SPORTS Double silver medal for local man at Special Olympic National Winter Games in Calgary

Richard Ward (left) secured two silver medals so far in the 100 and 200 metre snowshoe relay events at the Special Olympic National Winter Games in Calgary this week. The Brantford man, who was raised in Paris, put forth a strong performance to secure the medal. Richard is no stranger to top calibre performance In 2022 Richard was set to represent Team Canada at the Special Olympic World Winter Games but the games were delayed and eventually cancelled in 2023 because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Richard is also set to compete in the 400 and 800 relay events, so stay tuned next week for more details! Another Paris man, Luke Meiszinger (pictured right with his coach, Hailey) is also representing Ontario at the games. Luke has been a Special Olympics athlete since 2006, competing in track, shotput, long jump, and this year, bowling. Luke's brothers live in Calgary are there with him as he competes. We will follow up next week with Luke’s results (details not avail be by deadline)

8-Ender Alert!

One of the hardest things to do in curling is to score a perfect end - an 8-ender as they call it. Requiring a perfect mix of skill and luck, it is accomplished when one team scores points with all 8 of their rocks thrown. To put it into perspective - in amateur golf, the odds of a hole-in-one are estimated at roughly 12,000 to 1; but in amateur curling, the odds of an 8-ender are estimated to be as high as 120,000 to 1. It is so rare in fact, that in the 180-year history of the Paris Curling Club, there have only been 19 recorded 8-Enders - until now. On Tuesday evening this week, one team made it 20. A big congratulations goes to the team of Cassie Easton, Linda Vivian, Ashley McCarthy, and skip Dan Tully on your perfect end!