The USWCA 5 & Under Open Bonspiel was held December 11-13 at the Plainfield Curling Club. Schenectady sent one team to compete with teams from Plainfield, Philadelphia, and Nutmeg curling clubs. The team, consisting of Yuko Kashiwado (lead), Pete Drechsler (second), Lisa Filkins (vice), and Ted Kreutz (skip), was trying to return the championship to Schenectady after Charlie Brown's rink won the previous year. They ran into an on-form Nutmeg rink in the first game, and were placed into a second-chance A event bracket. They then went on a marathon run to defeat 5 teams in about 24 hours to make it to the A event finals. The final was a back-and-forth affair that went into the 8th end tied, but when Kreutz couldn't steal, Philadelphia Blankenstein won the A event.

As always, the Plainfield Curling Club displayed tremendous hospitality, and their wonderful food was probably the reason behind the rink's lack of exhaustion. Plainfield has photos from the event. Next year, the event visits Philadelphia in October, making it a great event for a season warm-up for 5 & under teams.