The Two Hills CC Story – Community Strength
On April 2, 2013 around 7 p.m. the Two Hills Curling Club lost their 3 sheet rink to a
tragic fire. That evening some people were gathered at the Two Hills Curling Rink for a meeting.
The first ones to arrive went inside and smelled gas. They called the fire chief and the president
and vice president of the curling club. The vice president and the fire chief went inside to see
what they could find out. In the meantime, the president went around the building to check the
gas line outside, as the last time there was a fire in the curling rink some ice had slid off the roof
and severed the gas line. While the two men were in the furnace room there was an explosion.
They escaped the building but believed the president was inside. The president heard the
explosion outside and was running back around the building to see if the two men escaped.
The explosion had blown out the window next to the entry doors. Luckily no one was
hurt. It gave everyone quite a scare knowing there had been people inside. The local fire truck
arrived shortly and along with several other fire trucks from nearby communities they fought
the uncontrollable blaze until early morning. The whole building was a pile of smouldering
rubble by morning. All that was ever salvaged were a couple of granite curling rocks. It was later
determined that the motor from the pop cooler in the lounge had ignited the fire.
It took until fall before the insurance company arranged to clear the site and
negotiations began between the town, insurance company, and curling club to build a new rink.
After long deliberations it was decided to build a new two story curling rink and include a
fitness room, dance studio, youth center, and office space.
During the time the community was without a curling rink, the curling club hosted a
fundraiser bonspiel using the hockey arena. Many volunteers gathered two weeks prior to the
bonspiel to get the arena ready with 5 sheets of ice for the bonspiel. The first bonspiel in 2014
attracted 40 teams. In 2015, there were 48 teams and in 2016, 54 teams participated. This
year’s Arena Bonspiel is March 30 - April 2. The curling club is hoping for 64 teams and the
competition will be played on 5 sheets of arena ice and 3 sheets in the new rink. These
bonspiels are held to raise money to cover everything the insurance would not.
After the tragedy of losing our curling rink all the surrounding communities rallied
behind us to help out wherever they could. The St. Paul Curling Club even held a fundraiser
bonspiel for us in the fall of 2013 and raised over $8000 for the Two Hills Curling Club.
Numerous community organizations and individuals volunteer their time to help organize and
run the Arena Bonspiel each year. Many businesses and individuals donate prizes and silent
auction Items which help make the bonspiel a huge success year after year.
Construction on the new building began in the spring of 2015 and the building opened
to the public in October of 2016. Curling began in November with 20 teams in the round robin
league. They curl Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Kendall Warawa, teacher at Two Hills School and vice president of the Two Hills Curling
Club, brings students from grades one to twelve, 4 days a week after school. There are 24
elementary school students and 24 junior and senior high school students participating in the
Junior Program.
Family curling nights are held two Fridays a month. The first mixed bonspiel took place
on January 20-21, 2017 with 12 teams participating. The ladies and men’s bonspiel was held
February 3-4, 2017 with 17 teams participating.
The Two Hills Curling Club has been operating for more than 70 years. The original site
of the rink was a building surrounded by straw bales in the middle of town where the new
Mennonite school now sits. A new rink was built by volunteers in 1962 on the site where the
new building sits today. In 2002, the club held a very successful celebration honouring 50 years
at that location. It is sad to see all that history lost, but exciting to have a new state of the art
facility to enjoy for many years to come.