Curling rinks at the 亚洲天堂 Lake Tom Forsyth Arena and curling rink are being prepared and should be ready for curling club members to test by the middle of October.

鈥淲e may have some practices to test the ice,鈥� said Sandy Dor茅, 亚洲天堂 Lake curling club president. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 met as a club to say when we鈥檙e going to start the regular season.鈥�

Dor茅 expects the season to start in the beginning of November as it usually does.

鈥淭here will be a curling season, and we鈥檙e still looking for [new] members,鈥� Dor茅 said. 鈥淎nybody with questions or who wants to join should contact someone in the club.  Most everybody knows somebody who curls.鈥�

The curling club has seen consistent growth over the last four seasons. The 2009/10 season started with 57 members, and by last season it had grown to 84 members.

鈥淢ost of the growth was in the ladies league and the mixed league,鈥� Dor茅 said. 鈥淭he mixed league is becoming very popular.鈥�

The growth in membership does not include seniors who come out for drop-in league play.

Seniors league this year will not be managed by the curling club as part of changes to the way the facility will be run by the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake (VBL).

Management of the arena will now fall to the VBL recreation department. The seniors league and any other groups - like the organizers of the Fireman鈥檚 Bonspiel - who want to use the curling rink facilities will now organize rink rental directly with the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake.

The curling club will rent the upstairs curling lounge and ice time from the village. According to Dor茅, costs associated with rink and lounge rental remain the same this year as last year.

The annual Fireman鈥檚 Bonspiel may not be on this year because of rink restrictions and a reduction in the legal capacity of the rink during renovations.

One of the three rinks normally available for curling will be used as a temporary entrance while what will be the new main entrance for the curling rink is under construction. This means that the lane will be sheathed with plywood for day time construction workers.

鈥淲e鈥檙e currently only allowed 25 people in the ice area because of construction,鈥� said Logan Wilson, VBL recreation director. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that will get changed shortly. [Venture Pacific Construction] is working on getting an entrance established. Then we would have to get building inspectors and architects to sign off on it.鈥�

When the third sheet could be opened for play is something Wilson can鈥檛 give a definite date on.

鈥淭here are too many variables,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he building inspectors, the architects, they all have to sign off on the entrance before it can be opened.鈥�

It likely wouldn鈥檛 make a difference for the Fireman鈥檚 Bonspiel at this point.

鈥淎s far as we鈥檙e concerned, there won鈥檛 be a bonspiel this year,鈥� said Jim McBride VBL director or protective services.

For a successful bonspiel, McBride explained, the lounge would have to be in working order, and that won鈥檛 happen in time for organizers to commit to it this year.