Manitoba’s 55+ Games got an early start in Morden and Winkler this week when the Game’s curling events took place at the two curling clubs.

“The Manitoba 55+ Games are a mainly summer sports and activities event but when the host communities are able to provide curling, we like to get the early start,” explains Linda Brown, Executive Director of Active Aging on Manitoba, the organization which stages the Games.

“The curling was exactly what we expect from the whole Games experience in June,” Ms. Brown said. “We had good-friendly competitions in excellent facilities in two very welcoming communities. It is exactly what the Games are about.”

The curling events featured 2-person stick competition in Mixed and Men’s (U70 and 70+ age groups) divisions as well as traditional four-person curling in Men’s, Women’s (55+ and 65+ age groups) and Mixed divisions.

The largest single group of teams was seven in the Men 70+ group. In total about 80 curlers took part with participants from as far afield as Steinbach and Stonewall. Across the entire event, there were Winnipeg teams, several local teams, and Red River/Pembina Valley region teams Morris to Emerson, Manitou and Miami rounded out the field.

While it was mostly for fun and recreation, there was some competition-preparation motivation for some of the curlers. 

On the Stick curling side, Darlene Maywood, recent winner of the Manitoba Stick Curling Women’s Championship, was playing in the Mixed 2-person division in preparation for the national championship in April. In the 5-team group, Maywood and her partner for this event, Arlene Deprez (replacing Jim Webster), had to settle for the silver medal after a final game loss to Evelyn & Andre Sanders, Manitou.

In the other 2-person Stick divisions, the Men 70+ group was won by Blair Coggans & Lino Santos (Warren & Winnipeg) with an extra end win over the Fort Rouge Magnusson/Coutts duo and the Men U70 was won by the Steinbach team of Al Meyers & Curt Brandt with a win over Jim Partaker & Denis Leduc (St. Claude), also in an extra end.

A highlight was the awarding of a special gold medal in the 85+ category to Charlie McCullough and Wayne Johnston, who continue to be very active on the Carman curling ice.

The 4-person team events were won by Andrew Swan – WInnipeg (Men 55+), Ken Hildebrand – Morden (Men 65+), Kathleen Messner – Lorette (Women 55+), Judy Colwell – East St. Paul (Women 65+), and Clare Reimer – Morden (Mixed).

The Manitoba 55+ Games presented by PLAYNOW are the largest 55+ annual multi-sport event in Manitoba. Their stated aim is to combine active games with a social and entertaining experience.

Entries are already being received for the over 20 events including sports such as bowling, golf, bocce ball, pickleball, slo-pitch and swimming as well as activities such as cribbage, bridge and arts & crafts. There are also several of those events which some call sports and some call activities – games like snooker & 8-ball and horseshoes.

No matter how you define the event activity which you love to play, there is most likely one or two on the list for the Morden-Stanley-Winkler 55+ Games, June 9-11, 2026.

For the complete list of events and other details are available at the website (activeagingmb.ca) OR you can send a query email to info@activeagingmb.ca