And we are getting bigger and better (we like to think) with more teams and the promise of even more fun and competition out of the Fort Rouge this season with a dozen rinks on the ice. So welcome back all and a warm welcome to our new players and teams!

No need to spray those damn mosquitoes any more. Save your insect repellant for the other rinks rocks to give them that little extra assist.

Check the Club Bulletin Board for the First Round Schedule and the score sheet for team standings.

• Who will be curling with us? The Gibbons rink - Rose and Randy have decided to take the year off. Sorry to hear that guys…..see you next season???
• Bob Davies has kept his promise to retire from the Morrison rink and leave this land of ice and snow for the good life of the west coast. Best wishes Bob and happy retirement and all that from us all!
• John Rogers is fine tuning his skills in Baker Lake
• And the Miller rink is returning to try and retain their "definitely not up for grabs" trophy again.

• Your Executive was able to make a good trade and obtain Dianne Flood from B.C. Great to have her back and curling with the Sawatzky rink, and supervising Ed's practice time in the lounge.
• From Justice, a rink skipped by Tracy LaRocque with Sharon Reid, Sean Boyd and Barbara Bell.
• From the Granite: Ralph Eichstadter rink with Aime Eichstadter, Blake Jones and Jen Humenecky, ready to give the Morrison rink a challenge!
• Last and definitely to be last, the rookie skip, that would be Neil Carroll with a cast of new ones, right off the boat: Glen Moor, Norman Ma and Gloria Friesen-Moor are ready to take on the Miller lasses.
• Also welcome Amanda Gross - Carriere rink and Gord Polreis - Morrison rink. § WELCOME !

*and we notice a pattern here from before which is certainly not to repeated again this year, I would say

Thanks to the your Executive once again forgoing an increase in pay and being paid what they are really worth, fees can remain the same at $110 ea.

Please pay your fees to your treasurer, Bruce Morrison by November 4, please or else!

AND SHE IS BACK AGAIN, Lorraine Rumak performing her duties as Social Conveyor and in charge of laughter, the 50/50 draw each week, the banquets and other fun things. Are you having fun yet, Lorraine! And as always the monies all go to support her social life with whatever that is left over for our activities. And she still claims she doesn't bake so Erma your talents are still needed and keep Tom out of that cookie jar, please!

♥ PARTY-ON KIDS ♫

Attached is the First Round Draw. We are starting with round-robin draw until Christmas, following which we will be splitting the League into A and B Groups with A Group being the 6 teams with the most points after the Round Robin Draw. Our schedule and 12 teams will not accommodate the usual play-off round. Therefore, we are proposing to award trophies on the basis of each team's record over the season. We are open to any suggestions!

• League play starts on October 21/02.
• Christmas Feast on December 16/02
• No games on Dec. 23 & 30, 2002 and Jan. 27, 2003.
• Wind-up Banquet & Awards + AGM on Mar 17/03

• The Free Guard Zone rule is in force again this year.

• Spares must play Lead. If you have 2 Spares, they must play Lead and Second.

• The list of teams, skips and players will be ready for the start of league play on October 21. Each skip is to check the team member list and advise Neil Carroll of any errors or corrections required.

• The current Draw/Schedule will be continuously posted on the bulletin board in the first floor lobby.

• NEW > Game results for each team are to be recorded by the Third or Skip on the sheet on the Bulletin Board immediately following your game -

Courtesy of our IT Guy (Pete) - you can now check us out and keep up to-date on line at :

Your Executive elected at the AGM for 2002-03:

President: Neil Carroll W: 945-2594

Sec/Treasurer: Bruce Morrison 786-6037

Social Sec: Lorraine Rumak W: 945-7336

As usual, we will answer questions after the games in our usual office quarters above the ice surface.

Windup & AGM.

The curling league Windup and Annual General Meeting will take place on March 17 2003 after the last game. Awards will be given, suggestions for changes are welcome and a new Executive is elected.

All standard MCA curling rules apply except where stated otherwise here:

The Free Guard Zone rule is in force.

If a team is late arriving to a game, it will give up 1 point after the first 10 minutes it's late, and an additional point for each 10 minutes thereafter – to a maximum of 3 points.

Late teams will forfeit the game after 30 minutes. Where two teams are scheduled to play each other both forfeit, neither team gets any points.

A team MUST have 3 players to play a game. A team can borrow a Spare from the team they are playing against in order to still play a game, but, they still officially lose the game. (This rule does not apply to a team which borrows a Spare from a team it isn't playing against).

If you are aware in advance that your team will be absent from a game, please attempt to contact your scheduled opponent to let them know in advance.

Games are to be 8 Ends in length (or approximately 2 hours). But, if the bell rings and your game isn't completed, your game continues to the completion of that End – plus one additional End (but not to exceed 8 Ends). The bell rings at about 6:40 PM.

An End is considered started upon the release of the first rock from the Lead's hand and, is considered completed from the release of the last rock from the Skip's hand.

The Fort Rouge Curling Club has asked the teams be off the ice no later than 7:05 PM.

The following system will be used for scoring:

Either your Third or Skip is responsible to record your teams results on the sheet on the Bulletin Board located on the main floor of the Club, immediately following each game!

Ties are recorded by both teams as "T" , except in Playoffs or decide standings, where Skips' rocks will be used to determine the winner.

It will be the responsibility of all League members to arrange for their own Spares if they are unable to attend a game. Spares must play Lead, except where a team is using more than one, in which case Spares must play Lead and Second. Each team must have at least one registered team member for each game. For playoff games, only one Spare is allowed per team. Note: Spares will not be charged a fee to play.

All teams should have at least one person of the opposite sex registered on their team. But which position people play on their team is up to them. Teams can still play should their opposite sex member(s) be absent.

As a general rule games played in the bar by casting dice, drawing cards or using glass objects to decide a result, will not be recognized in the official standings.