Camilla Faragilla, reporter

Funded by the Local Journalism Initiative

Team members, loved ones and spectators packed the Shawville Curling Club Saturday evening for the final games and prizes of the 48th annual bonspiel.
First place went to “The Aggies”, who won the coveted toilet seat trophy with the highest number of points overall.
“It was a dream to win the toilet seat, and now it’s come true,” said Christine Rieux, who played second position on the Aggy team.
The tournament was made up of eight divisions with six teams in each, for a total of 48 teams competing over two weekends.
The Aggies team name comes from its members’ ties with the agricultural industry.
Skip Joe Morris is a beef farmer, and Rieux an agronomist at MAPAQ’s (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) Shawville office.
Rieux scouted coworker Maryse Vallières-Murray to play lead on the team, and her boyfriend, Simon Pelletier, to play second. Neither Murray nor Pelletier had ever curled prior to the start of the bonspiel.
“We thought we were coming to lose three games,” Pelletier told THE EQUITY with a laugh.
“We were just doing it for fun, we wanted to try curling and it [the win] just happened!” added Murray, who said she hopes to start curling more regularly in the future.
A plethora of donated prizes for all bonspiel participants ranged from bottles of wine and gift cards to toolkits and heated blankets.
Lucky 50/50 draw winners from the second weekend of the tournament included Robyn Hannaberry on Thursday, Wade Elison on Friday and former club president Jeff Russell on Saturday, who put “Friday Night Curling” down on his ballot and will donate his $453 winnings towards the club.
“I think it was a successful bonspiel,” said current club president Joey Hannaberry, who spent the majority of the evening announcing the final standing of each team to the crowded room.
“Everyone seems happy, so I’m happy.”