the stone is determined by its speed and team members who
sweep and brush the ice ahead of the stone with brooms in
order to influence its trajectory or "curl."
The stones are heavy, weighing about 40 pounds, and
have a handle for the person releasing them. Arlen originally
searched online to find a set of less expensive stones — if
you'd call $2,000 less expensive — for sale in North Dakota.
"Friends of the family, Gary and Kathy Peters, went up
to get the stones from a guy who told us he had been an
Olympic judge at one time," said Arlen. "After spending a bit
of time talking to the guy on the phone, I knew they were in
for a long conversation when they met him."
Gary, chucking over the absurdity of the trip with his wife
to procure the rocks, recalls that half-day conversation 15
miles from the Canadian border. "He was selling us eight
stones along with a set of brooms. The guy kept saying, 'You
might need this. You might need that.' I wanted to tell him
this is going to be pretty crude where we do this.
"Then, a couple of years later," Gary continued, "we
had a guy from western Nebraska reach out. He had some
stones we could use. So, for several years we'd borrow the
stones and cut him a check for letting us use them. But
our treasurer told us he wasn't cashing the checks. When I
called him, he told me to just keep the stones. So now I have
two sets of curling stones in my basement. They get used
one day a year."
The club shoots to have its curling fundraiser the second
Saturday in January, advertising mostly by word of mouth
Curlers, with brooms and beers in hand, stand near the "house" of the curling pitch, counting points.
December 2022 • Nebraskaland 41
