Scottish Women and US Curlers Compete in Wausau
Release: 10/28/2022
Curling came to America from Scotland, and on October 27, 2022 the Scottish Women’s Curling team came to Wausau.
The Scots curled morning and afternoon matches against U.S teams made up of women curlers from the Wausau Curling Club, and clubs in Rice Lake and Madison. Competition was keen, with teams essentially breaking even in the 10 games played.
More important than games won or lost were the points accumulated by each team. The Scots are on a tour of 14 U.S. curling clubs from Denver to New England. If they score more points across all matches, they’ll win the Marguerite Roberts Quaich, a shallow vessel that is a symbol of trust and friendship.
Conversely, if the U.S clubs have more points in the end, they will win the cup. At Wausau the Scots added 74 to their total. The locals counted 68. Overall, the Scots are leading 264 to 196.
But as is always the case in curling, the games were friendly and camaraderie was foremost.
Lisa Dodson, one of the U.S. curlers, echoed that. She said the games were very competitive, but an attitude of respect and conviviality prevailed.
The visitors were just as complimentary. Speaking for the Scots in the ceremony following the games, curler Pam Maxim said her team enjoyed the hospitality and were impressed by the Wausau curling facility. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I turned on my TV sometime in the future and saw world championship curling games being played here,” she said. “It’s magnificent.”
The Wausau games opened with the flags of each nation piped onto the ice by bagpipe and drum, followed by a toast of friendship.
The Scottish tour of the U.S., which includes 20 curlers and lasts about four weeks, is complemented by a tour of Scotland curling clubs by a U.S. women’s team, at intervals of five years.
The arrangement dates to the 1950s and ‘60s, and is sponsored by Scotland’s Royal Caledonia Curling Club and the U.S. Women’s Curling Association.
The Scottish team competed in Wausau in 1991, the only other time it was here.,
The event was planned by a committee headed by Terri Gleason. Wausau Curling Club president Kim Susens praised the volunteers who prepared the ice, conducted the games, housed the visitors, and served the meals. “They were rock stars,” she said.
It was good curling all-round in front of an attentive and knowledgeable crowd of spectators.
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PAST RELEASE 10/17/2022
Scottish Women’s Curling team in action on Wausau ice Thursday, Oct. 27. Public invited to view pageantry and competition.
The Wausau-area public will have the opportunity to view international curling pageantry and competition next week at the Wausau Curling Center.
The Scottish Women’s Curling team will be in action against women curlers from Wausau, Rice Lake and Madison on Thursday, Oct. 27. The event is free and open to the public. Curling matches will take place at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The Curling Center is located at 1920 Curling Way on Wausau’s southeast side.
Prior to both morning and afternoon competition, the flags of both Scotland and the United States will be piped onto the ice by live bagpipers in a traditional colorful ceremony.
The Scottish team—consisting of 20 women curlers from Scotland’s Royal Caledonian Curling Club—will arrive will arrive in Wausau late Wednesday, Oct. 26, and be hosted at a reception at the curling center. Wausau Mayor Katie Rosenberg is scheduled to welcome them to the city.
From October 17, 2022 through November 11, the Scots are sightseeing and curling in 14 clubs as they travel as far west as Denver, Colorado and as far east as Belfast, Maine. They are competing against teams from the US host clubs, vying for the highly coveted Marguerite Roberts Quaich, a shallow vessel with unique handles that is a symbol of trust and friendship.
Wausau is one of three stops they will make in Wisconsin. The Scottish women’s team was last here in 1991.
“We are honored to have been selected to be one of the clubs on the tour this year,” said Wausau Curling Club president Kim Susens. “Terri Gleason and her committee have done a great job planning this event.”
In 2026, a team of U.S. women curlers will travel to Scotland and compete against the host Scots. This alternating schedule began in 1955 when U.S. and Scottish women made a special curling tour around Scotland. By 1966, it was decided that exchange visits would occur every five years with a three-week tour, based on the good relationships between the two countries.
The Wausau Curling Center is one of the finest in the United States, with eight “sheets” or lanes of ice and a large, glassed in and heated viewing area. The curling competition is also visible on TV monitors placed at the viewing end of each sheet.
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PAST RELEASE 9/21/22
Wausau will be just one of a dozen curling clubs in the United States to host the Scottish Ladies Curling Team on its 2022 U.S. tour.
The Scottish team of 22 curlers and officials will be in Wausau Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 26-28. They will curl in the Wausau Curling Center, 1920 Curling Way, on Wausau’s southeast side. Competition will be provided by curlers from the Wausau Curling Club’s women’s teams as well as curlers invited from other clubs in the area.
The local club has hosted the Scottish men’s curling tour in the past, and the Scottish women’s team in 1991. In 1986, the U.S. women curlers visited Scotland, with Wausau’s Dorie Eberlein serving as team captain.
The curling action here will be open to the public at no charge. The Wausau Curling Center features a glassed in, comfortable viewing area, with several rows of ramped seating.
The curling schedule will be announced.
The Scottish team will be arrive here Wednesday evening, Oct. 26, and will be greeted at a reception at the Wausau Curling Center. Mayor Katie Rosenberg will officially welcome the curlers to the city.
“We are absolutely delighted to be a host city for this prestigious curling tour,” said Wausau Curling Club president Kim Susens.
Organized by committee chair Terri Gleason, the local event will include meals, receptions, music by the Jerry Ensemble from the Grand Theater, skits, and mementos of Wausau, as well as curling on the Wausau Curling Center’s eight sheets of ice. Opening ceremonies, complete with traditional bagpiping and presentations of the American and Scottish flags, will take place Thursday morning.
The Lady Scots tour was originally planned for January, 2021, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Other curling centers to be visited on the Scots Ladies’ tour include St. Paul and Arden Hills, Minn.; Denver; Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine and Milwaukee clubs; Chicago; Bowling Green, Ohio; Detroit; Belfast, ME; Nashua, NH; and Boston.
For more information, please contact Jim Force at 715-571-9571.
