Rock Sale

All fourteen rocks have been sold! Thanks to all for your contribution. We made about $1500 to $1600 for the club. Some of this money will cover the refurbishing of the sheet 4 stones. The rest will be used at the discretion of the board. We may be able to sell a few more that are buried in the workshop and compressor room. I will let know in the next few weeks.
Thanks Again, Dotty Sheehan

Trash and Treasure Sale

The sale will be held at the club on Saturday, April 5th. Start now to collect your stuff to contribute to it. We will be selling household items, jewelry, books etc. NO CLOTHES WILL BE SOLD. I need alot of you to help. Let me know if you can work on this project. Charlotte Colton is chairing the accompanying bake sale. Talk to her about her needs.
Thanks, Dotty Sheehan

Important Items to Note

• Beach Spiel on Feb. 8th – Sign up for some fun!
• Contact Jim Ridenour to volunteer for German night on Feb. 22nd.
• Contact Margaret Brennan, Cathy Haag or Nancy Wurth to run the St. Patrick’s Day Dinner on March 15th.
• Remember to sign the insurance waiver.
• Remember to visit the Curling Boutique to purchase equipment, clothing, etc.

What's (Been) Going On, Continued?

In this segment we take a look at other possible plant improvements worth consideration. Another energy related project is the possible replacement of the industrial strength motors in our chiller plant. Why, you might ask, would we want to do that? Just what we need, another expense. Well, here’s how it goes.

Currently we have several motors in service to perform the various tasks of our refrigeration system. These include brine circulation, compressor drives, Pete Sheehan’s counterfeiting press, etc. These old motors are only about 60% efficient. In other words, we use a little more than half the power supplied to these motors to perform work.

So, what can we do, you may ask. Well, Jeff Mayott (there’s that name again) was recently approached by NYSERDA to be an authorized agent for a line of high efficiency motors. These new motors are more than 85% efficient. This means that the payback period for replacing these motors will be a little more than three years. The Board will probably consider this for investment in the next few years.

Another improvement being considered is the installation of new reflectors in the lights out in the ice shed. Most people don’t realize it, at least I didn’t, but I am told that fluorescent lights lose brightness over a period of time.

One way to combat this is to focus the light better on the object you are trying to illuminate, in this case our ice surface. This can be accomplished through the use of a mirror like reflector. Because the bulb radiates light in all directions the light broadcast upward is, for the most part, lost. Some is reflected by the white surface of the current reflectors but this is inefficient so the light is diminished.

By installing a mirror surface reflector, this upward streaming light is bounced downward. The reflectors would increase the amount of light radiated down on our ice surface. This would increase visibility on the playing surface. (No, it won’t improve your game; just let you see more easily your shots going astray.) The cost of these new reflectors is just a few dollars each and could be installed when we next change the bulbs. They fit inside the old reflectors and just screw in.

I hope these articles have been useful and informative to everyone who has wondered why you have been solicited for donations the last few years besides the tax advantages. The funds have gone toward these improvements. We are more energy efficient (good for the environment), we have a more durable physical plant (good for our maintenance program) and good for our playing conditions (good for your comfort and game, well, maybe yours. Mine doesn’t seem to be getting any better). In future articles we will try to keep you informed on other goings-on around the club.

Men's League Updates

By Skip Rock, Raving...Um...Roving RRRRReporter

VAN DE CAR

Our premier league has played five rounds of matches. On January 22nd they will have their first “Position Night” game. Currently the rink skipped by Bob Mulig remains the only undefeated team. Charlie McCullough and Jack Stopera follow closely behind with four wins each. The remainder of the teams are Cathers (3-2), Temple and McPartlin (2-3) and Chief Kaz and Jim Colton are still looking for that first win.

GRAHAM

The Graham League has played the first five rounds of its regular season games. Currently, only one team remains undefeated. This is the rink led by Jim Sinkins. Bob Mulig and Jack Fitzgerald are 4-1, Bob Travis, Matt Staccone and Howard Knudsen are just above .500 with records of 3-2. Dave Stopera, Charlie McCullough and Jack Stopera, Jr. are looking to even up their 2-3 records in the next match. Linc Cathers is 1-4 and Bob Benjamin is still seeking that elusive first win.

PLETENIK

With six rounds of this league under its belt the Pletenik league is thick with competition. There is currently a two-way tie for leadership in the league. These teams are lead by Doug Spring and Shaun Paul Manore. Closely following them at 4-2 are Bob Brennan, Marty Zavadil, and Dion Warr. There are three team tied at .500 and they are Bill Jerome, Boris Severenko and Dennis Quinn. Trailing the pack are Ken McPartlin at 2-4 and a cluster at 1-5 which includes Greg Kaczmerak, Pete Sheehan, and Jon Pearson.

O’MALLEY

There has been no change in our novice league lately. They only play every other week and this week's match was pre-empted by the Gordon-Emmet. Their next round will be played on January 23rd.