Our favorite curling story is from the Roar of the Rings in Halifax, NS in 2005.
My husband and I had a small café in the south end of Halifax called the Comfy Corner Café. The day the Gushue rink arrived at their hotel in Halifax, the consigner gave them coupons for a free breakfast at our café. They were obviously impressed because for the remainder of the week three of them, plus their coach Toby MacDonald, ate at our humble café every day. They very much appreciated the little extras we did to make them feel welcome, including opening at six one morning so they could eat before their morning game. The morning after they won the game to go to the Olympics Toby arrived at the café bright and early to show us his Canada Jacket.
We kept in contact with them while they were in Italy, and after they returned to Canada Jamie Korab came to Halifax and stopped into the café to show us their gold medal. It was the first time holding an Olympic medal for us. Pretty exciting! Some of our regular patrons heard Jamie was at the café and came rushing over for a look at the medal along with an impromptu question and answer period. Over the next couple of years we had visits from some of the guys. We also made our way to St. John’s for a visit, at which time Toby took us to George Street to get screeched in. He also took the time to show me around St. John’s while Jamie and Mike took Chuck golfing.
It was a time we will never forget. We were mentioned in the book by Alex J. Walling entitled “Golden Gushue” and have a beautiful picture and note from the guys proudly displayed in our home.
Chuck and Gwen Stapleton.