Hall of Famers: 2000

Bradawaski, Laurie
CURLER
Inducted 2000

Laurie Bradawaski started curling in the early 1960’s, at the age of 20, in the Winnipeg Hydro League at the Granite Curling Club. For the 1961-62 season, she joined Joan Ingram in the Fort Garry Business Girls League.

In 1965, she had her first high profile success – as winner of the MLCA Bonspiel Grand Aggregate.
She won her first of four Manitoba Women’s championships and a Canadian championship in 1967. Now playing second for Betty Duguid, with Joan Ingram and Dot Rose, the team won the Manitoba Silver D and the Canadian Diamond D Championship undefeated.

In 1969, with Pat Brunsdon replacing Betty Duguid, the team won The Rose Bowl, their second Manitoba women’s title. Laurie won two more Manitoba women’s championships. At third both times for Joan Ingram, and with Dot Rose at second, they won the Manitoba Lassie in 1973 and 1981. Jackie Tinney was the lead in 1973 when they lost the Canadian final and Elaine James was the lead in 1981 when they finished third at the nationals.

The 1981 team reunited to win back to back Manitoba Senior Women’s championships in 1992 and 1993. In 1993, they were the Canadian finalist. Playing second for Dot Rose, Laurie’s final Manitoba championship appearance was a finalist finish in the 2003 Masters Women’s Championship.

Kerry Burtnyk began his curling career at the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club in 1971 and remained a member of that club throughout his long and successful career. In 1974 and 1975, playing third for Mark Olson, he won the Manitoba School Boy Bonspiel championship. They lost the provincial junior final in 1976.

In 1977, his career as one of Manitoba’s most successful skips began when he skipped his team to a 2W – 2 L record in the Provincial Junior Championship. In 1978, he won the Manitoba Junior Men’s and in 1979 his team won the Canada Games Gold Medal.

In 1980, Kerry Burtnyk’s men’s competitive career began when, with Mark Olson now playing third for him, he reached the Labatt Tankard playoff and finished with a 4W – 1L record after a semi-final loss. Burtnyk, Olson, Jim Spencer and Ron Kammerlock returned to the Tankard in 1981 and again reached the playoffs undefeated. Two more wins, and a 6W – 0L record, earned Kerry his first trip to the Brier.

A 10W – 3L record at the Canadian Championship and an 8W – 2L record at the World Championship earned the team the Canadian title and the World Bronze Medal. At age 22, Kerry was (and as of 2021 still was) the youngest skip to ever win the Brier.

In his 25 provincial men’s appearances, he also won the championship in 1988, 1995, 2001, and 2008. In 1995, Kerry, Jeff Ryan, Rob Meakin and Keith Fenton won the Brier and, in Brandon, won the World Championship. That year, they had a 30W – 3L record in winning Manitoba, Canada and the World Gold Medal.

In addition to the championships, Kerry skipped the provincial finalist team in 1997,’98, ’99, and 2009. He was also the finalist in the 2001 Brier and Canadian Curling Trials. His teams won the MCA Bonspiel Grand Aggregate in 1985, ’86, ’97, ’98, and 2001.

He was the provincial championship all-star skip in 1997 and 2001; the Brier all-star skip in1995 and second team all-star in 2001; and the World Championship all-star skip in 1995. He was one of the co-founders of the Manitoba Curling Tour and President of the World Curling Players Association in the 1995-96 season.

Burtnyk, Kerry
CURLER
Inducted 2000

Lowe, Bernice
BUILDER
Inducted 2000

Bernice Lowe (1918-2018) began curling in the late 1930’s with many of her siblings in a one sheet rink at Oakner, MB. In 1946, after World War II, she returned to Brandon and was an active Wheat City Curling Club member. With moves to Red Deer, Edmonton and then Winnipeg, she joined ladies curling leagues wherever she lived.

Bernice, with two fellow curlers, founded the Thistle Business Girls Curling Club in 1965 and remained active until 1996. She worked tirelessly on its Executive for many years and was President in 1968-69. For most of her Thistle CC career, she served as a delegate to the Manitoba Ladies Curling Association.

In 1981, she became a member of the MLCA Council and chaired seven committees between 1981 and 1987. In 1987, she was elected MLCA President. During the 1986-87 season, she was a member of the committee which formed the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame & Museum Inc.

Bernice was also involved when national and international events came to Winnipeg. Committees she chaired included Macdonald Brier Ticket Committee (1970), Macdonald Lassie Social Committee (1976), Silver Broom Visitors Committee (1978), Senior Ladies Social Committee (1981), and Winnipeg World Pancake Breakfast Committee (1991).

She was honoured with a Thistle Business Girls Curling Club Honorary Life Membership in 1988 and an MLCA Honorary Life Membership in 1989.

Bernice enjoyed curling in bonspiels, City Championships and Provincial Ladies Playdowns throughout her curling career. While not successful at the championship level, her teams had many bonspiel successes. She was the winner of the 60 Plus Bonspiel in 1991 and at the time of induction, into her 80’s, she was still curling twice a week at the Wildewood Club.

Reid Lumbard began to curl in Brandon in the 1955-56 season. In 1960 he played lead on the Don Pottinger team, the Manitoba High School champions and finalists at the National Championship.

Through the 1960’s in Calgary and 1970s in Winnipeg, he played at a very high competitive level. He curled with Bernie Sparkes and Tom Kreuger in Alberta and with Larry Taylor, Barry Fry and Harold Tanasichuk in Manitoba. In 1975, with Fry he lost the Manitoba final.

After a move to Brandon in the early 1980’s, his curling involvement moved to the volunteer side as an active member of the Brandon Curling Club. After serving on the Brandon Men’s Bonspiel Committee, he chaired the 1988 Manitoba Junior Men’s Championship and the 1991 Labatt Tankard. He carried a Brandon bid to meetings of the International Curling Federation and was successful in bringing the 1995 Ford World Championships to western Manitoba. He then served as President of the Brandon Worlds ’95 organizing committee.
He also served as a Director of the 1989 Canadian Mixed; as Marketing Director for the 1993 Scott Tournament of Hearts; and as Marketing Vice President for the 1997 Canadian Olympic Trials.

Always willing to share his experience, he was called upon for guidance by many major event committees, including assisting the Bismarck, ND 2002 World Championship committee in their bid.

Reid was an innovator whose leadership resulted in Brandon committees bringing many new ideas to championship curling event staging. Notable among these were a lottery to fairly disperse scarce tickets for the ’95 Worlds, a revenue sharing concept which saw all Manitoba clubs share in the proceeds of the ’95 Worlds based on participation, and a ‘club seating’ concept which made the Brandon ’97 Trials the first ever curling event to sell individual seats for $1,000.

Reid Lumbard has been honoured with many awards. These include the 1988 Gord McGunigal Award (Western Manitoba Super League); Honorary Life Membership in the Manitoba Curling Association (1991) and Brandon Curling Club (1995); the 1992 Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation; membership in the Governor General’s Curling Club and induction into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, both in 2008.

Lumbard, Reid
BUILDER
Inducted 2000

Robertson, J.P.
BUILDER
Inducted 2000

John Palmerston Robertson (1841-1919) was born in Scotland in 1841, moved to Canada (Ottawa) in 1845 and to Winnipeg in 1879. He worked for the Winnipeg Times and then the Manitoba Free Press before he was appointed Provincial Librarian in 1884. He was selected Secretary-Treasurer at the founding meeting of the MCA in 1888. He held the position for consecutive years until he resigned in 1918.

J.P. Robertson, who was widely recognized as “the Father of Curling of Canada” was one of the chief organizers of the Manitoba Curling Association and might very appropriately be termed the “Dean of Curling Secretaries”.

He was a tireless worker whose duties included arranging prizes, arranging travel of curlers (ie rail tickets, etc), arranging rock transportation rink to rink, arranging ice times at skating rinks and curling rinks, assisting the members of the 5 or 6 committees organizing the annual bonspiel, giving advice on club organization and compiling the annual yearbooks.

J.P. curled at the Winnipeg Granite Curling Club in 1891-2. He was a member of the Assiniboine Curling Club (a 3-sheet facility on Mayfair Place) which was formed in 1892 primarily by former Granite Curling Club members who lived south of the Assiniboine River.

The 1988, 1989 & 1991 Mixed Champions, skipped by Jeff Stoughton, included sisters Karen Fallis (Porritt) and Lynn Morrow (Fallis-Kurz) all three years. Rob Meakin was the team’s second in 1989 and 1989 while Scott Morrow replaced him for the 1991 championship run.

The team’s impressive run actually began in 1987 when, with Keith Fenton at second, they posted a 6W – 2L record in losing the Manitoba Mixed final game.

In 1988 they won the Manitoba (6W – 1L) and Canadian (10W – 1L) Mixed championship. In 1989 they again won the Manitoba (6W – 1L) title but lost the Canadian (9W – 5L) final game in the championship played in Brandon’s Keystone Centre.

Posting a 3W – 2L record in 1990 meant the team missed the Manitoba three-peat. Meakin was replaced by Morrow for 1991 when they again won Manitoba (7W – 0L) and Canadian (10W – L) championships.

Across the four years from 1988 to 1991, the team posted an impressive 53 wins – 15 losses record in winning three Manitoba and two Canadian Mixed titles.

Stoughton – 1988, 1989 & 1991 TEAMS
Canadian Champions
Inducted 2000