Stellar club?welcomes Stanley Cup of Curling

STELLARTON?- Looking at the ice, it looked like just regular curling matches on a regular Saturday at one of your average curling rinks.
But Saturday wasn't an ordinary day of matches at the Stellar Curling Club
A stone's throw?from the players?was the trophy many consider to be the Stanley Cup of curling: the Brier Tankard.
Saturday the Stellar Club had the Tankard on display for the unveiling of a new coin that will be used to purchase beer during the Brier matches this year. On it is the Ship Hector.
"What they've done is they each year at the Brier they do a series of coins to be used as tokens in the Brier Patch," said Pat Williams, director of the Northern Region of the Nova Scotia Curling Club Assocation.
"In the worlds' in Moncton last year they did one for each of the Atlantic provinces and this year they've done one for each of the Nova Scotia Curling Associations."
It was only fitting he said that it should be unveiled at a curling club like Stellarton's.
"It's a bunch of friends from around the county getting together and playing a few games of curling and enjoying each other's company," he said.
"The games are going well and we're having a few drinks. It doesn't get much better than that."
And that is what curling is about after all - friends getting together for a good time.
Olympic gold medal winner for curling, Mike Adam, was on hand for the presentation and spoke.
He played in Brier tournaments for three years in a row.
"We went in 2003, '04 and '05," he said. "Our first one was here in Halifax, then we went to Saskatoon and then we went to Edmonton and by far the most fun one was the one in Halifax."
He said it's great to go to those events with thousands of people, but really, the heart of curling is in small clubs and he was glad local curlers got the chance to see the Brier Tankard up close.
"I think it gets down to what curling is all about," he said.
"It's a very grass roots type of sport and all the curlers you see on TV come from rinks like you'd see here."
The Brier is something that even non-curlers can connect with.
"Everyone enjoys watching the Brier when it's on TV," Adam said.
"I've got a lot of friends who aren't curlers but always just enjoy watching it."