In fact, things have been moving along earnestly since June, when Curling Canada marketing co-ordinator Maddie Kelly arrived in the city to help direct preparation and promotion efforts. And so far, things have been going exceptionally well.
“We’re on the ground, we’re preparing,” Kelly said during the Curl Moose Jaw champions dinner on Thursday evening. “The event manager, Marcy (Hrechkosy), she was here in 2015 in my position, so she knows this community well and has been working on this since April. So we’ve been putting in the work and it’s picking up now, we’re starting to finish off registration, we’re ironing out the details for sponsors and everything and it’s really all coming together.”
The main focus as of late has been the aforementioned volunteer numbers – around 300 volunteers have already signed up, well on the way to the STOH’s goal of 400 helpers on hand throughout the tournament, which will run Feb. 14-23 at Mosaic Place.
“We’re actually doing really well,” Kelly said. “Every day I go onto our system there’s new volunteers showing up in the system, which is really amazing. We have about 100 left, so that’s great for us.”
The organizing committee will look to ideally fill those final spots on Wednesday, Oct. 2 when they hold live volunteer registration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre. The event is geared toward those who are interested in volunteering but are uncomfortable with the online process or would rather sign up in person.
“We’re promoting it as first-come, first-serve,” Kelly said. “There might still be spots, but you never know what’s going to come along, even just before I came (to the dinner) there were three new registrations, which has been awesome. Ever since Labour Day weekend people have been signing up more and more.”
A variety of volunteer roles are available for set-up and takedown, working in the stands during games and behind the scenes at various checkpoints. Volunteers are also needed for a variety of media roles and assisting in keeping lounges stocked with refreshments and food.
All volunteers pay a $100 rewards fee, which includes an official volunteer uniform and handbook, a limited edition volunteer pin, access to the venue when not on shift and access to the Heartstop Lounge throughout the week.
Full event ticket packages are $385, with a single ticket to every draw including tiebreakers. A $409 package is also available for home end or club seats and further ticket packages will be available in mid-October.
