Our Story

With a growing membership from throughout the Delmarva Peninsula, the Chesapeake Curling Club is located at the Talbot County Community Center in Easton, Maryland. The Chesapeake Curling Club provides three sheets of curling ice from December to March, hosting three regular leagues and several open curling sessions throughout the season.  Our season features several “Intro-to-Curling” sessions and instruction is also available to club members and interested persons.

The Chesapeake Curling Club is a volunteer club and a member of the Grand National Curling Club, a confederation of 70 curling clubs in the eastern United States, and the United States Curling Association, the national coordinating organization. The Club was formed in the winter of 1979, after Bill Miller convinced Nettie Marie Jones that, when she donated property to build a skating rink in Easton, a curling rink should be built alongside it.

In addition to its regular activities, the Chesapeake Curling Club hosts teams from across the country and Canada for tournaments or bonspiels, and members of our club regularly travel to other clubs in the U.S. and abroad to compete in curling events.

Our History

The history of the Chesapeake Curling Club begins in the late 1970’s when a 3 sheet facility was built as part of the Talbot County Community Center in Easton. The center  includes an ice skating arena and was donated to the county by a Mrs. Jones who owned the land where the center stands. It was only through the efforts of an advisor to Mrs. Jones and Bill Miller that the curling facility was built. The advisor was at a cocktail party hosted by Bill, a former member of the St. Andrews Curling Club of Ardsley, NY. The assistant saw Bill’s medals, hat and broom, had a discussion with Bill and then suggested to Mrs. Jones that the curling rink be added to the center already in the design process. Mrs. Jones had lived in Lake Placid, knew about curling and agreed to include a donation for a three sheet facility.

Ice became available in 1979 and the club formed in 1980. Bill Miller was instrumental in getting the membership started and in making the club successful.. There were about 30 charter members many of whom were former curlers who had retired to the area.  Word has it that Bill would call members at noon on Sunday and say “Be there, two o’clock”. Not, “is it convenient”, just “be there”. He taught members to curl and gave every ounce of his energy to the club. Since 1984 we have held an annual one-day in-house bonspiel, called “The Miller”, to honor Bill and his wife Edith,”. Members of the Potomac Curling Club, then an arena club, would come over the Chesapeake Bay bridge to help train our members. In the 1980’s Potomac members, calling themselves the “Bay Hoppers”, would curl on our “dedicated” curling ice.

In 1986 the club held its inaugural Funspiel. This is an annual Open bonspiel held the third weekend in January. Although the theme changes from year to year, the Funspiel was named and initiated by Charlie Flamand who was a great enthusiast of the game.  During the inaugural event, the club hosted 16 teams and it has grown to 24 teams over the past few years.  The club is known for serving  Chesapeake Bay Oysters at the Funspiel. The first event  is named in Charlie’s honor and memory.  The second event is named in memory of Betty Whitlock who from the beginning, along with her husband Chet, worked tirelessly to make the club a success.  The third event is named in memory of Clyde Erwin who was a long time member and ice consultant. He donated our first deionized water system, a scraper and a nipper to the club. The fourth event is named in memory of Ann Hooker who was a great benefactor to the club and was known for sponsoring the annual Lobster Raffle which was held during the Funspiel. We all miss Charlie, Betty, Clyde and Ann and their friendship and never failing support of our club.

During the 2005-2006 season the Talbot County Community Center underwent a complete renovation. Because of this renovation, we lost our ice for the season but were able to retain most members with reduced dues. That year, with the  cooperation of the Potomac Curling club, we held the 2006 Funspiel at their 4 sheet facility and our Community Center allowed us to host the 2006 Women’s Challenge on the skating/hockey arena which is adjacent to our curling ice. After the renovation we lost our end viewing warm room but gained a side viewing warm room and a small catering kitchen and restrooms.  There is now a public viewing area which has increased the visibility of our sport within the building. The renovation included a deionized water system, which replaced our tank system, and a dedicated dehumidifier. Because of these improvements we began to see improved ice in 2007.

In 2009 we held a fund raising campaign to install a TV/Monitor system for our 3 sheets with monitors in the warm room and in the public end viewing area. In 2014 we held another fund raising campaign and with the generosity of our members and a loan from the GNCC, we purchased a new scraper which has improved our ice. In 2016 we held our first Delmarvalous Regional Bonspiel with a focus of attracting teams from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. This Bonspiel has now grown to be nationwide.