The winter Olympics are in full swing, and that means curling is in the news. What ties does the sport have to Connecticut?
WSHU’s Ebong Udoma spoke with CT Mirror’s Dave Altimari to discuss his article, “In Northwestern Connecticut, curling isn’t just for the Olympics,” as part of the collaborative podcast Long Story Short. Read Dave’s story here.
WSHU: Hello, Dave. What prompted you to investigate this story, considering Norfolk is a really small town off the beaten path in the northwestern corner of the state, and why curling?
DA: Hi, Ebong. It's actually known as the ice box of Connecticut. With good reason, it always seems to be colder there than anywhere else. Since it's the Winter Olympics, we wanted to try to, you know, find some things that would relate to Connecticut. And the Norfolk curling club is actually celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, and curling has kind of become like this quirky, little popular sport on TV that people, people like to watch. And as it turns out, the day I was there, the U.S. mixed doubles team played for the gold medal and lost, literally by one point on the last end.
WSHU: Well, you know, it's one of those things that it's only every four years you even think about it, but here is a place where they actually have a tradition of curling that goes back decades. Could you just tell us a little bit about the Norfolk curling club?
DA: Sure. It was actually formed in 1956, and they had a terrible fire there in 2011; it was an arson fire. It burned down. The original building literally left the club in ashes. The fire was so strong that it actually destroyed all of their curling stones. The curling stones weigh 42 pounds, and they're made of granite that comes from this one island off the coast of Ireland. So they're not cheap. There's actually another smaller place in Wales, I believe. But most of the So, if people are watching the Olympics, those stones come from this island off the coast of Ireland.
WSHU: Wow, interesting. And you said they're quite expensive. So when they had the arson fire, they lost all their stones. Everything.
DA: The clubhouse burned down. They lost all their stones. It took them two years to rebuild, $1, almost $2 million to rebuild. And there were, at the time, like 50 to 60 members. Now they're up to about 115. It's a beautiful club. They have two they call sheets of ice, curling sheets, about 125 feet long. And they have two of them there. So on this night I was there, there was a lead, you know, two matches going on. This is their busy time. The Olympics, they have over 100 people signed up to take learning to curl classes over the next few weeks. So this is the one time when they're in the spotlight.
WSHU: Another fascinating aspect of this is the age difference. You had an 18-year-old there that day, and you had an 87-year-old.
DA: Aptly named Ted Stone. He's 87 and he's been playing since 1961 which I have to say is longer than I've been alive. And he still plays Tuesdays and Sundays. On this particular night, one of the other people there was the 18-year-old daughter of the club's ice technician. So he actually wasn't playing. He said that with me, and was giving her a point there as well. She was playing. And it takes him about an hour to get the ice ready to play. They scrape it, and they have this system they call pebbling, where they spray hot water over the entire surface, and it kind of beads up, so that when they throw the stones, it kind of makes them glide faster on the ice. Fascinating process to watch. It may look easy on TV, but it's pretty hard. It's hard. You've got to remember you're on ice, and it's hard to keep your balance. They make it look pretty easy on TV, but I've got to tell you, this was the second time I've done it, and I was flopping all over the place trying to throw a stone.
WSHU: And it's quite cold.
DA: Yes.
WSHU: Okay, so because you say that everyone was dressed pretty warmly.
DA: Yeah, it's about 40 degrees because it's, you know, you have to keep the ice. It's a beautiful facility now, but the original one used to keep the ice cold using a compressor from an old ice cream shop in Torrington. And now they have all the state of the art equipment, generators and stuff that, you know, it's, it's basically like a hockey ring.
WSHU: Now, this is just one of two that we have in Connecticut.
DA: Yes, there's also the Nutmeg Curling Club, which is based out of Darien. They've been around for not quite as long as the Norfolk club. The interesting thing about the Norfolk club is that you have a lot of people. Who've been either they or their families, have been involved since 1956, and then you have, like, the current president, Peter. He actually joined during COVID. He was driving up to Norfolk to go for a hike on the Appalachian Trail, because you can get on the Appalachian Trail up there, and decided to stop by to check it out, and basically, literally signed up that day, and now, five years later, he's the president this year.
WSHU: And you also say that there's a whole group of folks that come across the state line to curl.
DA: Yes, there's a group of about 10 or 12 from Lennox, MA, and they actually went to the club in 2011 for a 50th birthday party. They liked it so much that they wanted to join. And then the fire happened, so that they were delayed for a couple of years before they could join the club. But now there are about 10 of them from Lennox, and the night I was there. There were four or five of them there, so it took over an hour for them to get there. They come from all over. I mean, Norfolk's not easy to get to, and they come from all over the area to play, and pretty much any group of people that do show up and play, there's a lot of camaraderie.
WSHU: And after the game is over, everyone has a beer.
DA: So, one of the things is that there is a lot of etiquette involved in the game; everybody shakes hands before they play. And then when the game ends, everybody shakes hands again, and then they retire to the bar that they have there. And traditionally, the winning team is supposed to buy the losing team a beer, and they sit there and talk about the game. The night I was there, both games actually ended in a tie, which I guess is unusual, and so they were struggling to figure out who was going to buy the beers in the bar. But everybody went, and they sat around and talked about, you know, strategy, and because there's a lot of strategy involved in the game, and you know what mistakes were made, or what were the great shots? And they talk about tournaments they played in, and it's, it's a, it's a, it's a very, very collegial atmosphere.
WSHU: So, tell me, you tried your hand at curling. What was the most difficult part?
DA: I've actually done it twice. This is the second time, and I forgot how hard it is to keep my balance. So when you see it on TV, and these people are really low to the ground when they release their stone, it's very hard to get into that position without falling and sliding across the ice and still be able to control the stone and throw it to make it accurate. And you know, the stones weigh 42 pounds. They're not, they're not lighter than and not little. So it is harder to get your bearings than it may look on TV.
WSHU: Interesting, but it must have been fun.
DA: It's a great sport, and they really, you know, anybody can play it. Like this particular night, so, Ted's 87 and until recently, he's just started using, it's called a curling stick. Basically, it allows you to stand up and hook a stick to the stone, so that you can push it rather than having to get almost on top of it, getting down on your knees, and getting down on the ground. So he just recently started using the stick. He kind of doesn't like it, but it was just easier for him. I mean, the guy's 87 now, so, but then, so you can play, you know, until your 80s. And you can also play. They have a teenage group, like a teen league, you know, for kids just starting out, that they try to, you know, grow the game that way as well.
WSHU: I like the fact that you said that. He says he's thinking of retiring, but he was making plans to be there next Sunday.
DA: Yeah, they were all laughing. I think he says that every time they're sitting in the bar having a beer, they also travel quite a bit. They were just recently in Duluth, Minnesota, where the US has a mixed doubles team. Actually, that's their home club. And there is one Paralympic player who used to be a member of a club that's now out in Wisconsin that they all follow too. So, you know, it is, there are more curling clubs than you would think, but it is a, you know, a pretty, they all keep in touch with each other, and it's a pretty collegial.
