For more than 80 years multi-generations of my family and friends have come together on the curling ice. We have shared many exceptional experiences! I have chosen to tell the story about “THE PICKELL SILVER BRUSH”. In order that the reader can understand the story, it is necessary that I mention that my maiden name is Pickell.
My husband and I are farmers on the Canadian prairies. Five generations of our family have lived on our farm, and it has been the location where special occasions were celebrated in the spring, summer and autumn. Our house was small, so we were not able to have large gatherings in our home in the winter. Therefore we rented the curling rink in our local town every Boxing Day for many years so we could gather family, neighbours and friends together. We would enjoy being together both on and off the ice, catching up on what was happening in each others lives, eating food and meeting new friends that would come along with family, friends and neighbours, if they were visiting for the Christmas season.
Those people that wanted to take part in the curling would arrive by 10 am so that we could make up the rinks, make the draw and prepare for the influx of all the young and old spectators. Very soon the waiting room was full and the days activities began. One year the ice plant had quit and the ice had melted, but we still had the gathering, and those that had crokinole games brought them along so we could have a tournament.
In 1981 my father had painted milk cans for us to use as planters in our yard. He never cleaned the brush! That Boxing Day my brother brought the used paint brush to our Boxing Day gathering and presented his version of a “silver broom” to the winners. My sister-in-law’s father was the skip on the team that won the bonspiel that year. His hobby was woodworking. The next Boxing Day gathering he brought a trophy he had made. Please see the picture below. The original trophy had one layer for a base and the names of the winners were written with a felt pen on the wooden plaque attached to the base. Over the years more layers were added to the base and some teams had their names engraved on metal and then attached to the plaque.
Needless to say, our Boxing Day gathering received a name: THE PICKELL SILVER BRUSH.
For many years I had made ceramic ornaments, or friends had brought prizes that could be given to the winners. However, the trophy in the picture became the most sought after prize. Most often a team was made up of members from 4 different families, so each player could only have the trophy for 3 months in their home (to show off) and then brought it back for the next year’s bonspiel.
I think it will be of interest to some of the readers of my story to know that my husband and I were both born in the same small town on the prairies, Our fathers were friends and curled together. Sometimes my father was late for the game or had to leave a game early because he was the local veterinarian, and if there were a sick farm animal in the area, he had to interrupt his game to attend to his patient. Sometimes a team member would be late or not able to attend the game because of an incident at their farm. Nonetheless the game would go on! Both our families have members who became great curlers and participated in many competitions across Canada over the years, at the school level, juniors level, men’s and women’s level and seniors level!!! Also, some of the curlers that have their names on the trophy have been and some still are curling coaches for Special Olympics, Community Club, Elementary School, High School, to name a few.
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