Chicago Curling Club History
More About the Club
We are a vibrant volunteer-led club centered around curling. Curling at the Chicago Curling Club encourages skill development for beginning, intermediate, and advanced curlers. There are men's, women's, mixed, senior, novice, and open events. Generally, an event includes one game per week for a set number of weeks. Many events are offered throughout the curling season; in fact, full members of the club can curl almost every day or evening. Curlers may also participate in "bonspiels," multi-game tournaments held throughout a curling season by all curling clubs, including Chicago.
The club is recognized as one of the finest curling facilities of its size, with four sheets of ice, locker rooms, a full-equipped kitchen, a dining area, and a large social area. The curling season begins in October and ends in March, about the time that curlers are hoping to see those first flowers spring from the thawing soil!
It isn't just the sport that makes curling attractive. After a game, curlers engage in the traditional "broomstacking," a period for socializing with teammates and opponents. Beyond broomstacking, curlers at Chicago enjoy parties throughout the year, including a summer Cornspiel, golf outing, and the traditional celebrations marking the opening and closing of the curling season.
Club Founding
The winter of 1947-48 was colder than usual, but the curling
members of the Indian Hill Country Club weren’t complaining.
On the contrary, they were thrilled by the seven extra days of
freezing temperatures. It was “the first time the weather was
suitable for curling in the month of November,” and the lingering frost allowed them to play into early spring. The curlers
took full advantage. Enthusiasm for the sport was booming and
not only did they have a record number of male members on
the ice that season, but “the women, too, had a big year and
some of the teenagers were out several times.”
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Heathers History
Even before the doors officially opened, the Women’s
Division of the Chicago Curling Club was up and running. They met casually for the first time on December 15,
1948, at the Skokie Country Club, to set up their governing board and plan their first events. Created by the wives
of the founding male members, the Women’s Division was
its own autonomous organization – a club within a club.
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From the Past
Elizabeth Demers has spent many, many hours researching the history of the Chicago Curling Club. She has compiled a scrapbook of sorts of notable member letters from times gone by.
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