Author: twynholm

Weather: very wet. A big change from the previous three days. We breakfasted again at Chicago Curling Club. Quite how they manage to do such good catering is a mystery to us.

We had four teams out against Chicago CC at 9.15 am More on Results above. After an early lunch we moved by coach a few miles to Exmoor Country Club where a four sheeter pad is surrounded by a major golf course and sports complex. Ian Young’s team sat out this match, and maybe the felt they were the lucky ones as the opposition was mighty strong. For the Scots the ice needed the most delicate touch for a good finish. That combined with very determined opposition on home ice produced a big lead for team USA. All credit to Gary Rutherford’s team who worked their socks and just about everything else off to finish only one shot behind. Bill Byers thanks Exmoor members for hosting us at their Club.

After that it was a  relief and delight to be taken to the homes of our US hosts for a moment or two before we all returned to Exmoor CC for the Opening Banquet. We had been told by the 2012 Scots tourists that this would be a major event, and it was. There are no too many membership owned venues in Scotland that offer what Exmoor does. Speakers included Rich Lepping, Chairman of the board of USA Curling, Gus Noble, Illinois Saint Andrew Society,and Mark Swanbdby, 2017 Tour Convener and Captain of the 2012 Tour. Our own Clive Thomson replied on behalf of the Scots.

To close this memorable evening, the Scots sang songs from our Song and everyone around the room sang, proving that Scottish heritage is still very much alive in Chicago.

 

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Weather here at Chicago has been fine and dry – till late Sunday.

On Sunday we played against members of the last two US teams who visited Scotland. To all the Scots who met them then, they send a BIG HI!

The Chicago CC rink houses the American Museum of curling which has a big number of badges, many of them of Scottish Clubs and competition tours.

We were taken on a tour of the city, along with several of the 2001 and 2012 US tourists. Our guide Sylvia, a lady curler herself, was a fount of information on just about everything about Chicago – its administration, geography, major international companies including those in the grain trade, universities and colleges. We lunched on double cheeseburger – well it seemed to be the time and place to do that – in Billy Goat Tavern which was a ‘real Chicago’ experience. Along the shore of lake Michigan we saw the Queen’s Landing where HM Queen  Elizabeth arrived on HMS Brittania on her visit to the Great Lakes. We had a team photograph taken on the shores on the same spot as the last tour.

After a very short snooze and re-boot we played again, and began to find our ice feet. The Club has four sheets, and much of the social side, including the catering is done by volunteers – including the full steak dinner when all plates were well cleared by us Scots and the hosts alike. Purely in the interest of research, beers to suit most palates are readily available and very popular. They had the Herries Maxwell Trophy on  display which was something of a challenge to us! After dinner Callum Harvey did a Vote of Thanks to our hosts which we responded to enthusiastically.

Tomorrow the Tour starts in earnest with a game against Chicago then on to Exmoor, just a short car ride away. More of on that next time.

 

 

Only 24 hours into the Tour and one of us has aged already. Thankfully it wasn’t a casualty but a birthday for Jim Ramsay. Captain Clive presented Jim with a cake (how good was that?) and we all sang Happy Birthday to Jim.

We’ve had lots of messages of good wishes from former Scots Tourists going back 20 Years. Thanks all. It’s good to know that the trail ahead of us has already been blazed by you.

The Dublin Chicago flight was just over 8 hours and 3672 miles: someone somewhere will want to know that. We arrived in good shape to a full-on welcome form ten or so US Curling Association men including Russ Brown who is to be our courier this week. Malcolm MacAllister gave a full version of Highland Cathedral on the coach on the journey to the hotel to the delight of all. Later a short walk took us to the social gathering at Chicago Curling Club for pizza and drinks. Wilson Gotthchild gave us the warmest of welcomes “to the Scots who have been coming here since 1952” to cheers from the big audience. Everyone we spoke to knew we were coming, and many had personal or family connections with Scots an curling in Scotland.

A long day, and a good one.  No doubt much of the same is ahead of us. We’re up for that.

For months it’s been getting

READY………..STEADY….

and at 7.30 pm on Friday evening at the Holiday Inn Glasgow The 2017 Scotland Team Tour to USA officially got the GO.

As far as we know, we all had brought every one of the 50-odd items of clothing, gifts and sets of badges for our hosts-to-be in the US – although there was bit of surreptitious sharing of the Tour Song Book.

After a bit of socialising, and a bit more socialising we sat down to dinner. Captain Clive aka Royal Club President Clive Thomson, quietly kept the proceedings in good order. Judge David McIntyre, in wig and gown plus mean-looking gavel extracted penalties from most of us for misdemeanours – whether actually or potentially done. His imagination was exceeded only by the hilarity round the table when excuses or even the slightest protest was offered. Yes, we really were beginning to settle down as a Tour.

That was a hard act to follow but Malcolm MacAskill brought us back onto order to get ready to practise the Tour Song Book – even getting us to do vocal and upper-body exercises. It seemed to work, and Malcolm has promised he’ll keep on making us improve – good luck, Malcolm. All round, the evening was a great way to start our time together on Tour, and with a 6.15 am photoshoot most of us didn’t hang around too long after….whatever time it may have been!

All credit to us (hmmm) the photoshoot started on time proving that at least on one occasion we could respond to our alarms. Having cleared procedures at Glasgow Airport we arrived in Dublin at 10 am, and cleared the US Immigration process without a hitch.

In Dublin IanThePhoto, aka Ian Young, got photos of each team in playing order – and still smiling.

We’ve just had the first call for our Chicago flight so, from us all to you all at home in Scotland ….We’re ready, holding Steady and we’ll GO and do Scotland proud.