Curlers from across the province kicked off the New Year with a 48-team bonspiel, played in memory of a longtime Vernon Curling Club member.

The Barry Amies Men's Open Bonspiel took place from Thursday, Jan. 2 to Sunday, Jan. 5 at the Vernon Curling Club. 

Amies was a longtime Curling Club member who died in 2019. Amies was involved with constructing the local curling rink and was a competitive curling skip himself. He helped create a local Curling Car Spiel Tournament that Vernon hosted for many years.

The tournament's size was a welcome site for Vernon Curling Club manager Kevin Geistlinger. 

"In the past, we had tournaments with 64 teams, and a waitlist of 10 to 12 teams, however, COVID kind of finished that," said Geistlinger. "But 48 is a perfect number; we got 200 guys coming as far out as the Kootenays and Comox."

Geistlinger called the tournament "such a good party," as it is the perfect competition for local curlers.

"We had a band on Saturday night with tons of people. It is all cash prizes, and it's not extravagant, but it brings pretty good teams out here."

Teams were divided into four divisions: A, B, C, and D, playing eight end games to a buzzer at one hour and 40 minutes. Upon the buzzer, teams finish the end they are in and play one more end.

It came down to two Vernon teams in the A final, where the team of Tyler Orme narrowly defeated Darrell Houston's team, 7-6, winning $800 for their efforts. 

A raffle and dinner took place on Saturday, with live music from James Taylor. 

For more information and for a full schedule of the Vernon Curling Club, visit