Season Wrap Update

Hi Riverdale – 

Now that this season’s refunds have been issued and our contribution of fees to the Royals is set to be made, we can officially declare the end of the 2020-21 curling “season”. Although we could not curl due to COVID, we’re ready to close off this season and look forward to the fall when (provided all goes well) we’ll be back on the ice!

Here are some final updates for 2020-21, some sad and some positive. As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to someone on the executive.

Sad News

Over the past year, we have lost a few members of our league.
Scott Harcourt passed away in January, John Rooney passed away in December, and Arthur Gale passed away last February. Scott was integral to the creation of Riverdale and to spreading gay curling across Canada, as well as welcoming curlers every year to the league. John was a fixture of the league and served on the executive of Riverdale in the past, and was known for his friendliness in the lounge and on the ice. Arthur was also a long-standing member, who was clever, friendly and a consummate sportsman. 

We miss them all, and our league feels a little less bright without them. When we are able to gather again, we will raise a glass together in their memories, mourn together and remember the contributions they made to our league and to gay curling across Canada.

It’s OK to not be OK

If you’re feeling sad, stressed, anxious, confused, scared or angry, we want to make sure you know there are supports available to you.

Many people are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are normal and common responses to unexpected or stressful situations. The City of Toronto has partnered with ten organizations to help connect residents to free telephone, text and online mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents can call 211 to access support and get connected to one of seven primary mental health service partners for direct phone support. Mental health service information is also available at https://211central.ca/ for residents of Toronto, Durham, Peel, and York Regions.

Contribution to the Royals

Thanks to the generosity of our members, the Riverdale and Rotators Curling Leagues will be contributing a total of $25,000 to the Royal Canadian Curling Club. This is a huge chunk of the  approximately $100,000 the Royals was looking for, and as always our leagues are punching far above our weight in supporting the club. 

Our leagues will be formally recognized on the “We the Royals” board going forward.

Thank you to everyone for your contributions and for demonstrating that our leagues are vital parts of the Royals!

Executive Nominations and Elections

As we are at the end of our season, we are opening nominations for the executive for the 2021-22 season as of today, April 1. The nomination period will end April 30 at 11:59 p.m. As we did last season, you can self-nominate through our web form and no secondary signature is required.

You can see who has been nominated and submit your own nomination for a position on our website if you are interested.

Elections will be held at our Annual General Meeting later this summer. If there is only one nomination per position, the nominees will be acclaimed.

Annual General Meeting

We will be holding our AGM before the start of next season, although we are waiting until we have more information about what next season will look like. Hopefully, COVID will be more under control and restrictions will be eased so we can potentially have the AGM in person. 

More information will be provided later this year when we issue a formal AGM notice.

For the purposes of the AGM, members are defined as those who were members during the 2019-20 season, particularly as they have returning member status for 2021-22. Since we did not collect fees for this season, anyone that signed up for 2020-21 will not be considered a voting member, although they are welcome to attend the AGM.

Pre-registration for returning members

As promised, due to COVID all members from 2019-20 have returning status and are able to pre-register for the 2021-22 season. If you signed up for 2020-21, you are not considered to be returning member and will have to wait for regular registration to open, or sign up with a team of at least 3 returning members.

We will be opening pre-registration in June for members from 2019-20. Please watch your email and the Facebook group for further information.

See you this summer…?

Contingent on COVID restrictions allowing it, we may host a couple of social events this summer to get the league back together, including potentially a park meet-up the weekend that Pride would have happened (June 27). Watch your email and the Facebook group for more information!

What a year it has been

We’ve said it before but we’ll say it again – thank you for your patience and generosity this year. You are the reason we work to make the league run, and without you none of this is possible.

We’re looking forward to seeing you all again soon and, at long last, getting back on the ice.

Edward
Vice-President