Greg Thorbourne is the chairman of the Liverpool Championship Host Society, which is organizing the 2025 Mixed Doubles Curling Trials in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

Some of Canada’s top curlers will be ringing in the new year in Liverpool as they compete to represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Local organizers are putting the final touches on the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials. It will be held at Queens Place Emera Centre from Dec. 30 to Jan. 4.

It’s the first of three major qualifying events in Nova Scotia for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Wolfville is hosting the full-team Canadian pre-trials in October 2025, and Halifax will host the Canadian curling trials in November 2025.

Canada won the first-ever mixed doubles curling Olympic gold medal in the sport’s debut at the 2018 games in South Korea.

Greg Thorbourne is the chairman of the Liverpool Championship Host Society. He says the 16 teams all have their plane tickets and hotel rooms booked, and they start arriving just after Christmas.

“There’s Olympic champions and there’s world champions coming,” Thorbourne told QCCR.

“The who’s who in curling will be here. Jennifer Jones, (Brent) Laing, Lisa Weagle, (Rachel) Homan. It boggles my mind to see this caliber coming to small-town Nova Scotia.”

In addition to Olympic gold medallist Jones, some of the other big-name Canadian curlers coming to Liverpool are reigning world curling champion Rachel Homan, former Canadian champ Brendan Bottcher, and a host of other Canadian, world and Olympic medallists.

“All the names that are on these big teams that play in the events, they’re all gonna be here. It’s super to see. Mixed doubles is probably the fastest curling game on ice.” 

Thorbourne said he expects the event to be a big boon to the local economy.

“This is worth probably over $1 million to the economy of Liverpool and area. You have 16 teams staying plus their coaches, every staff member from Curling Canada will be here and high-performance coaches and everybody else that I’ve talked to through Curling Canada in the last couple of weeks is going to be here in Liverpool. So the place will be humping with outside people between Christmas and New Year’s, a big boost to the economy.”

Four sheets of curling ice will be installed at Queens Place, with professional ice makers arriving on Dec. 22 and working through till the 27th. 

Practices begin on Dec. 28, with the opening ceremonies scheduled for Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.

Thorbourne says the practices and opening ceremony are all free. And that will be the best time to meet the players.

“Watch the teams practice, meet the teams, they’ll be floating around the facility those two days.

“And afterwards, the players will be hanging out, so if you want autographs or pictures with these players, most of them are very accommodating. They love to talk to people.”

Mixed doubles curling is a quicker game than traditional curling, usually taking less than an hour. Each team throws five stones per end. The scoring is the same as in traditional curling, but there are a few other differences which add to its appeal.

“(Fans) can’t see better curling anywhere, and it’s going to be live and you’re gonna be able to meet the players. Queens Place has good seating and there’s not a bad seat in the place.”

About 14 government and private sponsors are helping cover the costs of the $255,000 event, including Mersey Seafoods, ACOA, Province of Nova Scotia, Region of Queens, Best Western Plus, Source Atlantic/Len’s Plumbing & Heating, Belliveau/Veinotte, Liverpool Lions Club, Tim Hortons Liverpool, Sobeys, Culligan, Dixie Lee, Arby’s, and Home Hardware.

Organizers have also recruited more than 100 volunteers from the community.

Thorbourne says the host society is also selling tickets on a heat pump with installation. People can contact the organizers through the Liverpool Championship Host Society Facebook page to buy tickets.

Tickets for the event are available at Queens Place Emera Centre or through Ticketpro. The action will be livestreamed on the Curling Canada website. 

Here’s a full list of teams competing in Liverpool:

• Kadriana Lott/Colton Lott (Gimli, Man.) – 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship gold medallists
• Laura Walker/Kirk Muyres (Edmonton/Humboldt, Sask.) – 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship silver medallists
• Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant (Chestermere, Alta.) – 2024 Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship bronze medallists
• Nancy Martin/Steve Laycock (Wakaw, Sask./Saskatoon) 
• Jennifer Jones/Brent Laing (Barrie, Ont.) 
• Brittany Tran/Rylan Kleiter (Calgary/Saskatoon) 
• Rachel Homan/Brendan Bottcher (Beaumont, Alta./Spruce Grove, Alta.) 
• Jennifer Armstrong/Tyrel Griffith (Rothesay, N.B./Kelowna, B.C.) 
• Riley Sandham/Brendan Craig (Guelph, Ont.)
• Lisa Weagle/John Epping (Ottawa/Toronto) 
• Taylor Reese-Hansen/Corey Chester (Kitimat, B.C./Victoria) 
• Anne-Sophie Gionest/Robert Desjardins (Alma, Que./Saguenay, Que.) 
• Melissa Adams/Alex Robichaud (Fredericton, N.B.)
• Jessica Zheng/Victor Pietrangelo (Niagara Falls, Ont.) 
• Paige Papley/Evan Van Amsterdam (Edmonton)
• Jaelyn Cotter/Jim Cotter (Vernon, B.C.) 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Washrooms under construction at Queens County Fairgrounds. Photo Carolyn Tufts

Aged washrooms* at the Queens County Fair Grounds in Caledonia are getting a facelift.

Construction has already started on the new building which will be larger, safer, and completely accessible.

Secretary/Manager of the Queens County Fairgrounds Doreen Holdright says the repairs are long overdue.

“They were basically condemned about 15 years ago and I don’t remember when they were actually built,” said Holdright.

The estimated $102,300 total cost of the project is being covered by a pair of contributions.

The Queens County fairgrounds received $77,073 in ACOA funding through the Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) in February 2022.

At their most recent council meeting, the Region of Queens approved a grant of $25,575 from their Community Investment Fund.

Mayor Darlene Norman says council was pleased to cover the balance and support the hard-working people of Caledonia who keep the fairgrounds going.

Norman says a conversation with a student highlighted the need to improve upon the previous building.

“One of the kids, I was at the high school the other day said, Mrs. Norman, are the walls going to go all the way to the roof? ‘Cause, you know, the guys could always stand up and look over. And I said, oh yes, the walls are going to the roof. So, it’s great. It’s a great improvement,” said Norman.

Holdright expects construction on the new washrooms will be complete ahead of the May 21 Spring Horse Pull.

She says now that COVID restrictions have been lifted, 2022 will see a full roster of events at the fairgrounds, culminating in the annual Queens County Fair Sep 20 through 24.

* A previous version of this story mis-identified the pavilion instead of the washrooms as the building under construction. Work on the pavilion was completed last fall. 

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Ginette Petitpas Taylor at Queens Place in Liverpool February 24, 2022 to announce $2.4 million in ACOA funding for South Shore. Photo Ed Halverson

The Government of Canada has spent over $2.4 million on 23 projects across the South Shore that will benefit communities while helping kickstart an economic recovery from COVID.

Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the Minister responsible for ACOA was at Queens Place in Liverpool on Thursday to announce the list of recipients.

Queens saw funding for several projects including: $100,000 to Autism Nova Scotia and Region of Queens for the universally designed playpark, $79,462 for efficiency upgrades to the Liverpool Curling Club, $77,073 for safety and accessibility improvements at the Queens County fairgrounds, $53,369 to Medway Community Forest Cooperative to build new trails between Kejimkujik National Park and Annapolis Royal and $100,000 to White Point Beach Resort to build their Oceanfront Treehouse accommodations.

Petitpas Taylor says as pandemic restrictions lift, the projects being funded are really making a difference in their communities.

“The purpose of the projects and the purpose of these investments is really to make sure that people can get out there again and just be amongst people,” said Petitpas Taylor.

She says for some of the community groups the funding is the last piece to get them across the line and meet their goals.

“That’s exciting that you’re able to do that. It may not sound like a huge amount but for the community and for the people that have put this project together, it’s really, it is huge.”

The money comes from two sources, the $500 million Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) which helps make shared spaces greener, safer, and more accessible; and the half a billion dollars Tourism Relief Fund (TRF) which helps the tourism sector adapt to meet public health requirements while promoting growth.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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