In 1963, the Pacific Coast Masters Curling Association was established for male curlers over age 60 curling only in day leagues who were interested in competitive bonspiels and playdowns. The day leagues in the Vancouver area worked out a schedule for a different club to host a bonspiel every couple of weeks throughout the curling season. These bonspiels ran from Monday morning to Wednesday afternoon. There were two pools: an early and late draw. Teams played twice on Monday & Tuesday and on Wednesday afternoon was one draw followed by a sit-down meal and award presentation.
The Gibsons Day League began early in the history of our curling club and by the 1980’s there were regular inter-club curling days with Powell River and Squamish. Around 2001 a team of our day league members (John Lockwood, Wayne Laroque, Norm Masson & Harry Turner) was playing in the Masters Bonspiels in the Lower Mainland and decided it would be a great idea to hold a Masters Bonspiel at our curling club.
Wayne and Norm organized our members, and by 2003 the first PCMCA sanctioned Mens Masters Bonspiel was held at the Gibsons Curling Club. 16 teams from the Lower Mainland and our day league competed for the first Masters Trophy, donated to the bonspiel by Art Jones, the owner of the Waterfront restaurant. The bonspiel date was set near the end of the Masters bonspiel schedule in March. Thus the idea to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with curlers dressed in green and Irish decorations in the lounge began for the Masters Bonspiel.
Over the years, teams from Powell River, Vancouver Island, Squamish, and the Lower Mainland competed in the bonspiel. Volunteers from our day league organized the draws, scoring, prizes, lunches, and sit-down dinner on Wednesday afternoon. Many curlers from North Vancouver and Vancouver took advantage of our offer to pick teams up at the ferry terminal and transport them to and from the curling club. Another feature of our Masters Bonspiel was the great community support shown in finding gifts for most of the curlers in the bonspiel.
By 2018, women joined the men in the PCMCA league and bonspiel curling. Our day league has been a mixed league for many years, and we have held open bonspiels with an assortment of teams for the last few years. Our last full 16-team bonspiel was held in 2019 when the Powell River rink won. In 2020, the bonspiel was cancelled at the last minute as BC and the world shut down to deal with the COVID pandemic.
Due to the decline in day league membership, in 2022 we began hosting a smaller one-day bonspiel with only 8 teams invited. This smaller bonspiel again celebrated the Irish and included rides for the curlers coming over on the ferry, 12 ends of curling, a hot lunch, cash winnings, and the Masters Trophy winner.
The day league is again hosting the Gibsons Masters Bonspiel on Wednesday, March 12th, 2025. Many thanks to Harry Turner for his memories of those early years of the Day League and the beginnings of the Masters Bonspiel.