When Jean Smith read about a Barrhead ladies curling team getting an 8 ender this month it took her back to an unforgettable day 45 years ago.
It was November 7, 1968 when she and her curling teammates Scottie Hawkey, Lois Roberts and Irene Houle pulled off the same astonishing feat at the Barrhead curling rink.
Was that Barrhead’s first ever 8 ender? Always dangerous to make such a claim, but Jean has heard that it was.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” the 84-year-old said last Tuesday. “I can’t believe time has passed so quickly.”
Those memories were rekindled when Jean, then married to a Clifford, heard about the achievements of Joy McLean’s Rink during the Barrhead ladies curling league on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
There was applause and cheering at the Barrhead rink when Leahan Schaffrick (2nd), Karla Montgomery (3rd), Joy McLean (skip) and Jessica Luciuk (lead) curled their way into local sporting history.
Some asked whether it had happened here before? Well, Jean is living proof that it had.
Sadly out of the 1968 quartet, only Jean and Irene survive. Irene, the youngest, is now thought to be living in Westlock.
Jean (née White) recalls that she threw second that day, which she believes was a regular league night at the same rink standing today.
Irene was the lead, Lois third, and skip Scottie took on the extra pressure of curling last.
“We were so amazed,” she said. “We saw all these rocks and just looked at each other.”
Jean received a silver dish inscribed with her name and the date of the 8-ender.
“I also got a pin and sets of pots and pans,” she said.
The achievement was recorded in The Barrhead Leader, which carried a photo of the four congratulating each other. The caption said the opponents were the Ruby Robinson Rink of Barrhead. Jean carried on curling until about 20 years ago when she and her husband started going to Florida to escape Alberta’s harsh winters.
Her curling days may be behind her, but the memory of a day in 1968 will live on.
Many say it is rarer than a hole-in-one at golf. An apparent span of 45 years between them in Barrhead would support this argument.
