Weyburn curler Ken Kopeck won a $10,000 renovation grant for the Weyburn Curling Club from entering Curling Canada’s Curling Day in Canada event in February.
(in the photo above:Ken Kopeck, second from right, won a $10,000 renovation grant for his home club, the Weyburn Curling Club. He is pictured with, from left, daughter Candice Porter, sister Janice Ashworth and grandsons Jaxon and Cale.)
Canadians came through in significant ways for the 2021 Curling Day in Canada celebration, making it one of the most widely celebrated renditions of the annual event yet. Curlers had the chance to win a $10,000 renovation grant for their local curling facility by sharing their #KeepCurlingmoments, donating to support youth development curling programs and taking part in Canada's BIG game and fundraiser.
For Canada's BIG game and fundraiser tallied the top and bottom scores of curling games across the country whether they played at a curling centre, on a rink or at home.
Curling Canada announced Ken Kopeck as the winner of the grant for the Weyburn Curling Club.
“I couldn't believe it at first. I was very fortunate to win this prize from Curling Day in Canada from all the entries in Canada. What great timing to win this for the Weyburn Curling Club after such a turmoil year where the rink had to shut down in December,” said Kopeck.
As far as how the curling club plans on using the funds, the board has ideas and they will decide over the summer how to best use the money to make it a more enjoyable place for their members and the community.
The annual event celebrates the value of Canada’s great sport by increasing the voices of curling fans across the nation, allowing them to connect and share stories that encompass the positive values and traits of curling. Canadians took a shining to the day, amplifying the #CurlingDayinCanada hashtag and making it the second-most trending topic on Twitter across Canada that day.
Leading up to the Curling Day in Canada celebration, Curling Canada launched a #CurlFromHome Countdown Contest where fans could take photos and videos of themselves curling with a themed item over 10 days. Each entry would be entered for the ultimate curling fan pack, featuring Curling Day in Canada merchandise and tabletop curling game. Curling Day in Canada merchandise flew off the virtual shelves of shop.curling.ca, with a 14 per cent increase in sales over 2020.
Those funds, along with donations, led to a total of $14,276 raised to support youth curling programs and initiatives across the country.
