Sandra Porter-Lowe, Terri Longmire and Meredith Innes are three of the more than 100 volunteers at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials in Liverpool this week. (Rick Conrad)
To put on a big event like the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials in a small community like Liverpool takes a lot of volunteers.
Organizers have recruited more than 100 people from Queens County and elsewhere to help put on the week-long event, which wrap up with the final draw on Saturday at 2 p.m.
QCCR spoke to some of the people making sure the curling trials at Queens Place Emera Centre run smoothly.
Practices, which are open to the public, began on Saturday. And the opening ceremonies are scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sunday at Queens Place.
But before all of that, specialized curling ice had to be installed at Queens Place, with help from some local volunteers. QCCR spoke to the man who made it happen, Curling Canada’s head ice technician Greg Ewasko.
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:
Mike Murphy of Mersey Seafoods announces the company’s sponsorship of the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials, beginning Dec. 30 at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
As one of the people bringing the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials to Liverpool in December, you’d expect Greg Thorbourne to love the sport.
“I used to hate mixed doubles,” he told a crowd on Monday at the Liverpool Curling Club.
“I thought, ‘Who the hell would ever play that game?’”
But after working at the last two national mixed doubles curling events, the longtime booster of curling in Queens County was quickly converted.
“Watching the calibre of curling, the shots made, the number of rocks in play, I don’t think there’s a better game in this world than mixed doubles.”
Thorbourne, chairman of the Liverpool Championship Host Society, was speaking at an event at the curling club Monday to kick off the volunteer recruitment effort for the mixed doubles curling trials planned for Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 at Queens Place Emera Centre.
The host society has been working on securing the trials since last June.
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.
Sixteen teams will compete in Liverpool for the chance to represent Canada in mixed doubles curling in Italy.
Queens MLA Kim Masland speaks at an event at the Liverpool Curling Club on Monday to kick off volunteer recruitment for the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials in December in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
About 50 people turned out for the event in Liverpool on Monday, including Queens MLA and Public Works Minister Kim Masland, Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman and Liverpool native Jill Brothers, who skipped Canada to a silver medal at the 2004 world junior championships.
Thorbourne said he’d like to have about 150 volunteers for the event. Liverpool hosted the 2021 pre-trial curling trials, where the volunteer numbers were lower because of Covid.
“Normally, we have between 135 and 150. With Covid the last time, we were down around 85 so this time we’re looking at getting back up so that people don’t have to spend as many hours on site as they did the last time.”
He said they’re already getting calls from across Canada from people who want to volunteer.
“Last week, I got two calls from B.C., three from Ontario, a couple from up North, a few from Alberta, the Prairies. This is the first of three Olympic trial events in Nova Scotia. So a lot of these people will come here and get trained, work here and move forward.”
Mike Murphy, chief financial and chief operating officer of Mersey Seafoods, also announced the Liverpool company’s sponsorship of the $255,000 event.
“We want to be part of the community and we want to give back to the community when we can,” he said in an interview. “And we think events like this are really good to showcase Liverpool, the South Shore, Queens County. It puts us on the world stage. People show up from all over Nova Scotia, Canada, all over the world and we think it’s great to showcase our community.”
The value of the sponsorship was not disclosed, but Thorbourne said later that it is “substantial”. The Region of Queens has also committed $19,140 to the event. Thorbourne said they are working on other sponsorships too.
Many people at Monday’s kickoff were signing up to volunteer. Valerie Lantz of Liverpool was one of them.
This will be her third curling event in Liverpool. She volunteered at the 2021 pre-trials and the 2019 World Junior Curling Championships.
“I was a curler, … so that’s what brings me to this. Now that I’m retired i can spend the time doing this sort of thing and i thoroughly enjoy it.”
She said the event will bring much-needed business to the community at a slow time of year.
“This will put people in rooms in hotels and in restaurants. And mixed curling, it’s such a high-energy fast sport, I think it will create new patrons to the event.”
Lantz said that volunteering at the curling trials in December will be worth your time.
“You’ll meet people not only from Liverpool volunteering but people from probably around the province. It’s just so much fun. And you get to see some great curling.”
Hospital hustle committee members Gary Levy, Linda MacKinnon, Jennifer Hutchins Conrad, and Karen McGee. Photo contributed by Linda MacKinnon
There will be no hustle for Queens General Hospital this year.
The annual hospital hustle event coordinated by members of the Queens General Hospital Auxiliary has been put off until 2023.
Auxiliary president Linda MacKinnon says several reason factored into their decision to call off the 2022 edition.
“COVID, we’re just not sure what’s going on with that or what will be in September. We also need a new chairperson. We don’t currently have one to do it,” said MacKinnon. “Really it needs a little more planning than to start in June or July so we felt it would be better to postpone it.”
The hospital hustle traditionally raises between $20,000 and $30,000 which is turned over to the auxiliary to buy equipment for the hospital.
Like many fundraisers, the hustle went online in 2021 bringing in over $20,000 to buy an EKG machine.
The hospital received that equipment earlier this year and it was immediately put into service.
MacKinnon says auxiliary members were glad to be able to hold the hustle online but don’t feel they could go that route again this year.
“Most of our ladies are, we’re older and we’re not as savvy with the online as our younger folks are.”
She also heard concerns from some of their older supporters they weren’t aware the hustle was even happening because they don’t participate on social media and aren’t comfortable moving money online.
MacKinnon says with COVID restrictions lifting the hospital auxiliary is aiming to reopen the gift shop at Queens General in September.
They are looking to attract new members to help raise money for the hospital.
When it comes to the hustle, people can invest as much or as little time as they’d like, but every bit helps.
“There’s a lot of different types of things. You could be involved one day, you could be involved maybe a week or so just before and after or you could be involved in the actually planning, five or six months ahead,” said MacKinnon.
Anyone wishing to join can contact the Queens General Hospital Auxiliary directly.
Two nurses show a new gynaecological cart donated by the Queens General Hospital Auxiliary. Photo contributed by Queens General Hospital Auxiliary
The President of the Queens General Hospital Auxiliary is worried without an influx of new members, they may not be able to offer as much support to the hospital.
Linda MacKinnon says coming out of the pandemic the auxiliary is looking to bring in people who want to expand on their work.
“New ideas, new thoughts, and just some fresh energy to help us keep our group going. We’ve been there for so long that we’d hate to see it fold up. Hopefully that won’t happen,” said MacKinnon. “But if we don’t get new members we’ll certainly be curtailed as to the things that we can do.”
MacKinnon says there are currently just shy of 20 members, and she would like to see another five or 10 people sign on.The group has already cancelled plans to host the Hospital Hustle this year after the chairperson stepped down.
The annual event usually raises over $20,000 which the auxiliary uses to buy medical equipment and furniture such as beds, bedside tables and waiting room chairs for Queens General Hospital.
MacKinnon says it didn’t make sense to host the Hustle when faced with dual issues of not having a dedicated chairperson along with lingering concerns about the pandemic.
“An in-person event that’s large, like it is, we have it at the curling club and it’s wall to wall people. So, we’re not sure that this year is the right time to do that,” said MacKinnon. “Certainly, we’re promoting good health and we don’t want to do anything that would endanger anyone’s health.”
McKinnon says along with teas and other smaller events, a major source of revenue for the auxiliary is the gift shop they operate inside the hospital.
Sales from the volunteer run shop bring in another $10,000 each year.
Those doors have remained closed during the pandemic, but MacKinnon is hopeful as foot traffic increases at the hospital they can reopen.
In the meantime, the auxiliary is exploring new ways to support Queens General Hospital and says any new faces with fresh ideas are welcome.
To volunteer with the Auxiliary, please contact Bea Delong at 902-354-4676
