Junior Curlers compete for prizes at the Grand Slam event in Sault Ste. Marie

Kathryn Ingram

It was an amazing 5 days!
 
It started off with the Junior men from Thessalon delivering the ceremonial first stone on the centre sheet with the 10 teams in the first draw standing along either side of it like an honour guard.
 
Then Saturday morning (starting at 7am) 32 young curlers ranging in age from 17 to 6 years arrived to try their luck at a draw to the button.  These curlers represented the four clubs closest to Sault Ste. Marie:  Soo Curlers Association, Tarentorus Sports Clubs, Thessalon CC, and Blind River CC.

8 young curlers from each of these 4 clubs got 3 practice shots and then one final shot that was measured - the one closest to the button went on to the final which took place just prior to the quarter-final matches. Luckily there were 2 tie-breakers so the kids shared the ice with 4 great teams (Ferbey, Edin, Epping & Balsdon).
 
The four finalists were 9 year old Athena Moffat from Blind River with a distance of 28.75",  17 year old Kyle Sherlock from Thessalon with a distance of 16.25", 12 year old Taylor Longo from Soo Curlers with a distance of 48.75" and 13 year old Michael Masters from Tarentorus with a distance of 112".
 
The final took place just before the semi-final match and 4 of the curlers joined the group to hold the club signs and act as honourary advisor to the kids.
The order was determined by random draw.
Athena, accompanied by Nolan Thiessen was first and her stone was 22.5" from the pin.
Kyle next, with Ryan Fry, put it 18.25" from the pin
Taylor, with B.J.Neufeld, and Michael with Matt Wozniak both put it through the house.
 
My job was to write the names of the winners on the big cheques they present on camera and my hands were shaking so much I wasn't sure I could do it.  I haven't seen them since but I'm pretty sure it's a lousy print job!
 
Each of the 4 finalists then were accompanied to the Goldline display and got to pick out new shoes, a brush, and gloves and were presented with a Grand Slam jacket that was signed by all the curlers in the event.  They look great - black jackets covered with autographs in silver on the back.
 
Kyle Sherlock also won the Junior Draw to the Button trophy, $1000 for himself and $10,000 for the Thessalon Curling Club.
 
 In another contest, 6 people were randomly drawn from entries at the event to try a draw to the button on Sunday.  The person closest to the button won a trip for 2 to Summerside, P.E.I. for the final Grand Slam event and the opportunity to win 1 million dollars.  Beth Tetreault's name was drawn Saturday night and she came out on Sunday and delivered a stone to within 6.5" from the pin.

 Photo gallery:  http://www.worldcurlingtour.com/events.php?task=Event&eventid=2523&view=Photos&galleryid=57