BIG COUNTRY SENIOR SPORTS SOCIETY

ALBERTA 55 PLUS ZONE 2

SPRING NEWSLETTER

 

Our Annual General Meeting is just over a week away and we would like you all to join us on Saturday, April 25^th at the Half Century Club in Carstairs, 1139 Osler Street. Registration opens at 9:30 am and the meeting will start at 10:00 am. To be eligible to vote, you must have your 2026 Alberta 55plus membership and memberships will be available at the door. We are still trying to fill the position of Treasurer, so if you know of anyone who might be interested, please tell them about our organization. There are other positions up for re-election but some board members are planning to stay on for another term.  We need people in Oyen/Hanna, Drumheller, Three Hills and Canmore/Banff.  We have been busy the last couple of months with Alpine Skiing, Darts, Floor Curling and a provincial Ice Curling Championship. In Alpine Skiing Recreational Men’s 75+, Harold Jones from Foothills won Gold, Airdrie’s Angelo Dalcin Silver and Clint Docken from Bragg Creek came in fourth. In Men’s 70+ Reg MacDonald from Cochrane won Bronze; in Women’s 65+ Susan Chomistek from Airdrie came in fourth and in Women’s 55+ Cochrane’s Lynda Cooke captured the Silver medal. In the 70+ Masters category, from Cochrane, Bill Sule won Gold and Pat McCarron Silver, Gerhard Gruenwald from Rockyview got Bronze, and Airdrie’s Joe Chomistek came in fifth. In Master’s 65+ Richard Kasper – Canmore captured the Gold medal. Over fifty skiers took part in the two-day event.

 

A fun Darts event was held February 21^st at the Carstairs Legion and twelve darts players took part. Zone 2 players were Bert Palmer - Chestermere, Don James - Carstairs and Betty Ann and Dave Formstone - Sundre. There was a fast round robin with three sets, each with three games. Some very good competition and all teams won games with a tie between teams for most games won.

On February 28^th about twenty people came to Didsbury for a fun day of Floor Curling. It was not a great day weather-wise and some people left after lunch, but those who stayed got to play two more games and a good lunch and a fun day was had by all.

Okotoks Curling Club was the site of the 2026 Provincial Ice Curling Championships March 26-29 and Zone 2 did very well. There were ninety-two curlers from Grande Prairie to Lethbridge, but our zone had the most entries.

       

Silver 55+ Women-Team Ewanchuk Springbank

Bronze 55+ Women -Team Buckley Springbank  

 

              

  Gold 55+ Men -Team Schielke High River

                                                            

Silver 55+ Men - Team Anderson Okotoks

     

Silver 55+ Mixed - Team Siebert Diamond Valley

Silver 65+ Women – Team Brooks Cochrane

 

       

Gold 65+ Mixed – Team Davis Canmore

Bronze 65+Mixed – Team Hilderman D. Valley

  

Bronze 55+ Men – Team MacDonald – Cochrane 

Gold 70+ Men – Team Campbell - Cochrane

Curling was a busy four days and it was topped off by a lovely roast beef banquet on Saturday night. Guest speakers included VP South for Alberta 55plus Gary Paukert, and Mike Libbus – GM of the Okotoks Curling Club and head of ice making for many area clubs and coach of Kevin Koe’s team at the Briar.

Zone 2 team members as follows:

55+ Women - Silver –Springbank - Michelle Ewanchuk, Janet Biagioni, Laurie Coopersmith, Marg Matthews. Bronze –Springbank- Bev Buckley, Marla Forth, Adele Williamson, Cheryl Fricker. 6^th Place – Diamond Valley – Cindy Kuhl, Lynn Heriot, Lia Mason, Lisa Busse

55+ Men - Gold – High River – Dean Schielke, Kevin Muir, Tim Paziuk, Shannen Saint-Cyr. Silver – Okotoks – Dave Anderson, Bruce Dalsto, Randy Coates, Doug Short. Bronze – Cochrane – Wayne MacDonald, Ken Weisner, Dan Ferguson, Rob Zampa. 4^th Place – Cochrane – Phil Smith, Rod Rutherford, Dave Hands, Brad Blackman

55+ Mixed -Silver – Diamond Valley – Russell Siebert, Tammy Conacher, Rod Renaud, Kathy Mahlow

65+ Women -Silver –Cochrane – Alicia Brooks, Heather Craig, Lynda Ward, Kathi Dawson

65+ Mixed - Gold – Canmore – Richard Davis, Norma Columbus, Vic Lemecha, Deanna Thompson. Bronze – Diamond Valley – George Hilderman, Theresa Crocker, Jim Nicolson, Barb Larson

70+ Men - Gold – Cochrane – Doug Campbell, Bill Icton, Bob Bleaney, Dennis Fundytus

 

 

Alberta 55 plus will be holding our Annual General Meeting on Monday, May 4, 2026. The meeting will be held at the Red Deer Resort and Casino 3310 50 Ave, Red Deer at 10:00 AM. All BCSSS members are invited to attend.

 

Coming up on Monday, April 27th will be a qualifier for 5-Pin Bowling in Cochrane and then a Provincial Championship in Medicine Hat May 21-22. Watch for posters for these 5-Pin Bowling events.

Apart from that we are planning many Fun Games around the zone – Golf, Cycling, Floor Shuffleboard, Swimming and many combined activities in various areas for you to try something new.

Special year pins will be awarded at the AGM for 20 years – Ron Houser; 15 years – Nettie Neustaeter and Norma Dawson; and 10 years to Harold Jones, Curtis Buck and Marv Schuller.

BCSSS is hosting a casino July 26-27 at Ace Casino Blackfoot in Calgary. This is a huge fundraiser for us to help keep down costs and we are asking for your support. If you think you might be able to volunteer on either or both these dates, please contact Norma Dawson at 403-830-3580 or zone2president@alberta55plus.ca

 

In Memoriam:

Bob Cheyne – 1939 – 2026

Bob first joined Alberta 55plus in 2013 and was active in cribbage, golf and most recently pickleball. He carried the Zone 2 banner at the 2022 Winter Games in Edmonton where he won the Silver medal in 75+ mixed Pickleball. He won many provincial medals in golf in the 75+ and 80+ low gross categories over the years. He was an avid member of the High River Pickleball Club until he could no longer play due to health issues.

 

SUMMER PROVINCIAL GAMES – FORT MCMURRAY – AUGUST 12 – 15, 2027   WINTER PROVINCIAL GAMES – GRANDE PRAIRIE – APRIL 2028   CANADA 55 PLUS GAMES – REGINA, SK., AUGUST 21-24, 2028