Fort William Curling Club

The Fort William Curling Club is a curling club located in the Downtown Fort William neighbourhood of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The club hosted the Canadian men's curling championship in 1960 and the Canadian women's curling championship in 1969. It is also the home club of World Men's curling champions Al Hackner, Rick Lang, Bob Nicol, Bruce Kennedy, Ian Tetley, and Pat Perroud.

History
The Fort William Curling Club was established in Fort William (now Thunder Bay) on September 18, 1891, on property leased by Peter and John McKellar. It was originally part of the Manitoba Curling Association. The rink was destroyed by fire twice, in 1892 and 1908. The current facility, with artificial ice, opened on March 10, 1951, as the Fort William Curling and Athletic Club. The club is adjacent to the Fort William Gardens.

Notable members
Only events representing the Fort William Curling Club are listed.
 * John McKellar – Mayor of Fort William (1892–1898)
 * Robert Pow – 1932 Olympic champion; mayor of Fort William (1933–1936)
 * Tom Tod – 1958 Canadian Schoolboys champion; 1970 Macdonald Brier participant
 * Neil McLeod – 1958 Canadian Schoolboys champion
 * Patrick Moran – 1958 Canadian Schoolboys champion
 * David Allin – 1958 Canadian Schoolboys champion
 * Darwin Wark – 1959 Macdonald Brier participant
 * Dennis Stephen – 1959 Macdonald Brier participant
 * Leslie Sutton – 1959 Macdonald Brier participant
 * John Jones – 1959 Macdonald Brier participant
 * James Carson – 1970 Macdonald Brier participant
 * J. Carl Whitfield – 1970 Macdonald Brier participant
 * Bill Hallinan – 1970 Macdonald Brier participant
 * Bill Tetley – 1975 Macdonald Brier champion; 1975 World Men's bronze medallist
 * Rick Lang – 1975 Macdonald Brier, 1982, and 1985 Labatt Brier champion; 1975 World Men's bronze medallist; 1976 Macdonald Brier, 1988, 1991, and 1995 Labatt Brier participant;    1980 and 1981 Labatt Brier runner-up;  1981 Canadian Mixed champion; 1982 and 1985 World Men's champion;  1993 Labatt Brier bronze medallist; 2006 Canadian Senior champion; 2007 World Senior silver medallist
 * Bill Hodgson, Jr. – 1975 Macdonald Brier champion; 1975 World Men's bronze medallist
 * Peter Hnatiw – 1975 Macdonald Brier champion; 1975 World Men's bronze medallist
 * Bob Nicol – 1976 Macdonald Brier participant; 1980 and 1981 Labatt Brier runner-up; 1982 Labatt Brier champion; 1982 World Men's champion
 * Al Fiskar, Jr. – 1976 Macdonald Brier participant
 * Warren Butters – 1976 Macdonald Brier participant
 * Al Hackner – 1980 and 1981 Labatt Brier runner-up; 1982 and 1985 Labatt Brier champion;  1982 and 1985 World Men's champion;  1988, 1989, 1995 Labatt Brier, and 2001 Nokia Brier participant;  2006 Canadian Senior champion; 2007 World Senior silver medallist
 * Bruce Kennedy – 1980 and 1981 Labatt Brier runner-up; 1982 Labatt Brier champion; 1982 World Men's champion; 1987 Labatt Brier participant
 * Anne Provo – 1981 Canadian Mixed champion; 1983 Scott Tournament of Hearts participant
 * Bert Provo – 1981 Canadian Mixed champion
 * Lorraine Lang – 1981 Canadian Mixed champion; 1983, 2006 Scott Tournament of Hearts, 2007, and 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts participant;  1991 Scott Tournament of Hearts bronze medallist; 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials bronze medallist
 * Marlene Delorenzi – 1983 Scott Tournament of Hearts participant
 * Valerie Adams – 1983 Scott Tournament of Hearts participant
 * Ian Tetley – 1985 Labatt Brier champion; 1985 World Men's champion
 * Pat Perroud – 1985 Labatt Brier champion; 1985 World Men's champion
 * Larry Pineau – 1987 Labatt Brier participant
 * Jack Kallos – 1987 Labatt Brier participant
 * Brian Snell – 1987 Labatt Brier participant
 * Jim Adams – 1988 and 1989 Labatt Brier participant
 * Doug Smith – 1988 Labatt Brier participant
 * Bill Adams – 1989 Labatt Brier participant
 * John Salo – 1989 Labatt Brier participant
 * Jason Repay – 1991 Canadian Junior champion; 1992 World Junior bronze medallist
 * Aaron Skillen – 1991 Canadian Junior champion; 1992 World Junior bronze medallist; 1995 Labatt Brier participant
 * Scott McCallum – 1991 Canadian Junior champion; 1992 World Junior bronze medallist
 * Trevor Clifford – 1991 Canadian Junior champion; 1992 World Junior bronze medallist
 * Heather Houston – 1991 Scott Tournament of Hearts bronze medallist
 * Diane Adams – 1991 Scott Tournament of Hearts bronze medallist
 * Diane Pushkar – 1991 Scott Tournament of Hearts bronze medallist
 * Scott Henderson – 1991 Labatt Brier and 2003 Nokia Brier participant; 1993 Labatt Brier bronze medallist
 * Ross Tetley – 1991 Labatt Brier participant; 1993 Labatt Brier bronze medallist
 * Art Lappalainen – 1991, 1995 Labatt Brier, and 2003 Nokia Brier participant;  1993 Labatt Brier bronze medallist
 * Bryan Burgess – 2001 Nokia Brier participant
 * Joe Scharf – 2001 Nokia Brier participant
 * Mike Assad – 2001 Nokia Brier participant
 * Mike Desilets – 2003 Nokia Brier participant
 * Tim Lindsay – 2003 Nokia Brier participant
 * Krista McCarville – 2006 Scott Tournament of Hearts, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2019, and 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts participant;    2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts bronze medallist; 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials bronze medallist; 2010 Canada Cup participant; 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts silver medallist; 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials participant
 * Tara George – 2006 Scott Tournament of Hearts, 2007, and 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts participant;  2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials bronze medallist; 2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts bronze medallist
 * Tiffany Stubbings – 2006 Scott Tournament of Hearts and 2007 Scotties Tournament of Hearts participant
 * Al Laine – 2006 Canadian Senior champion; 2007 World Senior silver medallist
 * Brian Adams – 2006 Canadian Senior champion; 2007 World Senior silver medallist
 * Dylan Johnston – 2009 Canadian Junior silver medallist
 * Cody Johnston – 2009 Canadian Junior silver medallist
 * Michael Makela – 2009 Canadian Junior silver medallist
 * Mike Badiuk – 2009 Canadian Junior silver medallist
 * Kari Lavoie – 2009 Scotties Tournament of Hearts participant; 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials bronze medallist; 2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts bronze medallist; 2010 Canada Cup participant
 * Ashley Sippala – 2010 Scotties Tournament of Hearts bronze medallist; 2010 Canada Cup participant; 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts silver medallist; 2017 and 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts participant; 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials participant
 * Sarah Potts – 2010 Canada Cup participant; 2016 Scotties Tournament of Hearts silver medallist; 2017 and 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts participant; 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials participant
 * Jeff Currie – 2014 Tim Hortons Brier participant
 * Mike McCarville – 2014 Tim Hortons Brier participant
 * Colin Koivula – 2014 Tim Hortons Brier participant
 * Jamie Childs – 2014 Tim Hortons Brier participant

Events
The Fort William Curling Club has hosted several Canadian national curling championships. In 1960, the club co-hosted the Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship, at the Fort William Gardens. The club also hosted the 1966 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship and the Canadian Ladies Curling Association Championship in 1969. In 2006, the Fort William and Port Arthur Curling Clubs co-hosted the Canadian Junior Curling Championships in Thunder Bay. The Fort William Curling Club also hosted the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in 2012, where a team from the club, skipped by Carl Levesque, represented Northern Ontario. The following year, the club hosted the 2013 The Dominion Curling Club Championship, the Canadian championships for club-level curlers. In 2017, the club hosted the U Sports/Curling Canada University Curling Championships.

The club has also hosted several Northern Ontario provincial curling championships. It hosted the men's provincial championship in 2011 and in 2017. The club also hosted the 2015 Northern Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts, which was the first time that the Northern Ontario women's provincial champions received a direct berth into the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts and represented Northern Ontario separately from Ontario.

Presidents

 * 1923–1927: C. McEwan
 * 1941–1942: J. Cassidy
 * 1942–1944: Ira Gerry
 * 1947–1948: R.H. Smith
 * 1948–1950: George Charlesbois
 * 1950–1952: George Breckman
 * 1953–1957: Len Cameron
 * 1957–1959: Dick Symes
 * 1959–1961: Tom Fry
 * 1961–1963: Ted Childs
 * 1963: David Stevens
 * 1963–1965: Jim Andros
 * 1965–1967: Godon Holt
 * 1967–1968: Jack Taylor
 * 1968–1970: Jack Kallos Sr.
 * 1970–1972: Peter Good
 * 1972–1974: Fred Bullough
 * 1974–1976: Bob Morrison
 * 1976–1978: Ed Howe
 * 1978–1980: Tom Crane
 * 1980–1982: Rob Sinclair
 * 1982–1984: Ron Babcock
 * 1984–1986: Peter McCallum
 * 1986–1988: Fred Coulson
 * 1988–1990: Bill Charlebois
 * 1990–1992: Ed Wakewich
 * 1992–1994: Ron Campbell
 * 1994–1996: Ellie Stecky
 * 1996–1998: Alf Childs III
 * 1998–2000: Morris Stoyka
 * 2000–2002: Paul Finlay
 * 2002–2004: Terry Douglas
 * 2004–2006: Kris Woznesensky
 * 2006–2008: Jack Kallos Jr.
 * 2008–2009: Rob Chicorli
 * 2009–2011: Sam Barbisan
 * 2011–2013: Rose Steadwell
 * 2013–2015: Dave Kawahara
 * 2015–2017: Stan Nemec
 * 2017–2019: Rick Sutton
 * 2019–2021: Denise Hardy
 * 2021-2023: Ken Kopechanski
 * 2023-present: Kevan Stranges