In Loving Memory of Evie Blackhall

This edition of the T Line is dedicated to Evie Blackhall who was an inspiration to many of us.

Last Wednesday there was a beautiful Memorial Service for Evie at our club. As I walked into the club that night the room was filled with members of the club, colleagues, neighbors, family and friends. It was a celebration for a very special person. Evie's daughters spoke of what a dedicated, wonderful mother they had, how cooking was her least favorite activity and of what a courageous women she was. The girls also mentioned the overwhelming support of Evie's friends and how much they appreciated their care and concern for their mother. Judy and Charlie McCullough also spoke highly of Evie that night and of all of the wonderful memories they had of her. Judy is now an avid fan of tennis and will be going to the opera all because of Evie and Charlie will always remember the raspberries that Evie had for him. There are so many people who have been touched by Evie. The night ended with a feast and a march out on the ice for all of the teams that curl in the Blackhall League. By no coincidence did Evie plan that her celebration would be honored on the night of her League.

For those of you who would like to give a gift in Evie's memory there has been a fund put together in her honor. The Evie Blackhall Memorial Fund has been established to improve the appearance of the club based on areas that Evie always wanted to see updated. There is a damaged window that Evie always wanted sealed. We would like to fix this and have it be "Evie's Window". Some other improvements could be to the outside of the curling club such as landscaping or a new fixed sign for the club. Judy McCullough is the organizer of the fund and would be happy to accept any donations in Evie's memory.

Evie joined the Curling Club in 1968 and contributed to the success and spirit of the Schenectady Curling Club. She will be missed.

The Cunningham Mixed & Holiday Party

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Step right up and sign-up for the Cunningham Mixed Bonspiel to be played December 14th and 15th. This Bonspiel, formerly played in February, was moved to this date to make room for the Erdmen Bonspiel, a new mixed event. The Bonspiel will coincide with our Holiday Party this year. Last year’s champs Becky Carosella, Shaun-Paul Manore, Curt Becker, and Dan Machold are running the event. As many of you may remember Becky is the first woman skip to win the Cunningham, so come out and join the fun and sign-up today.

Men's League Updates

By Skip Rock, Roving Reporter

The year is off to a good start with all the Men’s Leagues having played or will soon play their third game. There are eight teams in our flagship league, the Van de Car. In our advanced Graham and intermediate Pletenik league we have 12 fully stocked teams.

In our beginner league, the O’Malley, we have four teams grooming our next generation of avid curlers. All the leagues listed above also have an ample stock of substitutes available to those who may not be able to play for their rink on any given night. As always, please keep in mind the rules on substitutions when using an alternate curler.

Now lets move on to our leagues.

VAN DE CAR

Our premier league has played its three rounds of matches with the exception of two teams the Mulig and Stopera, Jr. rinks. The rink led by Charlie McCullough remains the only undefeated team. Greg Kaczmarek leads the rink gunning for its first win in the next round. McCullough will defend his record in his next match versus Bob Mulig. It is hoped that the missing match-up will be made up by the next update so that we may get an accurate picture of our foremost league.

GRAHAM

The Graham League has played the first two of its regular season games with the next to occur on Dec. 11th. Currently, three teams have undefeated records. These rinks, led by Jim Sinkins, Bob Mulig and Jack Stopera, Jr. will be defending their records.

PLETENIK

The first three rounds in this league have been completed as of this writing. So far we have only one team still in the undefeated ranks. This is the team skipped by journeyman skip Dion Warr. Next Monday, Dec. 9th, Bill Jerome (our Club Treasurer and a former hockey player (so pay your dues)) will face-off (get it, face-off, oh give me a break, then you write the articles) against the undefeated Warr.

O’MALLEY

Our league for novice, or in some cases clueless, skips is the O’Malley league. Our four rinks have had their first two games of competition and only one remains in the undefeated ranks. Second year curler Pat Fitzgerald leads the undefeated squad. Pat has won both of his contests handily. Currently the O’Malley is working on adding one or two new teams to its roster in the coming weeks so the competition will be heating up.