Steve Powell and Tim Atkin have visited some pretty exotic locations in recent years as they pursue a birthday plan of celebrating in new places and experiencing new things.

Last year the Fort Lauderdale, Florida residents visited London where the main attraction, among many, was a trip to a Brand Museum – no, not the kind of brand museum you might find in Texas or Alberta. Steve had recently retired after a career as a Trade Mark attorney – and the brand museum dealing with corporate brand names, trademarks, etc was a perfect destination.

In years before there were things like truffle hunting with dogs in Italy’s Piedmont region, learning glass-blowing in Hawaii and making their own cologne in Italy.

This year, a visit to Manitoba for the Canadian Human Rights Museum and a learn-to-curl trip to Morris (yesterday, May 28, Steve’s 60^th birthday).

Of course, a curling publication would like to suggest the curling was the primary objective of the trip – but no, that visit to Winnipeg’s Human Rights Museum has been the top of their ‘where-next’ list since they saw it on Amazing Race Canada.

A visit earlier in the week told them the museum trip truly merited top place on their list. They acknowledged they knew what to expect generally from the TV exposure – but not specifically and they described the current major exhibition, The LGBT Purge, as “an exceptional exhibit”. “So well done, we loved it,” Powell said.

The timing of the trip was set for Steve’s birthday but the coincidence of timing with Winnipeg’s Pride Festival has also allowed them to set a busy schedule.

The ‘what-else’ list has included curling for several years – exposed to it also on television both on the American version of Amazing Race and of course the Olympics, including the great visibility generated by John Shuster’s gold medal run in 2018.

So, when they learned that curling ice was available in Morris and that a coach-instructor was available in Rhonda Varnes, who has signed on for the summer as an on-call coach for the Cargill Curling Training Centre, their own amazing race took them down Highway #75 and onto sheet #1 at Morris.

“Until you try, you have no idea of the balance and the coordination that is required,” Powell said after an enjoyable 2-hour session on the ice.

Some slide-throw delivery attempts did not go particularly well. Powell suggested that the idea of the extra slippery slider didn’t make a lot of sense when the ice is already slippery enough.

Quick on her feet (two grippers please!) Coach Varnes was inspired by the fact that about 10 stick curlers, including 2024 Canadian champion Warren Johnson and 2022 Canadian champion Norm Magnusson, were using adjacent sheets for their weekly summer session.

Using the stick to facilitate the Florida ‘curlers’ deliveries, Coach Varnes talked with them about rotation and curl and release weight and all of the foreign language (to a visitor from Florida) which is spoken by curlers. She also explained how and why sweeping works (more foreign language – even to a lot of curlers).

By the end of their session, Powell called it “extraordinarily fun”. They were propelling their stones down the ice – often on the right line, often with the right weight, usually with the right turn and earning the satisfaction that goes with that stone stopping in the rings or that great feeling when you hear your stone crash against the opponent’s.

Powell and Atkin acknowledged that their time on the ice gave them a greater appreciation for the skill required for the game and for just how spectacular that Team Shuster gold medal win had been.

Are they ready to take up the sport full time? – maybe, but not an easy thing to do in Florida.

Are they interested in coming back to Morris for the stick bonspiel scheduled in early November – maybe, “but remind me when the cold weather comes,” Powell said with a big smile.

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VARNES PURSUING CURLING PRO ACCREDITATION

In one of her first assignments as the summer on-call coach/instructor for the Cargill Curling Training Centre in Morris, Rhonda Varnes learned what pro golf instructors know and what aspiring ACP’s (Accredited Curling Professional) will learn: most of the time, you’ll have no idea what challenges your day is going to bring you.

For example, no matter how prepared you are, there is really no way to prepare to teach curling to two guys from Florida whose only knowledge of the game is having watched it a few times on TV.

While they were complimentary of their first exposure to curling as being “extraordinarily fun”, Steve Powell and Tim Atkin were equally complimentary of Varnes’ talents as a teacher.

Recognized as one of Manitoba’s fine competitive women curlers (semi-finalist at the RME Women’s a year ago with Darcy Robertson) and an excellent thrower of the stone, Varnes quickly figured out that teaching them to throw a stone was not going to work. A good teacher adapts and teaching them to deliver a stone with a delivery stick allowed them to learn the game and some of its nuances in the limited time available.

Varnes is one of the first in Manitoba to pursue certification as an Accredited Curling Professional. She’ll be doing a series of on-line courses in June/July, travelling to Oakville, ON for in-person work in August, more course work over the winter all targeting completion of the certification requirements by April.

Meantime, she’ll be working as an on-call coach-instructor at the Cargill Curling Training Centre this summer. She will be available to work with individuals and even teams who want to improve their skills, whether at a competitive level or a more intermediate level.

“I can’t think of anything more satisfying than helping curlers, whatever level they are at, elevate their game. Helping grow their enjoyment of the game is very satisfying,” she said.

Current plans are for the ice in Morris to be available all summer. Curlers with an interest in a single session or a series of sessions are encouraged to contact club Manager Steph Berard (manager@morriscurlingclub.com). If you are interested in using Rhonda Varne’s coach/instructor services, Steph will put you in direct contact for further planning.