EPISODE 779 CURLING WHERE NO ONE WILL EVER CURL AGAIN, GRENADIER POND
alan skeoch
March 2023
Grenadier Pond, High Park, West Toronto, January 30, 1993,…wearing a Russian Afghan
War field hat, ancient Canadian Buffalo Coat, What were we doing? Throwing 40 pound
curling rocks just to test the ice ?
That was 1993
Dateline March 13, 2023
Global warming and the Insurance Industry have combined to ensure that the event described
below will never happen again. What event? Curling on Grenadier pond, (High Park, West Toronto)…
the Grand Curling Match of 1993 organized by the High Park Curling Club. AT least I think the
event will never be replicated.
Grenadier Pond is large and deep. Rumour has it that British troops drowned there in 1812 when they
tried to get their artillery across the pond as they fled from American invaders. Hence the name “Grenadier”
Pond . Untrue. Never happened. Although there may be a kernel of truth in the legend. People have
fallen through the ice and are drowned on ponds and lakes every year.
Al White was one of the Grand Match organizers I knew. There were many others but I knew Al White best. How did he ever persuade the HPC club insurers that
it was possible for a hundred curlers and a pipe band to throw 40 pound stones back and forth
across the winter ice? Maybe he did not tell the insurance company.
This curling match was one of the great experiences of my life. There were no winners. And no one died.
My favourite picture…that stone weighs 44 pounds. The day was cold and snow began to fall. No now left the ice. The curling ws hopeless.
The curling stone, or rock, is made of dense polished granite from Ailsa Craig, Scotland, and in the Olympics, each rock weighs 19.1 kg (44 lbs). The bottom of the stone is concave so that only the outside ring, called the running band, is in contact with the ice.Feb 7, 2023
Grand Match, Grenadier Pond, High Park Curling Club Jan 3o, 1993
EPISODE 155 THE GRAND MATCH OF CURLING…ON THE ICE BENEATH WHICH THE GRENADIERS WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE DROWNED
THE Schneller Team entry in the High Park Curling Club GRAND MATCH 1993 celebrating 80 years of fine curling. Left to right: Mike Dent, Alan Skeoch,
Dave Snyder , Brad Schneller (skip).
alan skeoch
Oct. 2020
Dateline: Winter 1993
Occasion: HIGH PARK CURLING CLUB GRAND MATCH
Location: Grenadier Pond, Toronto
Danger: Would the ice support 64 curling jteams
with their stones?
THE GRAND MATCH, HIGH PARK CRLING CLUB, 1993
The telephone rang as the winter wind blew.
“Hi, Alan, I have an adventure for you.”
“Great Brad, spill it out.”
Brad Schneller was almost breathless…excited.
“Let’s get a curling team together for the Grand Match”
“What Grand Match?”
“The HighPark Curling Club is 80 years old this winter…planning a
special competition on Grenadier Pond…let’s enter a team.”
“Did you say the Grand Match would be on Grenadier Pond?”
“Yes.”
“How many teams?”
“64 Curling Teams”
“That’s a lot of people on ice that could be thin.”
“Lucky this is a bad winter…I figure there will be more
than 300 people out on the ice when pipers and Fort York guards are included.”
“Remember what happened to the Grenadiers in 1812?”
“I’m not sure that really happened, Alan…the drowning of the Grenadiers is a myth I think.”’
“According to the story the soldiers were retreating from Fort York hauling their cannons
with them…that’s a lot of weight.”
“About as much as 300 curlers?”
“Right.”
“Didn’t you do a dive last summer to see if there were cannons at the bottom of the pond?
“We did…a CBC radio story…Kevin and Andy did the diving while Christopher Thomas and
I were in a rowboat.”
“Well…the result?”
“Andy reported ‘Dad, I shoved my arm deep in the mud at the bottom…right up to my elbow…no cannons yet.”
It was a stupid idea. Dangerous.”
“If we all break through the ice…there will be a lot of curling stones down there
for future divers.”
“Ice collapse is Not likely this year…been dreadfully cold winter…ice as thick and tough as old concrete.”
“And now a snowstorm is coming.”
“Nothing stops the bagpipes so we should not feel intimidated…let’s throw some rocks…find
a team willing to play. A lot of people trying to clean the ice with their brooms…
sort of hopeless for real curling.’
“Suppose we get Mike Dent to lie down and use him and his coonskin coat as a sweeping machine.”
“How?”
“You grab his feet, I’ll grab his arms…now walk … see we are clearing a sheet. How do you feel Mike?”
“Just keep my coonskin closed…otherwise I will turn into a block of ice. Pull…pull.”
“Any help with the game?”
“Not much…snow keeps coming.”
“Throw your rock, Brad.”’
“Just throw, forget about the fine tuning…most rocks do not even get to the other end.”
“Let’s refine the game…forget about accuracy…see how brute strength works…wind up with
a big back swing and then rifle the rock down the ice.”
“See who can throw the rock the farthest…forget about real curling.”
“When the rock hits the ice, it echoes.”
“Hits like a cannonball.”
“Let go, Mike…let go!”
“Holy Samoley, Mike did not let go and threw the rock with all his might…he flew with the
rock…parallel to the ice.”
“Here come Ed Werench…top curler of 1993…looks sceptical…not exactly optimum conditions…he wans
to meet the so called ice maker.”
“This is turning into a wonderful afternoon…a real celebration for the High Park Curling Club…
an event that I wish we could duplicate each year.”
“i think the insurance companies would put an end to that idea.”
