A curling tournament between two northeastern Ontario towns is celebrating 100 years without interruption, even through a world war and global pandemic.
The Baxter Cup is contested between curling teams from Espanola, an hour west of Sudbury, and Little Current, on Manitoulin Island. It started in 1925, when George Baxter, who owned the hardware store in Little Current, created a trophy for the competition between the two clubs.
“Baxter said, ‘Well, listen, I’m going to offer up a trophy to have this tournament where we can compete with a certain set of rules where there won’t be any ties,'” said David Gallant, the Baxter Cup trustee for Espanola.
“And that’s when the Baxter Cup, and its rules, and terms and conditions of how to compete for it came into play in 1925.”
Seven years after the tournament was born, the Espanola arena and curling club burned to the ground. Undeterred, teams from both communities continued to host the tournament outdoors.
“They curled pretty much on the same site for the 20 years that it was held outside,” Gallant said.
During the Second World War, Espanola was home to a prisoner of war camp, but the tournament went on.
“We have a photo from 1942 that we’ve posted a few times and there are curlers standing outdoors on the ice with the Baxter Cup at their feet, and there are a couple of soldiers there as well.” Gallant said.
He said they haven’t been able to identify the people in that photo or even if they were members of the Canadian military or another allied force.
More recently, the tournament faced another obstacle with the COVID-19 pandemic, but didn’t miss a beat.
“We were very motivated to, you know, keep it continuing into 100 years,” said Ron McQuarrie, the Baxter Cup trustee for Little Current.
McQuarrie said that in 2021, they had to push the tournament back to the fall when social distancing measures weren’t as strict.
But even then, everyone wore masks and they were restricted to only one sweeper to ensure there was enough space between curlers.
“So it was alternative curling, but it was still Little Current versus Espanola,” said Gallant.
Gallant first participated in the Baxter Cup in 2011 and McQuarrie joined in 2014. Each club fields five teams for the tournament, and curlers need to have a certain amount of seniority with their respective clubs to participate.
One curler, John Hodder, has been participating since 1961, and hasn’t missed a tournament since then.
McQuarrie said many longstanding traditions make the tournament special.
At the start of each tournament, there’s a big dinner and the skips introduce their teams.
“It’s kind of mandatory that the new person on the team has to tell a joke in front of everyone,” McQuarrie said.
After four ends of play, both teams throw their brooms on the ice and take a break to socialize and have drinks.
Gallant said it’s a nice feeling to be part of something that has so much history.
“Making it to the 100th year in a row has been a goal,” he said.
“It’s just the annual chance at being a part of the history and the tradition of something like this.”
This year’s tournament starts today (Feb. 7), with action taking place in both communities.
