The Cook County Curling Club will be a busy place over March 9 to to March 11, with as many as 18 teams taking part in the sixth annual Charles J. Futterer Memorial Open Bonspiel.
This fun-filled event includes clubs coming from Arkansas, Twin Cities, Duluth, Two Harbors, Thunder Bay and of course, local curlers.
Karen Futterer and Chuck Futterer are heading up the bonspiel. Their brother Bruce, who has long participated, won’t be making it back this year from Arkansas where he teaches, said Karen. And Craig Futterer, from the Twin Cities, may also miss if his daughter runs a couple of hundredths of a second faster in the hurdles. She is within a whisker of qualifying for the indoor Division 3 national track meet for Hamline University, where Craig was a champion hurdler. If she goes to nationals, which is the same weekend as the bonspiel, Craig said he will go to cheer for his daughter at the track meet.
Still, Bruce’s son Joe, who also hails from Arkansas, will be coming with a team.
“As it stands now Joe’s team will include Dominik Maerki, who just won a bronze medal at the Olympics with the Swiss curling team,” said Karen. Maerki moved to Arkansas, his wife’s state, and curls with Joe when he isn’t on the international curling circuit or playing on the Swiss national team.
Last time Joe brought Team Arkansas to Grand Marais he stopped at the Duluth Curling Club and had a curling match against 2018 Olympic gold medalists curler John Shuster, his wife Sarah and Doug and Kris Cameron who are members of that club. It was a nice way for “Team Arkansas” to start their curling weekend off, before arriving in Grand Marais.
“Curling is a unique sport,” said Chuck. “You can’t go and play football with a professional football team. You can’t go out and play professional basketball or run in a track meet against the best in the world. But in curling, anyone who curls can go up against the best in the world. Sure, you are probably going to lose, but you can have that experience.”
Chuck recounted a long-ago bonspiel where his father’s team beat the Bud Sommerville rink to win. “Bud’s team was world champs at the time. I was amazed that my father’s team won. But that’s curling. Anything can happen. It’s a great sport. I hope people come to watch the action at the bonspiel and come back to try it out.”
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