The 50/50 at the curling provincials in Grande Prairie raised $130,000 via daily draws during the tournament, which was most ever generated at provincial curling event in Alberta. Colin Griffith, Executive Director of the Grande Prairie Curling Centre says that the 50/50 fundraiser is joint with Curling Alberta.
“Once we’ve figured out exactly how much money we will be receiving, that money will be invested into junior and senior curling programs here in Grande Prairie. We really want to develop and expand the sport here.”
Griffith says that all staff, including volunteers, pitched in to create a memorable experience for anyone attending or watching.
“We received a lot of positive reports regarding our event staff. We had a wonderful volunteer workforce and we’re really happy with all of the people who gave their time to help us in hosting the event and creating a great experience for everyone. We’re very happy to be able to host a provincial championship, even under these conditions.”
Based on the weather, COVID-19 concerns, and other matters, crowds were not huge for the event. However, Griffith says that, despite all of those obstacles, fans still tuned in.
“People in attendance were very enthusiastic and the live streaming was tremendously successful. We had viewers from all over Canada, including some fans in Mexico that kept up with it all. The credit for that goes to our local production, as well as locals who provided colour commentary on the broadcast.”
Next year, the Grande Prairie Curling Centre is hosting the Master of Men’s and Women’s Provincials, which is for people 60 and older. In addition to that, Griffith says that next October, all things being equal, there is a major curling event planned with Grande Prairie as the host city. No details are publicly available yet.
