Our Yesterdays ….by Dennis Rolland
On February 8, 1951, the Huntsville Curling Club was Destroyed by fire. Ray Morris, our treasurer at the time, and who would become our president from 1952-1954, ran into the burning building to save four of the club’s most historic trophies, two under each arm. The rest of the club trophies and everything else the club owned, were lost to the fire.
This is the story of one of those four trophies, The Huntsville Trading Co. Cup. The Huntsville Trading Company Cup was donated to the Huntsville Curling Club in 1947 for the Annual Club Competition by owners Abraham and Israel Ginsberg.
The Ginsberg family's history with our club dates back to the 1930s when they helped Allan White fundraise for a curling club building. When the club began curling in the arena, Abraham and Israel were founding members of the 1940-revived club. Israel Ginsberg was the Mayor of Huntsville from 1930 to 1931, and again, from 1949 to 1950. The Ginsberg’s sold the business to Flotron in 1969.
The first rink to win the Trading Company Cup won it in the Huntsville Memorial Arena, the last year we curled at the arena. The rink was C. Grigg, N. Racicott, G. Denning, and S. Johnson. This trophy has been won by Club Presidents Ran Jupp and Wes Payne and was competed for until 1958. During that time frame, it was only in 1951, the year of the fire, that the trophy was not awarded to a Huntsville Curling Club rink.
The Huntsville Trading Company 1937
