Guelph Country Club

Guelph Country Club
Guelph was founded on St. George's Day, April 23rd, 1827 with the ceremonial felling of a large maple tree. Guelph is considered to be one of the first planned towns in Canada and was chosen as the headquarters of a British development firm known as the "Canada Company". The location was picked by the Company's Superintendent in Canada, a popular Scottish novelist named John Galt who designed the town to attract settlers to it and to the surrounding countryside. Guelph was named after the British Royal Family. King George the IV, the monarch at the time of Guelph's founding, was from the Guelph lineage, a German family.
FUN FACTS ABOUT GUELPH
*Guelph ranked number one in MSN's report on Canada's next most livable cities. " (January 24, 2011)
*Guelph was named Canada’s Most Caring Community by Maclean's Magazine. The Royal City is the volunteer capital of Canada because 69.7 per cent of its population volunteers. (August 28, 2008)
*The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), ranked Guelph fourth among 4,716 Canadian cities in their Composite Learning Index, an annual measure that gauges learning conditions needed to foster social and economic well-being. (2009)
*Statistics Canada named Guelph Canada's safest city (2009). In 2010, Guelph ranked lowest on the nation’s crime severity index for the fourth year in a row.
*Guelph was the home of North America's first cable TV system. Ted Metcalf created McLean Hunter Television and their first broadcast was Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 1953.
*Guelph's police force had Canada's first municipal motorcycle patrol and was the first to have two-way car radios.
*Tim Ryan, the inventor of Five Pin Bowling, was a Guelph resident.
*Guelph is the first and only municipality in the British Commonwealth to own its own railway line. The line is a 16 mile link to the Guelph Junction Railroad and the CPR. Guelph still owns it today.
*The jock strap was invented here... created by Guelph Elastic Hosiery (now Protexion Industries) in the 1920s.
*1460 CJOY was the first Canadian radio station to have a call-in talk show.
*The Ontario Veterinary College is the oldest school of its kind in the Western hemisphere (founded in 1862).
*Colonel John McCrae, who wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields" was born and raised in Guelph.
The Guelph Country Club is situated on a parcel of land that was originally served as a Georgian Style Farmhouse horse race track with its original owners from Hazeldon Scotland in 1820. In 1912 the land was bought and the Guelph Country Club began as a 9 hole golf course. The original farmland was rough and to keep the course trim it was decided to obtain a herd of sheep and install fences to contain them. In 1964 the clubhouse expanded to include a new 4 sheet curling rink and lounge. Over the years many teams from the Guelph Country Club have won a variety of championships most notably the 1980 Ontario Senior Woman's Champions, the 2008 Ontario Masters (over 60) Woman's Champions, the 2010 Canadian Men Masters (over 60) Champions and the 2012 Ontario Men Masters Champions. The club is well known for its focus on social, fun curling with numerous non- competitive leagues and drop-in curling.

Fergus Curling Club
Fergus is a town in Ontario, Canada, and part of The Township of Centre Wellington. Centre Wellington is part of Wellington County.
Originally Fergus was known as Little Falls, because of the scenic (water) falls downtown, between the Public Library and the Fergus Market. Other names that (parts of) Fergus have been known as include Nichol Township, Aboyne, Garafraxa Township and Pierpoint Settlement.
In 1833 Scottish settlers began arriving in this area. The freed slaves formed "Pierpoint Settlement", named after their leader Richard Pierpoint, in Garafraxa Township - around what is now Scotland Street in Fergus.
Later that year Adam Fergusson and James Webster purchased land in Nichol Township, establishing the town of Little Falls. The waterfalls in the Grand River were used as power for local industries, and in 1834-1835 the town took shape further when a hotel, saw mill, grist mill, church and school were built.
The Scotts also built stone houses and industrial buildings, which give the town of Fergus (Ontario, Canada) its characteristic historic look and feel. Many of these old buildings are still around - some are even still occupied by descendants of the original owners.
In its early days, the Fergus Curling Club had some trappings of a secret society with a password and sign and a hand grip to be used by all members. It is the oldest continuous curling club in Ontario and one of the finest anywhere. The club was organized in 1834, within a year of the first house built in Fergus.In 1870, the club resolved to erect an enclosed rink at the corner of Tower and Albert Streets where the new information centre and Chamber of Commerce building now stands. To raise money, they sold $5.00 shares and a lot of money was donated.
In 1896, an agreement was made to transfer the property to the Centre of Wellington Agricultural Society, on the condition that the club could use the building for curling. In 1901, the rink was enlarged.
In 1948, the club’s membership increased to a point where they needed three sheets of ice. The necessary land was acquired and in 1949 the third sheet was constructed and members dug out the area below the original clubrooms by hand to create a washroom and a social room, often referred to as “the snake pit”.
In 1950, artificial ice was installed. From the beginning in 1834, each member was responsible for his own stones. In 1956, the club purchased 24 pairs of matching curling stones. Until 1954, curling was mainly a man’s activity. With help from local organizations and the Trillium Fund, the new, steel building was in place for the January 1977 official opening.
The many trophies that the club members have won over the years adorn the walls of the “Library, formerly the Snake Pit”, and the showcase in the club room which includes some of the original “stones” used by the club. Of particular pride is the OCA Banner awarded to Fergus for winning the Ontario Tankard in 1899, and the OCA District Cup, won by Fergus in 1929, 1930, 1931, and 1932.
Elora Curling Club
Elora was settled in the early 1800s by mainly Scottish pioneers who left their mark on finely crafted limestone houses, many of which remain today. In the 1850s and ‘60s, Elora’s Mill Street enjoyed its heyday as a major agricultural marketplace. The stores on this street sold a range of goods as diverse as anywhere in Canada.
In the 1960s, the first craftspeople and artists took up residence in Elora and the village established itself as a tourist destination. Artisans transformed the century-old buildings into shops and galleries full of character and charm. At the foot of Mill Street stands the Elora Mill, one of the few early Ontario five-storey grist mills still in existence. It now serves as an upscale inn and two restaurants.
During this time, the Elora Gorge Park was also established. The Gorge is one of the most scenic areas in Southern Ontario with its limestone cliffs descending 80 feet into the Grand and Irvine rivers where small caves, rapids, falls and quiet waters beckon visitors. One visit is all it takes to fall “in love with Elora”.
The Elora Curling Club prides itself in keeping with the fellowship that we have been providing our members since 1839 and has one of the most active, sociable memberships in the area. Members of the club participate in local social leagues providing fun and hospitality to others as well as producing many highly competitive and successful top level teams.