March Madness in Lennoxville: Curling Club Goes Pie Crazy

Curlers compete in the Mens' Invitational Bonspiel

(Lennoxville) - The 81st Lennoxville Mens' Bonspiel, affectionately referred to as the Pie Bonspiel, is in full swing.

The matches started at 10 a.m. on St. Patrick's Day with 52 teams registered to play and will go throughout the week. There will be senior matches during the day and all day on Friday.

The bonspiel will be spread out among the ice in Sherbrooke and North Hatley as well as the Lennoxville Curling Club, as each team is guaranteed three matches with the price of admission. Five trophies, named after donors, will be awarded at the end of the bonspiel: the Nichol Family Trophy, the Mooney Family Trophy, the Global Excel trophy, the Ultramar award, and the Clarke et Fils trophy.

Jim Stone, the second for the Whittier team, isn't curling until Wednesday evening, so he had some time to tell us about the bonspiel. He has curled in this event for ten years. "My favourite part is getting to meet new people," he says, watching the ice. "The pie is a very close second."

Oh yes, the pie. One of the major draws to participate in the Mens' Invitational has always been the celebration at the end: all-you-can-eat homemade pie. It has become a second competition of sorts throughout the years. Stone's personal record is five pieces, although a few years ago, the club record was broken and reset to 14 pieces.

Spectators are more than welcome to watch the curling all this week at the Lennoxville Curling Club and the rinks at Sherbrooke and North Hatley. Unfortunately, the pie event is only open to curlers. Good luck, gentlemen!