Hello Friars:

The Friars’ Briar Association is pleased to announce, and invite you to, the 2023 Friars’ Briar at the Highland Curling Club in London, Ontario, March 6-10. We hope to have curlers from across Canada, so now is the time to form your teams! 

The Local Arrangements Committee (LAC), consists of:

·       John Torrance (Chair)

·       David Jones (Secretary)

·       Terry Delion (Treasurer)

·       Ralph Evans (Draw Master)

·       Marcus Baker

·       Ralph Meiszinger

These folks have been doing great work preparing for the upcoming Briar. Our thanks to them for the work done thus far! Thanks also to the new webmaster, Alex Harrison, for preparing our online resources!

Here is some pre-registration information:

TEAMS

·       Teams must have at least one member of the clergy or staff/volunteer of a faith-based organization (active or retired). This person must play vice or skip.

·       The 2023 President’s Challenge, announced at the Lethbridge Friars’ Briar, is for teams to bring curlers who have not previously attended a Briar, so we encourage you to think about who you could invite to join your team this year!

SCHEDULE

·       The Briar will consist of eight 8-end games from Monday to Friday. The final game will take place on Friday morning. Lunch and the award ceremony will follow immediately. If you are flying out, please try to book your departure such that you can stay at the club until 2pm on Friday.

·       We will aim to hold the AGM on Wednesday between games if the schedule allows.

·       The 2023 Tim Horton Brier is in London at a nearby arena this same week! Arrangements will be made to attend at least one of the “professional” games (Brier ticket price is the responsibility of each attendee).

·       The banquet will be held on Thursday evening at Ramada Hotel with meal options including vegetarian & gluten-free.

REGISTRATION

·       We encourage you to register as a team of 3, 4 or 5 curlers. We will make every effort to place those who register as an individual onto an existing team or to create a team of individual registrants. For those who register a 5-player team, there will be no discount in the registration cost.

·       Highland Club waiver forms need to be signed by each curler prior to curling and will be available at the registration table upon arrival.

FEES

·       The fee for the week will be $350/curler. The LAC is working to secure sponsorships to lower the cost/person.

·       Registration fees include but are not limited to ice rental, five lunches, Thursday banquet dinner, and other expenses of the LAC.

·       Travel, accommodation, and other meals are the registrants’ responsibility. Some partial subsidies for travel for curlers outside of Ontario, yet to be determined, will be dispersed at the end of the Briar week.

TRAVEL

·       Airports in the area include:

·       Pearson International Airport (Toronto)

·       London International Airport

·       Region of Waterloo International Airport

·       Hamilton International Airport

·       Rental cars are available at each airport. Volunteer transportation can be arranged from Waterloo and London Airports.

ACCOMMODATIONS

·       Hotel arrangements have been made with the Ramada by Wyndham Hotel, 817 Exeter Road, London: a room with 2 queen size beds is $89 per night for the room (2 people = $44.50 each); with full breakfast buffet it is $105 per room, plus taxes.

·       Each player is responsible to book their own accommodations. If you are booking with the Ramada, inform them that you are part of the Friars’ Briar group.

Registration will open in January. We’ll send a follow-up email at that time.

See you in London!