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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Two teams that bounced back from losing their opening games faced off in the finals of the Fort Simpson Merchant's Mixed Bonspiel, last week.

The Sweeping Beauties including, from left, Alison Brown, Vanessa Murtsell, Laurie Ozmun and skip Brian Harold swept away their competition to win first place in the Fort Simpson Merchant's Mixed Bonspiel. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

A crowd of people pressed against the windows of the Fort Simpson curling lounge on Jan. 29 to watch the Sweeping Beauties play against Team Jaffray. The game was tense as the Sweeping Beauties slowly built their lead.

The Beauties took one point in the first end and then went on to steal one to two points in each following end until the score stood at 8-0 at the end of the sixth.

"We were nervous. Every end was really close," said Laurie Ozmun, a member of the Beauties. "At any moment they could have got one big end and ended it all for us."

Ozmun said the Sweeping Beauties' success came from calling the shots as a team. If someone thought something different would work, the team would discuss it, she said.

The team's costumes didn't hurt either. Ozmun, Alison Brown and Vanessa Murtzell each wore matching green skirts while skip Brian Harold wore a green bow tie on his arm. Ozmun said as soon as the team picked their name at the beginning of the season, they knew they'd have to come up with a costume for the Merchant's spiel.

The Sweeping Beauties and Team Jaffray each played five games between Jan. 27 and 29 to reach the finals. Both teams finished second in their pool after losing one of three round robin games.

The Beauties went on to defeat Team Munro in the first round of the playoffs and then edged by the MC Hammers 9-7 in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Team Jaffray beat Team Blyth and then SAWD on TV 6-4 to earn a berth to the finals.

Brian Jaffray, the skip for Team Jaffray, said most of the team's games throughout the bonspiel were close.

"That's what made it exciting," he said.

Jaffray's teammates included Terry Jaffray, Sherri Thomson and Byron Blyth. Brian said he was glad to see a good turnout of 32 people on eight teams at the event.

"It's just fun here," he said.

"I like the camaraderie."

Third place in the bonspiel went to the MC Hammers comprised of Sarah Bradfield, Alicia Robinson, Dean Austin and Justin Dalton.

Skip Scott Cameron, Erin Wyatt, Aaron Donohue and Doug Tate led their team, SAWD on TV, to a fourth-place finish.

The bonspiel is all about fun and getting NWT merchants to help support it, said Colin Munro, one of the event's organizers.

This year, there was a good a response from businesses in Fort Simpson, Hay River and Yellowknife who donated prizes, Munro said.

The event itself, however, was smaller than normal. There are normally about 15 teams in the bonspiel. Munro said he can remember curling at 1 a.m. some years because there were so many rinks.

Although people join in the bonspiel for fun, the curling is always competitive, said Freda Blyth, one of the other organizers.

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