That time I was within reach of an Olympic gold medal

Lately I’ve been thinking about ice, though I can’t imagine why.

Maybe it’s because I put away my car ice scraper right before last weekend and I have so many regrets.

I’ve spent a lot of my life on the ice, mostly in figure skating, but also a little time as a curler.

When my family moved to Thornbury, we lived at 27 Arthur Street in a one-and-a-half story red brick house. Surprise, my dad put a red steel roof on top!

The house is now a Real Estate office, but I digress.

Once upon a time, Thornbury had its own curling arena - it was two sheets of ice and a little clubhouse with low ceilings and flattened carpet. The ice was heavy, which is curling lingo for “you have to throw the rock down the ice at mach two if you want it to get past the hog line.” Our house was almost directly across the road from the Beaver Valley Curling Club, which was definitely a selling feature for my mom.

Mom was a competitive curler in her youth, and was excited to get back into it.

She was at the curling club every evening it was open, and she coached an elementary school elective program there in the afternoon. I was still homeschooled at the time, so I also enrolled in a curling elective program with my mom.

The curling elective - you’ll be surprised to know - was not at the top of the list for most students. In fact, those who ended up with curling were typically the ones who missed the day when everyone had to choose an elective. I think downhill skiing was the “cool” choice.

I had no idea other than I liked curling and my mom said I was good at it. Maybe we were all just really ahead of our time.

I did really enjoy playing the game. I soon learned the ropes - or brooms - and joined in for the bonspiels. I wasn’t enthused about winning meat or a fleece blanket, but bragging rights were enough for me.

At the end of the year when the curling was done, the ice maker let me take my skates out onto the sheets and tear up the house.

Unfortunately, the Beaver Valley Curling Club building soon ran its course and the building was demolished. In my kid brain the building was 100 years old at least. The site is a municipal parking lot now.

The curlers in Thornbury haven’t given up though. A few years ago I participated in a celebrity curling event at the Thornbury skating arena. Well ... the bonspiel before the celebrity curling event. My mom and Dad and my husband formed a team and I have no recollection of how we did, so I assume we didn’t win. (I’d remember that.)

Afterwards, we watched Jennifer Jones curl against Glenn Howard, which was a nerdy curling kid’s dream come true. Mom and I got their autographs, and Jennifer Jones let me hold her Olympic gold medal. Well, I touched it and she watched closely.

I agree with the general consensus of Olympic medal touchers. They’re heavier than I expected. And though it may not have been the cool choice for kids in Grade 7, I felt very cool as an adult waiting in line for an autograph from Jennifer Jones.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know where I was going with this story but I hope it was ice … err nice.

I’ll be here all week!