).

Until 1901, competitions were played with two rinks to each side. Today, matches are typically contested with 20 rinks per side playing two games each when held in the United States, or 20 American rinks playing two games each and 40 Canadian rinks playing one game each when held in Canada. The outcome of the match is determined by the total number of stones scored by each side in the two Gordon medal games. In the 112 prior competitions, the Canadians have won 85 matches, the Americans 27. For those who are interested, the cumulative score stands at 33,224 to 28,892 stones in favor of Canada, or an average game score of 9.5 to 8.3. The Americans last won in Boston in 1982 by a scant 4 rocks, 357-353. Last year (2007) the Canadians prevailed in Montreal by 61 stones, 408-347, the closest result since 2001. In addition to the Gordon medal matches, Canadian and American teams also typically compete in a series of friendly games prior to the main event. Last year in Montreal, three friendly games were contested by 22 rinks.

Two other awards have been added to the Gordon International Competition over the years. In 1968, Addison Hastings of the Ardsley Curling Club presented the first Gordon International Bowl-now the Add Hastings International Bowl-to the Canadian Branch of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. This award is given annually to the rink on either side that has the largest plus score in any single Gordon medal game. Last year's winner was Dinsdale's Nashua rink, in a fiercely contested coin flip with Perra's Whitlock rink. (Both rinks finished +11 in their Gordon medal games.) And in 1988, the James C. Stevens Memorial shield was first awarded to the winner of the Gordon International Friendly games. Last year the Stevens shield was claimed by Mastine's Canadian Branch rink.

Welcome to the Albany and Schenectady Curling Clubs, and good curling!

Compiled by Roger S. Rowlett, Utica Curling Club