CORNWALL, Ontario – Brockville’s loss is Cornwall’s gain now that a technical glitch has forced a world-class curling event to move to the Seaway City.
Shorty Jenkins Classic chair Gord McCrady announced this week in Brockville the annual bonspiel that brings in names like Glenn Howard, Jeff Stoughton, and Brad Gushue will not be hosted at the Brockville Country Club because of a broken compressor.
The event, running Sept. 17 to 20, will instead be played at the Cornwall Curling Centre instead of Brockville, where it has found at home for the last 18 years.
“It’s an honour for us to even be considered,” said John Dilabio, a fixture at the Cornwall club. “They could have easily said they were going to go the other way and go to Kingston. But they needed a six-sheeter, and we have a six-sheeter.”
The six-sheet Cornwall club was built years ago to host just such an event, and Dilabio said local officials couldn’t be happier.
“There’s very few clubs that can say they have hosted a World Curling Tour event. So it’s huge,” he said.
Officials estimate the four-day bonspiel will result in as much as $500,000 in economic spinoffs for Cornwall.
And there’s also hope that the event could return to Cornwall in the future. The Brockville Recorder and Times reported this week that there is no guarantee the event will be hosted again in that city.
The newspaper added over the years the tournament has attracted Olympians and world-renowned competitors with the likes of Brad Jacobs and Rachel Homan, who can all call themselves Shorty Jenkins champions as well.
Dilabio said teams from Korea, Switzerland, Sweden, Great Britain and here in North America will descend on Cornwall for the event.
Tickets will be made available to spectators who want to enjoy the bonspiel in person.
“Tickets will be sold at the door. But you will also be able to buy a pass for the weekend,” he said.
More information is expected to be released in the days ahead as local organizers get ramped up to host bonspiel.
Dilabio said CCC board members officially approved the decision to host the event at a meeting Tuesday night.
