DIDSBURY - In recognition of Didsbury being the official home of sturling – a two-person version of stick curling – members of a Didsbury Curling Club committee are hoping to soon move forward with the construction and display of a monument in town.
A committee delegation appeared before council last year and is continuing to move the project forward, says committee member Gord Leeson.
Organizers of the project are awaiting word from the Town of Didsbury about possible locations and possible funding support, he said.
“It is happening and in the works,” he told the Albertan. “The two things I need to know is location and how much the town is prepared to help us with funding.”
The project could cost about $40,000, he said.
The Canada Curling Association has officially recognized Didsbury as the home of sturling, he said.
“Sturling was created out of necessity by local residents Carson Schultz and Brian Dingman when Dingman was no longer able to get down and curling in the traditional way,” he said.
“So necessity being the mother of invention, Schultz invented the ‘sure-shot’ curling stick to push and release the curling stone, similar to shuffleboard,” he said.
The first-ever sturling bonspiel was held in Didsbury in 2006, he said.
With other communities having monuments – such as the ‘World’s Largest Ukrainian Easter Egg’ in Vegreville and the “World’s Largest Perogy’ in Glendon – organizers here think its time for Didsbury to recognize its sturling heritage, he said.
The project would see the ‘Worlds’s Largest Sturling Stone’ constructed and then placed in town, he said.
“A local firm is excited about, and ready to build, the steel ‘sturling stone’, that would be 10 feet his in diameter, painted grey and would be mounted on a ten-foot high pedestal, with a ‘sure-shot sturling stick’ attached,” he said.
“This is an exciting project that will promote tourism for the town of Didsbury,” he said.
When completed, organizers plan to submit the project to the Guiness World Book of Records, he said.
The delegation request for town support has been forwarded to a council committee for consideration.
“It is still at the committee and I am unsure of when it will be brought back to council,” town communications coordinator Lisa Bastarache told the Albertan.
