Local curling enthusiasts have been served by the Merritt Curling Centre very well for decades, but through wear and tear, the facility is now in need of maintenance work. Now, the Merritt Curling Club is now raising money for the restoration of the facility.

On November 19, the Merritt Curling Club hosted a fundraising dinner at the Grand Pub & Grill to raise money for the curling centre.

“We’re going to try to raise enough money to install new siding at our curling arena,” said Susan Newton, president of the Merritt Curling Club. 

The current siding on the arena was put on when it was built in 1972. Newton believes that since then, there had been no siding replacement done. 

“It’s held up pretty well,” she said. “However, the front has lots of holes in it now. The last windstorm almost knocked one piece off so I think it’s about time to get new sidings.” 

Newton told the Herald that the siding replacement will be a very expensive project. She estimates that costs would probably be around $28,000.

“This is just a rough estimate as we hadn’t gotten enough quotes yet, so we’ll have to get a few more.”

In order to start meeting this amount, Newton said that they would have to apply for some funding as well as do a few fundraisers. Their dinner on November 19 was their first attempt in raising money for the project. 

“We sold tickets to our club members and anybody else who wanted to go,” she explained. “We were able to sell 161 tickets overall.”

The fundraiser consisted of the dinner, donations, and proceeds from a toonie auction and a silent auction. Newton said that the club was able to raise $4900 from this event. 

“It was one of the best fundraisers that we’ve had,” she said. “We had people that wanted to donate and help out. There were about 30 items in our silent auction that were all donated by members and supporters alike.” 

With the positive turnout of the fundraiser, Merritt Curling Club is off to a great start. Donations have also helped in their cause with Hub Insurance recently donating $6000 and Curling BC continuing to donate monthly proceeds from their 50/50 raffle draws.

For inquiries on how to donate, please contact the Merritt Curling Club at (250) 378-4423.