Eau Claire Curling Club Newsletter

The general membership meeting will be held at the club on Tuesday, October 19^th at 7:00 pm. With the addition of many new members last season and the highly successful Reverse Raffle, our club is already off to a great start to the new curling season. Please plan to attend the meeting to discuss the events planned for the coming year.

We will host Open Houses on Thursday, October 28^th and Friday, October 29^th, starting at 7pm on both evenings. We will be doing a media "blitz" and will have flyers available at the Fall Meeting. Please bring your friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors … any one you can think of who may be interested in curling. If you don’t have anyone to bring, please still plan to attend the open house – we want a full clubroom and ice area!

We will serve snacks and beverages at the Open Houses. Please bring veggie trays, chips, desserts, etc. We will also need greeters and people to help on the ice. Please call Lon Piper (839-9563) or Chris McMahon (836-9743) if you can help.

The success of our first Reverse Raffle held in January 1999 exceeded all of our expectations, and we look forward to an even better outcome this year. The 2000 Reverse Raffle will be held on Friday, February 18^th, 2000, which is the evening before the start of our Lumberjack Mixed Bonspiel. We hope that with "repeat business", holding the raffle on a Friday night and a little later in the season, and combining the raffle with the Bonspiel, all tickets will be sold this year.

This year we will again sell 350 tickets at $50.00 each. The ticket admits two people to our club on February 17^th for a catered meal, drinks, and a chance to win up to $3,000. The $3,000 main prize is awarded to the last ticket drawn and $500 is awarded to the second to last ticket. Every 10^th ticket drawn receives $100 and the 200^th ticket drawn receives $200.

Although selling raffle tickets (especially for $50) is not many people’s favorite activity, this is our major fundraiser of the year. Each member will be asked to try and sell 5-7 tickets. Tickets will be available at the Fall Meeting and from League Chairpeople. Or, if you need tickets, please contact Chris McMahon. Obviously some members will be able to sell more than 5-7 tickets, but we would ask that all members try to sell some. Help will also be required on the evening of February 17^th in order to make this raffle a success.

We will host the USCA Men’s Second Chance Tournament February 10-13, 2000. Sixteen teams (determined by their standings at State/Regional Championships) will complete for four spots at the USCA Men’s National Championship.

The USCA will pay the Eau Claire Curling Club $1,000 and provide the head official and head ice maker. In turn we must provide workers! We may sell food, drinks, and merchandise if we want. Jennifer Rhude is coordinating the arrangements. We will need chairman for several committees (Ice, Officials, Publicity, and Hospitality) as well as many workers for each day of the tournament. This is another good money-making opportunity for our club, and it is an excellent way to gain publicity for curling and the Eau Claire Curling Club. Please call Jennifer (879-5498) if you are willing to be on a committee.

Please see the calendar below for the start date for leagues. Here are this year’s chairpeople:

Lon Piper will have broom and sliders available for sale. Please contact Lon if you would like to purchase any equipment.

Returning Member: $125 ($100 membership + $25 for one league) + $25 each additional league

High School: $100 ($75 membership + $25 for one league) + $25 each additional league

New Members $85 ($60 membership + $25 for one league) + $25 each additional league

*The Junior dues will be collected by the Treasurer and $15 per participant will be returned to the juniors for food, beverages, etc.

October		January
16^th-25^th	Make Ice	7^th-9^th	Men’s Bonspiel
19^th	Fall General Meeting
28^th	Open House	February
29^th	Open House	5^th-6^th	Men’s Silver Cup Playoff
		10^th-13^th	USCA Men’s Second Chance
November		18^th	Reverse Raffle
1^st	Monday Night Women’s League Begins	19^th-20^th	Lumberjack Mixed Bonspiel
2^nd	Tuesday Night Men’s League Begins
4^th	Thursday Night Men’s League Begins	March
5^th	Friday Night Mixed League Begins	17^th-19^th	Local End of the Year Bonspiel
12^th-14^th	Women’s Bonspiel	24^th-26^th	Kidney Foundation Bonspiel
19^th	Dues are Due	27^th	Start Clean-Up

December		April
6^th	Monday Night Junior’s League Begins	5^th	Spring General Meeting
11^th-12^th	Men’s Shootout	7^th	Set-Up Thrift Sale at 6:30pm
		8^th	Thrift Sale
		15^th	Out of Building

President	Paul Hanke	715-836-9888 W & H
Secretary	Jolee Mickesh	715-723-5088 H
Treasurer	Chris McMahon	715-836-9743 H / 715-831-7574 W
Members	Dan Herzberg	715-878-4958 H
	Mike Peplinski	715-839-7438 H
	Lon Piper	715-839-9563 H
WSCA State Director	Chris McMahon	715-836-9743 H / 715-831-7574 W
Badger Women’s Rep	Jennifer Rhude	715-879-5498 H

Remember, the Fall General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 19^th at 7:00 pm. Please plan to attend this important meeting to discuss the upcoming year.