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United Way bonspiel decided by draws to the button

Draws to the button were the deciding factor for a bunch of teams at the United Way and EBA Mixed Bonspiel at the Whitehorse Curling Club on Sunday. But having ties and close finishes was the point.

Draws to the button were the deciding factor for a bunch of teams at the United Way and EBA Mixed Bonspiel at the Whitehorse Curling Club on Sunday.

But having ties and close finishes was the point.

The eighth annual bonspiel, that saw 16 team take part, uses a skins format awarding points for ends won. Teams get two points for winning an end and one point for losing an end.

With the teams divided into three pools based on skill level, it was anyone’s for the taking.

“It evens it out for everybody, so you don’t have the top players winning everything,” said Scott Bone. “It’s fair for everybody.”

“It’s a nice way to start the season,” said Alison Nette. “Everyone has been curling for just a couple weeks now and it’s a fun way to get things going.”

Bone and Nette, along with teammates Richard Weihers and Tyler Williams, took first in the bonspiel.

They accumulated 51 points over five six-end games, tying Dustin Mikkelson’s rink. They then took first with a draw to the button to break the tie, with Nette throwing to 65.2 centimetres from the button to clinch it.

“We curled quite well,” said Williams, who was on the winning team at last year’s spiel. “It’s a fun event. It’s about curling with different people and just going out there and enjoying it.”

“I curl with Richard in normal league, but I never curled with Alison before and just a game with Scott before.”

Ray Mikkelson’s rink collected 48 points for third while three teams log-jammed behind in a tie for fourth.

After a few more draws to the button, Bernie Adilman’s rink took fourth, ahead of Frank Taylor’s team in fifth and Rogers Smarch’s team in sixth.

However, not all points came from play on the sheets.

“For the corporate teams we counted their profile in the community - we gave them points for fulfilling the same mandate as United Way,” said United Way Yukon president Dave Whiteside. “United Way works for ‘all that kids can be,’ ‘from poverty to possibility,’ and ‘healthy people, strong communities.’ Those are our three focus areas. So we asked the corporate teams how their corporation works to fill the same goals, and they got points for that. They got points for sending in witty comments and situations and for sending us photographs, preferably embarrassing. We wanted them to give us moments from the bonspiel.”

The fundraising bonspiel raised an estimated $4,000 for the United Way Yukon, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com