Chris Lowrey
SHAWVILLE Jan. 25, 2018
For the 43rd year in a row, the Shawville Community Bonspiel will pit teams from around the Pontiac against one another to see who will raise the vaunted winner’s trophy: a shiny toilet seat.
This year’s 11-day event is being staged in the memory of the late longtime Shawville Curling Club ice technician Rick Allen.
Allen passed away Jan. 18.
Last year’s bonspiel brought Allen out of semi-retirement for his last time to make sure the ice was in tip-top shape for the more than 200 players. Allen had been on the ice at the curling club for so long, nobody could put a hard number on his years of service. Suffice it to say, he was a lifer.

This year’s edition features 56 teams representing several different groups and businesses in 10 divisions.
Bonspiel Chairman Ian MacKechnie said that one of the toughest parts of organizing the event is making sure each division is evenly matched in terms of skill levels – although it’s almost inevitable that there will be a blowout or two.
Not only that, but with more than 200 players involved, it can be tough to fit games into everyone’s schedule.
But the popularity of the bonspiel is evident with the number of new teams that jumped at the opportunity to compete.
“We lost seven teams last year and we got seven new ones,” MacKechnie said.
The Shawville Community Bonspiel is the big one when it comes to curling in the region.
“Oh, it’s by far the biggest bonspiel we have,” MacKechnie said.
It was a sentiment echoed by Shawville Curling Club President Jeff Russell.
“This [bonspiel] brings in about half our revenue every year,” Russell said. “We usually get five to ten new members after this every year.”
For those who have signed up for the bonspiel, they will pay $50 for a membership for the remainder of this year. Additionally, they’ll get $50 off of next year’s membership as well.
On top of the on-ice action, attendees can bid on several raffle items including a Connor McDavid jersey, a Texas mickey of rye whiskey, a Budweiser duffle bag and an Erik Karlsson jersey – which Russell jokingly remarked had to go before the Senators’ captain is traded.
The volunteers are gearing up to put in some long hours over the course of the bonspiel, and the participants realize none of this would be possible without them.
But amongst the volunteers themselves, it seems they realize there may be a heirarchy.
“She’s got the most important job,” said Phyllis Wilson of bartender Sonia Campbell.