Bob Mackintosh, after whom the Trans-Atlantic Rotary Curling Quaich is named, was instrumental in founding the Tour. In February 1956, Bob and his wife May travel to Montreal. May, a lecturer at Edinburgh University had written a book on education and hoped to have it published in Canada.
Whilst in Montreal, Bob met Aubrey Legge, a fellow Rotarian. After some conversation Aubrey mentioned his love of curling and added that one of his ambitions in life was to curl in Scotland. Bob suggested that Aubrey bring a team of Rotarian curlers to Scotland in November 1956. As a result, twelve Canadians and four Americans took up the invitation, thus beginning 50+ years of Rotary curling fellowship.
The tour in 1957 was arranged by Bob Mackintosh, a member of the Rotary Club of Hamilton, and Willie Milne, the then Scottish Rotary Sports Convener and a member of the Rotary Club of Glasgow. Twenty Scots curled that year in Montreal, Trois Rivieres, Quebec City, Lachute, Ottawa, Brockville, Utica N.Y. and Shenectady N.Y. Initially tours were to be exchanged annually, however only Canadian Rotarians returned to Scotland in 1958, the Americans having withdrawn from the tour.
Linton Armstrong of Lachute captained the 1958 Canadian Team of 20 Rotarian curlers to Scotland. At some point later the number of curlers was established at 22. The Scots returned to Canada in 1960 following the decision to tour every two years.
Over the years the Tour has achieved legendary status as a test of skill and stamina. Those who have participated will never forget the hospitality received and the friendships made. The true Rotary spirit through the International Fellowship of Sport.
The Trophies:
The Bob Mackintosh Trans-Atlantic Rotary Curling Quaich:
This trophy is presented to the winning team from Canada or Scotland in order to foster international relationships between Rotarians. The trophy is carried back by any Curling Team from Canada or Scotland which crosses the Atlantic and stays in the homes of Rotarians.
The winning side is decided by aggregating the number of shots for each side over all the games played during the tour; and tradition is that in the final end of the final game, none of the skips throws the last stone, thus suspending play so that the game may continue during the next tour in the host country across the Atlantic.
The Duddingston Trophy:
This trophy is presented to the team winning in competition between the two most current Rotary Curling Teams from Scotland and Canada in the traditional 'final game' of each tour, the winner being decided by aggregating the number of shots for each side.
The John Cutler Memorial Trophy:
John Cutler, a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of West Ottawa, was a member of the 1998 Canada to Scotland Rotary Curling Team, who unexpectedly passed away in Glasgow, during the last days of the 1998 tour. In his memory the 1996 Scottish Team and the 1998 Canadian Team presented trophies in his honour. The trophies, one on each side of the 'pond', will be competed for by the outgoing touring team and the previous touring team. The first such competition took place in October 2000 between the 1996 and 2000 Scottish Touring Teams. The competition this year is between the 2004 and 2008 Scottish Teams.
ROTARY CURLING TOUR SCOTLAND TO CANADA: 2008
The twenty two Rotarians who represented the three Scottish Rotary Districts on the latest Scotland to Canada Curling Tour, returned from Canada on 24th November having successfully regained for Scotland both the Bob Mackintosh Trans-Atlantic Quaich and the Duddingston Trophy. Prior to flying out on the Tour, the team had curled against the previous Scotland to Canada 2004 Tour team, and managed to win the John Cutler Trophy, thereby giving the 2008 team a clean sweep of all of the trophies for which they have participated.
8 District 1010 Rotarians, including Captain Bill Duncan, Rotary Club of Perth, and Vice Captain Jim Robb, Rotary Club of Inverness, set off on 31st October on the curling trip of a lifetime, along with Jim Aitken, Rotary Club of Inverkeithing & Dalgety Bay, Lara Anderson, Rotary Club of Oldmeldrum (The First Lady of Rotary Curling Tours), James Arnott, Rotary Club of Kirriemuir (Sergeant-at-Arms), Ian Borland, Rotary Club of West Fife, George Sharp, Rotary Club of Cupar, and Ken Young, Rotary Club of Dunfermline.
The Tour began in Montreal where the tourists were welcomed at a banquet, by Captain Ken Thomson and the 2006 Canadian tourists to Scotland, and Captain Bill Duncan was asked to attach the 2008 tour pin to the ceremonial curling broom which signified the official commencement of the Tour. The first day saw a friendly curling match at Baie D’Urfe Curling Club, before the first of the popular home hosting evenings. From there the team moved to the first match in the Bob Mackintosh Quaich event at the Royal Montreal Curling Club, which is the oldest sporting club in North America, and the tourists emerged victorious with a 41-17 victory to set them on the road. From there, the tourists built up a substantial lead in the series, after good wins at both Kemptville and Ottawa, where they were lucky enough to have a guided tour of the magnificent Parliament buildings.
Then it was on to the beautiful Kingston and Picton area, where they were treated to magnificent weather peaking in the low 70’s, and a visit to the famous Fort Henry, but where the locals were not quite so friendly on the ice as off, as we suffered our first overall loss of the Tour going down by 4 shots. From there it was on to Peterborough where the sun continued to shine and two matches were played on consecutive days, with another 10 shots being added to the tourists lead. Meaford and Thornbury was the next stop where we saw our first sign of snow, and a tight series of matches was won by the locals by two shots. The evening entertainment included a Scottish evening with a Pipe Band and Haggis with all the trimmings – a real home from home.
From there we moved on to Fergus and Guelph where there is a large Scots population and over the two day series of games a 27 shot haul was taken, and this gave the team a buffer for the tougher games that were expected over the following days. Stratford and Woodstock was the next stop, and after a tight first day of matches, the second day saw a good victory which allowed a further increase of 20 shots in our lead. We were now close to the final week of matches, and Simcoe was the next venue where the Scots have never won a series, and although the Scots were up for the challenge, the locals once again came out victorious with a 12 shot advantage.
After a quiet day with our new hosts at Burlington, where we were entertained to lunch at the Skylon revolving restaurant high above the Niagara Falls, we had an afternoon to shop and sightsee, it was back to curling early the next morning in a 4 game X 4 end Rotary Bonspiel at St. Catherines, where the Scots mixed up their teams, and all of them performed pretty well, although there were some tired bodies come 7pm at the dinner. However, a great day was had by one and all, and it is the intention of the touring team, to try and arrange a competition for Rotary fellowship, based on the same principles, at Perth at some point next curling season. The next morning the team were up for the challenge of the competition again, and after a very tough morning, a further 3 shots were added to the substantial lead that had been built.
It was now into the last few days of the Tour, and our final stop at Kitchener/Waterloo where we would play the final two matches in the Bob Mackintosh Quaich and the Duddingston Trophy game against the 2006 Canadian tourists. With over 100 shots of a lead in the Quaich, the Scots played it very canny in the last games to increase the overall winning margin by another 15 shots to win the Quaich by 547 shots to 420 shots. Vice captain Jim Robb who was our draw-master and team selector had a done a first class job in winning the first of the trophies, and whilst the 2006 Canadian tourists were very confident about retaining the Duddingston Trophy, on the day the Scots rose to the challenge, and held on to win by 43 shots to 38 shots. This lead to great celebrations both on and off the ice as the Scots let their hair down (well those who still had some), at the final banquet where the Captain, Bill Duncan and Vice Captain, Jim Robb were presented with both trophies by the 2006 Tour Captain, Ken Thomson.
This was a fabulous result on the curling front, but the Tour is also about Rotary fellowship and friendships, and the present tourists will be no different to those that have toured to either Scotland or Canada in the past, in having three and a half weeks that stay in their memory for the rest of their lives, and also in creating personal friendships with many of their hosts and curling opponents, which last a lifetime.
The 2008 Rotary curling tourists can be proud of their achievements on and off the ice, but also in the way that they behaved throughout the tour, and acted as wonderful ambassadors for Scotland.
The application forms for the 2012 Tour will be issued in 2011, and anyone who enjoys curling and Rotary fellowship should keep their eyes open for the opportunity of a lifetime.
