Weyburn's Ken and Donna Kopeck never dreamed that they would win the $10,000 Curling Canada contest when they submitted a photo of some of the family curling at a boxing day bonspiel in 2019.

However, they just found out recently that they did just that and the prize money that they won will now be going towards the Weyburn Curling Club in the form of a renovation grant for the future.

"You always hear about all these contests and you never hear of anyone local winning them. So I was very surprised that these people had submitted their photo and chose us to be the winners," expressed Patty Skjerdal, Manager of the Weyburn Curling Club. "We're really excited and we're looking forward to next year's curling season."

Curlers had the chance to win a $10,000 renovation grant for their local curling facility by sharing their #KeepCurling moments, donating to support youth development curling programs, and taking part in Canada’s BIG game and fundraiser.

"It started out when we were watching the curling games during the Scotties Tournament back in February and my wife entered some pictures to promote curling and to see what would happen with them," told Ken Kopeck, $10,000 contest winner. "I couldn’t believe it at first. It was awesome. Hopefully, the grant money will be useful to the curling club and they can remodel or renovate something there for everybody to see."

Kopeck grew up in Tribune, Saskatchewan, and said that he has been curling for about 55 years now. Since moving to Weyburn many years ago he has frequented the Weyburn Curling Club with his family and was proud to be able to support his home club with the $10,000 prize from Curling Canada.

"I think it's good exercise for all ages and something to do in the wintertime right from fall till spring and it's a friendly atmosphere all the time," Kopeck stated. "I certainly would like to see people get involved in it at a young age and just continue on and up. It's healthy and anyone can do it."

Canadians came through in significant ways for the 2021 Curling Day in Canada celebration, making it one of the most widely celebrated renditions of the annual event yet.

The annual event celebrates the value of Canada’s great sport by increasing the voices of curling fans across the nation, allowing them to connect and share stories that encompass the positive values and traits of curling.

Canadians took a shining to the day, amplifying the #CurlingDayinCanada hashtag and making it the second-most trending topic on Twitter across Canada that day.

Curlers’ resiliency and the #keepcurling movement spanned far beyond the television special as it was a central theme to the 2020-21 curling season. It prompted curlers to find creative ways to remain playing the sport this season; from outdoor sheets of ice on frozen lakes to rolling toilet paper towards a makeshift set of circles taped onto the kitchen floor, Canadians kept the spirit of the game alive.

"Hopefully everybody continues watching curling and gets back into it when the world changes back to normal and hope to see everybody at the curling rink again," exclaimed Kopeck.

After a difficult year where the Weyburn Curling Club was forced to fully shut down this past December this prize couldn't have come at a better time.

"We're not exactly sure what we're going to use the money for yet but the board has lots of ideas," Skjerdal said. "They're going to be making the decisions over the summer months and then we'll decide what we'll do with the money to make it a better place for our members."

Discover Weyburn file photo.