On April 23, 1923, 30 prominent men of Lennoxville meet at the Lennoxville Town Hall to form the Lennoxville Curling Association. This Association was headed by Henry W. S. Downs who acted as the chairman for the election of officers for the new club. Robert McMurray was elected the President while William H. Ames became the Vice-President.
The Curling Association sold 300 shares at 10 dollars each to finance the purchasing of the land and building the rink with the balance borrowed for a total of $4000 for the project. The annual “dues” was set at ten dollars per member.
The Lennoxville Curling Club was opened for play on January 5, 1924. The early curling was done on natural ice using “irons” weighing about 60 lbs instead of the 42 lb granites on artificial ice used today.
Granite and “Iron” play was a regular feature at the club until 1952 when it was decided that all competitions and games were to be played with granites. Before the artificial plant was installed in 1947, curling started in January and ended in mid-March with ice conditions being very chancy during the winter thaw periods.
On December 11th, 1931, 13 ladies met in the Institute Rooms at the Town Hall to discuss the formation of the Lennoxville Ladies Curling Club. Mrs. Gertrude Forbes was elected the first President and Mrs. T. Burton, Vice-President. The ladies started play with 25 pound irons and gradually moved to some granite play by 1935.
Lennoxville Curling Club acquired its first set of granites in 1932 by winning the Edinburgh Trophy sponsored by the Canadian Branch of the Royal Caledonia Curling Club . Lennoxville has known its fair share of success at other Branch competitions including; wins for the Governor General’s Trophy in 1957, 1959 and 2002, a long successful defense of the Quebec Challenge Cup from 1957 to 1961, and Lennoxville teams have shown success at the Jubilee and the Gordon Medal.
In 1933, the Nichol family presented the club with the “John Nichol Memorial Trophy” to be played for annually with granites – not irons. This bonspiel has grown over the years to be the club’s premier championship event and is thought of as one of the District’s leading men’s competition.
In 1969, Wyatt Johnson and Lennox Loach donated two trophies for the first Ladies Invitational Bonspiel know as the “Mardi Gras”. This has become an annual event in the calendar of District competitions.
In 2005, the Lennoxville Curling Club and the Lennoxville Ladies Curling Club merged into one club to form the Lennoxville Curling Club.
The Lennoxville Curling Club has hosted many significant events including:
- Senior Ladies Provincial playdowns (1968)
- Ladies Provincial playdowns (1973)
- Senior Men’s Provincial playdowns (1975, 1988)
- Army/Navy/Airforce National Championship (1995)
- Provincial Junior Men’s and Ladies Championship (1998, 2017)
- Legion Provincial Championship (1981, 1991, 2010)
- Provincial Masters Championship (2011, 2015)
- Strathcona Cup – Scottish Tour (1949, 2005, 2013)
- Provincial Wheelchair Championship (2016, 2018)
