WINNIPEG, MANITOBA--(Marketwire - March 22, 2011) - A creative way to tell their story and the commitment of a dedicated group of community volunteers, was enough to sway the judges as they selected the Manitou Curling Club in Manitou, Manitoba as this year's $10,000 grand prize winner of Monsanto Canada's "Imagine a Better House" Community Curling Club Improvement contest.
The 170-member, 4-sheet curling club located in southwestern Manitoba has a long history dating back to their year of establishment in 1890. The current facility is approaching 50 years old and is host to six different leagues and regularly stages a variety of bonspiels for curlers of all ages and genders. They were chosen as this year's big winner due to their commitment to keep their club going through a broken ice plant, an unanticipated hike in their insurance bill and a broken pipe that resulted in a hefty water bill! They were able to overcome all these problems by pulling together to fundraise within their own membership and seeking additional support from neighboring communities.
"Being selected as the grand prize winner in Monsanto's Imagine a Better House contest is like winning the Brier for us," said Shelley Krassman who sits on the executive of the Manitou Curling Club. "Keeping our club viable in a community of less than 800 people has not been without a number of challenges, particularly in the last few years. The money will allow our club to move forward with some essential and long overdue upgrades to our facility. We are pretty excited and grateful that we were chosen as this year's winner. It means a lot to our community."
In total, 14 curling clubs from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were awarded cash grants to improve their curling clubs. Three secondary prizes of $5,000 each went to curling clubs in Benson, Alberta; Steinbach, Manitoba; and the Duchess Curling Club in Duchess, Alberta. The Steinbach curling club ran a close 2nd to Manitou after wowing the judges with their creative YouTube video titled "Imagine there's no curling!" that featured the entire club's story sang to the tune of Imagine by John Lennon. You can check out their story at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEYKkHpEog0
Ten (10) other curling clubs took home cash prizes of $2,000 to assist with a wide array of improvement projects at their local clubs.
All applications received between Oct. 31, 2010 and Jan. 31, 2011 were reviewed by an independent panel of judges that included: Cathy Bowman, account executive with ProMar Management Services; Chris Hamblin, a farmer from southern Manitoba; and Trish Jordan, public affairs director with Monsanto Canada.
"It was another very difficult year for the judging panel as we poured over more than 100 applications for the grant money," said Jordan. "We feel this program is one way we can make a positive contribution to the rural communities that have helped us be successful. There are so many rural communities in need and the curling club is such an important gathering point for those who live in small, rural communities, we really wish we could help everyone. "
Monsanto launched its "Imagine a Better House" Community Curling Club program in November 2007 with the aim of assisting small-town curling clubs in Western Canada with local improvement projects. Applicants were required to provide information about their club, the community in which it resides and why the curling club was in need of assistance. When this year's funding of $45,000 is combined with cash awards given out since 2008, Monsanto has been able to provide over $235,000 in cash awards to 84 different rural community clubs across the Prairies.
"We really appreciate the time all the clubs took to share their stories and certainly would encourage them to watch for details about next year's program which we anticipate will be made available in late 2011," said Jordan.
Monsanto is an agricultural company and a leading global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. Monsanto remains focused on enabling both small-holder and large-scale farmers to produce more from their land while conserving more of our world's natural resources such as water and energy. You can learn more about our business and our commitments at www.monsanto.ca.
Note to Editors: The complete list of winning curling clubs is attached and will also be available online at www.monsanto.ca after March 22, 2011.
| Monsanto Canada's "Imagine a Better House" Community Curling Club Program – 2011 |
| Grand Prize Winner $10 000 |
| Manitou Curling Club - Manitou MB |
| $5 000 Winner |
| Steinbach Curling Club - Steinbach MB |
| Benson Curling Club – Benson SK |
| Duchess Curling Club – Duchess AB |
| $2 000 Winner |
| Hinton Curling Club – Hinton AB |
| Mayerthorpe Curling Society – Mayerthorpe AB |
| Strome Curling Club – Strome AB |
| Torrington Curling Club – Torrington AB |
| Balmoral Curling Club – Balmoral MB |
| Niverville Curling Club – Niverville MB |
| Westbourne Curling Club – Westbourne MB |
| Fosston Curling Club – Fosston SK |
| Kyle Curling Club – Kyle SK |
| Lumsden Curling Club – Lumsden SK |
Contact Information: Media inquiries should be directed to:
Monsanto Canada
Trish Jordan
204-985-1005