Wine Country Curling Club to Host Crush Bonspiel and Honor Jerome Larson on Labor Day Weekend at Skatetown Ice in Roseville

ROSEVILLE, CA, August 15, 2024

Wine Country Curling Club hosts their annual Crush bonspiel on Labor Day weekend at Skatetown Ice in Roseville. This tournament includes 32 teams from British Columbia, Alberta, North Carolina, Nevada, New Jersey, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and both Northern and Southern California. Each team will curl in a minimum of 4 games throughout the weekend and it’s free for spectators! Come in from the hot weekend to watch some curling!!!

Curling is an ice sport that requires players to slide 42-pound stones over an ice sheet to a target at the other end. Clubs around the country and the world host tournaments (called bonspiels) which brings players together in friendly competition. Wine Country Curling Club hosts 2 tournaments a year, The Barrel Bonspiel in March and our very popular Crush Bonspiel over Labor Day weekend (August 30th to September 1st).

Considered to be one of the most captivating sports, curling is popularly known as chess on ice and a hybrid of bowling and shuffleboard. Americans flocked to the sport with intrigue and fascination when the Winter Olympics were televised from Torino in 2006, Vancouver in 2010, Sochi in 2014, South Korea in 2018 (Gold Medal by USA’s Team Shuster), and Beijing 2022.

Wine Country Curling Club is the local curling club here in Sacramento/Roseville. They are dedicated to promoting the sport of curling in Northern California and curl out of Skatetown Ice in Roseville. Wine Country Curling offers leagues, learn-to-curl programs, corporate events, tournaments, and adaptive curling (wheelchair curling, blind curling, deaf curling, stick curling, and Special Olympics curling). WCCC curls on Sunday mornings (7:45am-11:45am) and Tuesday nights at 6:00pm but also offers the occasional Saturday night event. Through community engagement and events like the Crush Bonspiel, the club fosters a love for curling and a sense of camaraderie among its members.

Over the course of the Crush weekend, Wine Country Curling Club will honor Jerome Larson who was instrumental in bringing curling to the West Coast. Fondly referred to as the “Johnny Appleseed” of curling, Jerome’s dedication and passion for the game knew no bounds. From his humble beginnings in North Dakota to his instrumental role in founding the Wine Country Curling Club and many others in the Mountain Pacific Curling Association (MoPac), Jerome’s impact on the curling community was profound. His tireless efforts in promoting the sport—from introducing arena curling to countless communities and then working to create a National Championship for those arena curlers to compete in, to serving on various curling boards for over three decades—will forever be remembered. Jerome’s legacy as a leader, mentor, and ambassador for curling in the western United States will continue to inspire generations of curlers to come.

In honor of Jerome’s remarkable contributions to the sport, Wine Country Curling Club is proud to announce that the Labor Day event will now be known as The Jerome Larson Memorial Crush Bonspiel. This renaming is a tribute to Jerome's enduring legacy and the indelible mark he left on the curling community. Without a doubt, there are countless people who are curling today because of the efforts of Jerome. Stop by over the course of the tournament to share stories, raise a glass in his honor, and celebrate the life of a man who has brought so much joy and unity through the sport of curling.