Curling in North Portal and Area
The "Roarin' Game" came to Canada with the Scottish settlers and advanced Westward as the land was settled and communities started.
No record is known of any outdoor curling having been played in North Portal, but no doubt, at some early date, probably around the turn of the century, some homesick Scotsmen, who were also curling buffs, cleared the snow from a small patch of ice on a frozen pond and slid anything from prairie fieldstones to frozen buckets of ice up and down it, thereby somewhat quenching their thirsts for their favorite winter pastime.
Three government inspection barns were built
by the federal Department of Agriculture in approximately 1910. These were located along the East side of the C.P.R. tracks across from the Menzies (Mitchell) home, or where the Taylor residences are presently situated. As the movement of livestock slowed down in the winter months, one of the barns was flooded from end-to-end between the stalls and curling
had it's birth in North Portal. Pictures of that first sheet of curling ice indicate that it was probably a little narrower and shorter than regulation size, but that really was not important to those early enthusiastic participants.
In 1916, Union Rink Ltd. was established. It was the first incorporated body founded in North Portal. It had eighty-three shareholders who purchased 137-$10.00 shares. These shareholders were both Americans and Canadians, rural residents and town residents. The book listing the shareholders is still on hand.
A wood frame three sheet curling rink was built the same year on the east side of North Portal along the International boundary, just South of the present location of number eight green on the golf course. Union Rink Ltd. became defunct in 1920, but curling continued in the building under the name of the International Curling Club. The building was used until 1961, at which time it was torn down and the present cement block facility was erected under a Winter Works Program and a hard working committee spearheaded by Percy Davis and Munro Dunbar. It was one of the first "modern" curling ricks in Southern Saskatchewan, complete with matched rocks imported from Scotland, and was the envy of many communities around. Other towns soon took up the challenge, came to North Portal for a look at our new rink, and returned home to promote one in there.
Artificial ice was installed in the fall and winter of 1973/74. Curling was late in getting started that year but the artificial ice was worth waiting for.
The International Curling Club became incorporated under the Societies Act of Saskatchewan in 1961.
Ever since curling began in North Portal it has always been supported by members and participants from the American side, thereby serving as a bond between the two communities and bringing about many lasting friendships. The club had some shaky years, brought about by the decline in population in both North Portal and Portal, North Dakota, but 1979 was one of it's best years.
May it contiue to flourish and remain as a centre of sportsmanship and fellowship in our community.
