COVER FEATURE

the Wausau Curling Center and the Wausau Curling Club. the Wausau Curling Center and the Wausau Curling Club. Th ey’d just wrapped up another season of league play, and Th ey’d just wrapped up another season of league play, and the U18 National Curling Championship was slated to the U18 National Curling Championship was slated to come to Wausau in May. It also happened to be the 100th come to Wausau in May. It also happened to be the 100th anniversary of curling in Wausau, marking the year when anniversary of curling in Wausau, marking the year when the fi rst folks to throw the heavy granite stones took to the fi rst folks to throw the heavy granite stones took to the Wisconsin River. And an Olympic year, always a boon the Wisconsin River. And an Olympic year, always a boon for interest in the club, was less than two years out. for interest in the club, was less than two years out.

COVID had other ideas. Business shutdowns all over COVID had other ideas. Business shutdowns all over the state began, the National competition was canceled, the state began, the National competition was canceled, and curling for the foreseeable future was… ahem... on ice.

In fact, other than an event featuring National men’s, women’s and doubles tournaments in May (multiple and strict COVID protocols were taken and not one single case resulted from the event), the curling club hasn’t seen any curling and the fl oors of the curling center were largely free of any ice. (New ice is created every season, in multiple thin sheets laid on top of each other for additional strength.)

Th at’s about to change. Ice is currently being made at the facility layer by layer. Both new and seasoned club members are sending in inquiries to fi nd out if curling is back on. And the winter Olympics are slated to start in February — that always brings in new club members and the club is sure to host coinciding “Learn to Curl” events to introduce the sport to those who gain an interest in watching it on TV. (Data shows curling gets the most interest on Google searches of any other Olympic sport, though that interest also drops off sharply after the games conclude.)

Th is year the club can fi nally celebrate its 100th year as a sport in Wausau. Th e address sign on the front of the curling center, tucked away across from the soccer fi elds of the People’s Sports Complex, reads 1920 Curling Way. Th at’s a reference to the fi rst year anyone threw a curling stone in Wausau.

Curling has always had strong support in the Wausau area, says Wausau Curling Club president Randy Brandner. Th at support extended through the COVID pandemic even as the membership overwhelmingly voted to not have a 2020-2021 season.

Running a club the size of Wausau’s — with one of the top curling barns in the country — still costs a lot to maintain. How did the club get through the season?

It turns out, club members stepped up to help pay the expenses, Brandner says. One donor came forward and off ered to match any other donations. Between all the club members, they raised $50,000 to keep the club in the black during the shutdown season.

Membership has always stayed pretty steady. Brandner says the membership has held steady at around 500 members, with people coming and going over the years.

I asked because according to data from FiveTh irtyEight, a data journalism website, interest in curling spikes during Olympic months far more than any other

by Attorney Andrew W. Schmidt

sport, and consistently. But then, that interest drops to levels much lower than during Olympic months. During Olympic months, the website reports, curling hits an 85.5 average on the 0-100 scale of interest Google Trends uses to assess search interest. In non-Olympic months, that drops to 4.57. That trend has been pretty steady since the Salt Lake City games in 2002, when 50 hours of curling were broadcast. That was a dramatic increase from the previous games, in which all of 30 minutes were broadcast.

Interest in the Wausau Curling Club definitely spikes during Olympic years, Wausau curling enthusiasts say. But the high school programs tend to drive their membership more. There are about 150 high school curlers in the area, and many of them come back to the sport once they get settled into their lives and their kids get older.

In fact, Brandner says, nearly every inquiry they’ve gotten this year from would-be curlers mentioned someone — a friend, neighbor, spouse — who had curled in high school as part of the inspiration for the interest.

James Force, a long-time curler with the club, reached out to City Pages about the 100th anniversary. It seemed the perfect confluence of celebrating 100 years of curling in Wausau, and the club emerging from its COVID-induced hibernation.

How did the sport come to Wausau? No one is 100% sure, Force says, but it appears a man from Minnesota named Howard Morrison came to Wausau and introduced people to the sports around 1920. (He also is credited with leading the Wausau Curling Club in 1925.) Curling moved from the River to the tennis courts near the YMCA, and then a cattle barn at Marathon Park. The Club eventually moved to the multi-purpose barn at Marathon Park in the 40s, where it stayed for nearly 70 years.

The current curling center was built in 2012. When asked where the idea came from, many cite Wausau businessman John Dudley for coming up with the idea. “If you build the best center in the country, Wausau will support you,” Dudley is said to have quipped. With support from the BA Esther Foundation and the Alexander Foundation, Dudley’s proclamation proved correct: Wausau became home to one of the top curling centers in the country. It can host national competitions and has hosted the Scottish traveling team playing the traveling U.S. team.

Women weren’t originally allowed to buy stock in the club, and had their own auxiliary, says Doris Eberlein. The group was called the Highlanders. One day the Highlanders challenged a men’s team at the club, and the women won, Eberlein says proudly.

Eberlein first started curling in 1965, she told City Pages, and continues to this day. Women were eventually let into the club, but not everyone in the club was thrilled about the decision. “It wasn’t a unanimous vote,” she says.

That wasn’t until the early 90s, past club president and now-retired Wausau Community Development Director Ann Werth says.

Curling is a uniquely Scottish game (as is golf) and evidence for some form of the game was recorded in the early 16th century in Latin by a notary in Scotland.

The sport was largely an outdoor one played in northern European countries to pass time during the harsh cold winter months. In some places, it is still played outside today, but all national and international competitions are held in indoor facilities.

The rules were first formalized in Edinburgh in the early 19th century, and in fact after seeing a demonstration of the sport in 1843, Queen Victoria was so impressed she agreed to let the club in Scotland add “Royal” to its name.

The first international play took place at the first winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, and showed up the following Olympics in 1932 in Lake Placid as a demonstration sport. It finally became an official Olympic sport in 1998 at the Nagano, Japan winter games. The Club this year will start with a set of COVID protocols, says George Goyke, secretary for the club since 1994. Anyone vaccinated is not required to wear a mask but is recommended to. Those who aren’t vaccinated should wear a mask. Club members are urged to do so on the honor system, which is an important part of curling in general, Werth says. Curling has a strong etiquette to it, something its players take seriously.

Force says folks who curl always help each other out, especially new members who are still learning the ropes. “When you start out, there are a lot of things you might not quite understand,” Force says. “People will come up and say ‘just a thought here, you might want to try…’ or ‘you might want to try this instead.’ And that might be someone from the opposing team. There’s a lot of camaraderie and friendship.”

The demographics of the club tend to run a little older. The 40-plus crowd is pretty well represented. They have about 150 high school curlers, and the youngest curler to play on a men’s team was 8 years old; the oldest was 98. The club even has special sticks to push the stones for older members who can no longer get down to slide the stone. “This is truly a lifetime sport,” Goyke says.

There was some drop-off in membership during the shutdown. Brandner says some curlers found other sports to join during COVID and many of them plan to keep doing those new sports.

But those who have been with the sport can’t wait to get back on the ice. And, combined with a surging interest from new potential new members, along with an Olympic year that always draws interest coming up and with a 100year celebration in the works, club members are expecting a strong year for the club.

Check out Wausau Curling Club on Facebook, or log on to https://wausaucurling.org/ for more information.