Hello
everyone, my name is Dave Merklinger, I also answer to “Merk”
as that is what a lot of people call me. It has been quite a busy
few months relocating from the Lower Mainland to come to Vernon
to be your Manager/ Ice Technician. I accepted the offer your board
gave to me in May after I discussed it with Sharlene, it didn’t
take long….about a minute!!! We have always discussed where
we would like to go as we knew we didn’t want to live in the
Lower Mainland for the rest of our lives. The Interior is where
we wanted to go. Sharlene is a Kamloops girl, but we won’t
hold that against her! I informed the club that I was employed at
right away and we proceeded to get our house ready to sell in New
Westminster. We sold it in an hour….excellent!! We packed
up our belongings and moved July the 15th and put our stuff into
storage. We have a fifth wheel which we are currently living in….yes
it is true!! We are officially “Trailer Trash”.
We hooked up with Denise Dobie who is a real estate agent in Vernon
and is also a member of the club; she works with McDonald Realty…a
little free advertising for you Denise!!! Anyway we spent a lot
of time before we moved looking and watching for the right place
to come along. It is very hard to try and find a place long distance
and it wasn’t till the day we actually moved to Vernon that
we found the right place. We put in an offer and it has been accepted.
We found a great little one acre lot with a house and a creek and
also an outhouse in case the septic system goes south. We are in
Coldstream on highway #6 about 13 minutes from the club….you
probably think that this is a long way to drive every day….Wrong!!!
I came from the Big City!!! I spent that much time going a kilometer.
We move September 1st…and we can hardly wait. Maybe I will
throw a moving in party for anyone that wants to help me move my
stuff from the storage unit to the house. Anyway I think it is a
good Omen to have all this go so smoothly and quickly. I will now
be able to put my energy towards the club without any outside distractions.
I guess I should give you a little history of myself…. I started
curling at the age of 12 in Winnipeg; from there I moved to Trenton
Ontario and started curling competitively as a junior. I pebbled
my first sheet of ice with a fellow named Shorty Jenkins and a few
years later in 1974 I took on my first job as an Ice Technician.
From there I moved to another job making ice in Ottawa Ontario.
I also continued curling competitively and was fortunate enough
to represent my Province in the Brier and Canadian Mixed. I was
also fortunate enough to be Ice Technician at many National and
International events. ie: Briers, Scotts, and World Championships.
I continue to do this today and will be the Assistant at the Olympics
in 2010 in Vancouver. I moved to BC in 2000 and became the manager
of the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster. I had no formal
training other than I knew what curling was all about and what curlers
need and want. The rest is history and here I am.
I guess my real job is to promote the game of Curling. It is something
I have always done and I can’t see it ever changing. I can’t
think of any better job than being a part of a Curling Club and
the game of Curling. What other game or organization can you have
doctors, lawyers, sanitary engineers, carpenters, plumbers and others
from all walks of life playing a game together where it doesn’t
matter who or what you are!!! We shake hands at the start of a game
and we shake hands at the end of a game and head upstairs to sit
with our team and opposition and be social. It really is the best
game in the World. Curlers love to get involved in their curling
club either from running programs to teaching new curlers to fixing
things around the club or to even joining a Board of Directors.
Curlers take a certain pride in their club, we depend on volunteers
for our survival. If anyone has any spare time or a certain skill
to donate please come forward. One person can’t do it all
and it will be my job to make this a fun place to come too and call
home, a place you will want to bring your family and friends and
a place you are proud of. I am really looking forward to meeting
all of you and working with you to ensure we keep the Vernon Curling
Club #1.
I have some good news : Heather Kyllo will be my assistant, I can’t
think of a better person for the job, also Wayne Laface will be
back as Head Ice Technician….naturally I will assist him and
together we are confident in providing a great playing surface for
you to play on. Tina Hill will also be back cooking us some great
meals.
Our first formal function will be a Members Welcome back Party.
This will be Friday September 14th at 7pm. It will give you chance
to renew the old friendships that summer sometimes takes away from
us. It will also give you a chance to meet the New Guy !!! Again...
I look forward to meeting all of you.
Dave
