Manitoba Organization: Granite Curling Club

Link to:
Presidents | Sources

The Granite Curling Club was established in 1880, founded by David Young, who served as its first President. Curling began in 1881 in a makeshift facility on Lombard Street with high wood walls and a canvas roof. In 1883, they rented three sheets on Market Street known as the City Rink. In 1887, they moved to the Royal Rink with four sheets at the rear of the McIntyre Block on Main Street.

In 1893, as curling started to flourish in Winnipeg, the club constructed a six-sheet facility at the corner of Hargrave Street and Ellice Avenue where they spent 19 years.

In 1911, the club purchased land where the present club stands on Mostyn Place located on the north side of the Assiniboine River just west of Osborne Street. Construction of the tudor-frame clubhouse designed by James Chisholm and built by Thomas Kelly began in 1912 and the nine-sheet facility was ready for curling for the 1913-1914 season. Although it had some financial and structure issues to overcome, it continues to operate in the same location.

When the Manitoba Curling Association was formed in 1888, the Granite or “Mother Club” as it is affectionately called, was one of two Winnipeg clubs of the seven original clubs that formed it.

The curlers that have represented the club have had many successes over the years. In the men's competition, teams skipped by Howard Wood (1930, 1940), Jim Congalton (1932), Terry Braunstein (1965), Don Duguid (1970, 1971), and Vic Peters (1992) have won the Brier emblematic of the Canadian Men's Curling Championship. Of note is the Duguid teams that went on to win the World Men's Curling Championship. In the Junior Men's Competition, the team skipped by Bob Ursel won the 1984 Canadian Juniors and completed their domination in 1985 with a World Junior Crown. In 2001, Barry Fry skipped a team to the Canadian Masters Championship.

Presidents

Period	President
1881-1882	David Young (1848-1887)
1882-1883	Elias George Conklin (1845-1901)
1883-1884	Thomas Renwick
1884-1885	Alexander “Sandy” Brown (1842-1922)
1885-1886	Lyman Melvin Jones (1843-1917)
1886-1888	Alexander “Sandy” Macdonald (1843-1928)
1888-1889	John Brown Mather (c1847-1892)
1889-1890	Elias George Conklin (1845-1901)
1890-1891	William Wallace McMillan (1852-1928)
1891-1892	William Georgeson (1859-?)
1892-1893	Henry Norlande Ruttan (1848-1925)
1893-1894	Thomas Black (1856-1914)
1894-1896	Mark Fortune (1847-1912)
1896-1897	James Scroggie (1859-1948)
1897-1898	George Francis Bryan (1850-1919)
1898-1899	James Scroggie (1859-1948)
1899-1901	Alexander “Sandy” Macdonald (1843-1928)
1901-1902	George Francis Bryan (1850-1919)
1902-1904	William H. Rourke
1904-1905	George Jackson Laird (1859-1940)
1905-1907	Richard Deans Waugh (1868-1938)
1907-1908	Joseph Lemon (1862-1925)
1908-1909	Thomas J. Lowe (1873-1942)
1909-1910	Andrew Boak Alexander (1872-1937)
1910-1912	William Tier (1869-1939)
1912-1914	Colin Campbell “Cam” Chisholm (1883-1936)
1914-1916	William Pembroke “Billy” McDougall (1881-1921)
1916-1919	Andrew Wilson (1863-1923)
1919-1920	Robert Murray McGowan (1865-1921)
1920-1921	Andrew Wilson (1863-1923)
1921-1922	Alex Stewart
1922-1923	Francis Lee “Frank” Kenny (1866-1925)
1923-1924	Edward H. Smith
1924-1925	David Wesley “Wes” Griffith (1879-1943)
1925-1926	Thomas Leon “Pat” Cavanagh (1884-1936)
1927-1927	Donald Stuart McKellar (1897-1981)
1927-1928	William James Brown Logan (1881-1931)
1928-1929	Oscar Thompson Dudley (1894-1944)
1929-1930	John Erzinger (1855-1930)
1930-1931	Thomas Cull (1870-1942)
1931-1932	Robert Alexander Gillespie (1881-1965)
1932-1933	William T. Hetherington
1933-1934	John C. Staples
1934-1935	John Wilfred Argue (1886-1961)
1935-1936	Norman Wilfred Warner (1887-1964)
1936-1937	Alexander Telford Liddle (1876-1956)
1937-1938	Wellington Russell Gorrell (1886-1961)
1938-1940	Stephen Cornell Trewhitt (1889-1975)
1940-1941	William Lyall Wallace (1898-1975)
1941-1942	George Crawford Goodrick (1904-1970)
1942-1943	Peter Leitch (1887-1947)
1943-1944	William Reid Clubb (1884-1962)
1944-1945	Ross Graham Manahan (c1888-1960)
1945-1947	Ernest John Sowerby (1896-1985)
1947-1948	William Herman Brett (1887-1964)
1948-1949	Ignatius Anthony “Tony” Mahon (1894-1971)
1949-1950	Clinton Charles Adams (1901-1964)
1950-1951	James Gordon James (1913-1983)
1950-1951	Gordon Cecil Dow (1906-?)
1951-1952	Ward Brian Williams (1892-1973)
1952-1953	George Allen (1890-1962)
1953-1954	George Horace Weldon (1914-1986)
1954-1955	Albert Edward “Al” Derrett (1908-1980)
1955-1957	Osborne Blake Parkinson (1887-1970)
1957-1958	Ward Wood McVey (1900-1967)
1958-1959	Charles Louis Morgan Jones (1905-1973)
1959-1960	Robert “Bob” MacFarlane (1909-1964)
1960-1961	Gordon Blaine McTavish (1927-2019)
1961-1962	John Edward Donaldson “Don” Rowand (1899-1986)
1962-1963	David Bruce Wallace Forrester (1918-2001)
1963-1964	Philip Del Bigio (1908-1999)
1964-1965	William C. “Bill” Nairn (1912-1986)
1965-1966	Lorne William Parker (1923-1993)
1966-1967	John Alexander Iverach (1917-1992)
1967-1968	Easson Miller (1910-1990)
1968-1969	Sydney John “Syd” Parsons (1925-2015)
1969-1970	Lloyd Stanley Borland (1906-1995)
1970-1971	James William “Jimmy” Doig (1914-1993)
1971-1972	Edward Graham “Ted” Derrett (1934-1996)
1972-1973	Michael David “Mike” Rattray (1931-2022)
1973-1974	John Francis “Frank” Bird (1912-1990)
1974-1976	Harold Ffolliott Gyles (1927-2010)
1976-1977	John Clare Burns
1977-1978	Peter Rattray
1978-1980	William Reynar “Bill” Ross (1921-1997)
1980-1981	J. Kenneth “Ken” Esdale (1943-2023)
1981-1982	John Westwood “Jack” Beech (1917-1990)
1982-1983	Raymond Charles “Ray” Turnbull (1939-2017)
1983-1984	Winston F. Smith
1984-1986	George William Walker (1930-2013)
1986-1987	J. Charles Scott
1987-1988	John David “Jack” Borthwick (1930-2017)
1988-1989	J. T. “Jim” Wood
1989-1990	Gord Fisher
1990-1991	Ian Staniloff
1991-1993	Bill Robertson
1993-1994	Barry Greenberg
1994-1996	J. Keith Auld
1996-1997	R. L. Clark
1997-1998	Don Duguid
1998-2000	Al Karlenzig
2000-2002	Ted Spencer
2002-2003	Doug Holmes
2003-2004	Mike Moore
2004-2005	Jamie Hay
2005-2006	Gary Gumprich
2006-2007	Derek Hay
2007-2009	Eric Guy
2009-2012	Frank Clark
2012-2014	Pat Bourassa
2014-2016	Scott Edmonds
2016-2018	Warren Reimer
2018-2020	Dawn Klatt
2020-2022	Luc Dauriac

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Granite Curling Club (22 Granite Way, Winnipeg)

The Granite Curling Club, 22 Mostyn Place, Winnipeg by Sheila Grover
Manitoba History, Number 14, Autumn 1987

Sources:

“Granites ready for Golden Jubilee,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 December 1931, page 23.

“Granite Club is 60 years,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 February 1941, page 1.

This page was prepared by Rick Mutton and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 7 May 2023