Aviation Memorabilia Newsletter

John Rodger shares this memory with us regarding the Air Canada Silver Broom –

Your article in the NetLetter #1482 really brought back memories of the Silver Broom.

When I became President of the Pionairs in 2003, I went to Kelowna for The Pionairs National Curling Bonspiel, where they had the Silver Broom on display. My good friend, the late Bernie Danis, was the District Director in Kelowna and had the broom shipped from Winnipeg to Kelowna.

Below left is a photo of Bernie and myself with the trophy and in the office window behind us you can see the poster of 25 years of Silver Broom.

Bernie made some calls and, after searching, he found the artist lived in Regina. He contacted him and he found several posters in his basement. He sent them all to Bernie and we had a few laminated (below right).

(Editors' Note: The information and photos originally appeared in the 'Feedback' section of NetLetter #1007 - January 2008)

In 2005, we had the Silver Broom in Montreal. First it was at my home in St. Lazare; this photo is with my grandson Noah. 

I did a cleanup of the broom which was covered in silver polish (powder). I happened to work on a lot of trophies at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto and had very good silver polish, so I cleaned it up.

We then had it on display at the Hudson Legion Curling Club for the Pionairs National Bonspiel and later at the Air Canada Base in Dorval.

After a couple of stops on the way back to Winnipeg, Jamie Hay finally got it in the Curling Museum in Winnipeg, photo below.

I gave one of the posters to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in Ottawa and as far as I know there is still one at the Air Canada Base at Dorval.

Take care,
John

Does anyone know what the initials on the Silver Broom stand for?

Following with this answer, from Ray Field, that appeared NetLetter #1080.

A - Air
C - Canada
S - Silver
B - Broom
P - Pond
H - Hoppers
A - And
I - International
C - Curling Buffs
J - Jet
S - Setters

The letters when, stretched out, are 'Air Canada Silver Broom Pond Hoppers And international Curling Buffs Jet Setters'.

This was the first pin of the "Pond Hoppers" club which meets at the Worlds Curling Championship.

Extracted from the 'QC District Sentinel' magazine dated 2005, here is the history of the Silver Broom -

Air Canada started to sponsor the World Curling Championship in 1968 taking place in Pointe Claire, Quebec.

Canada won with Ron Northcott and the last year of sponsorship was 1985 with Al Hackner of Canada winning.

The poster (above) depicts the 25 years of Silver, which includes the Scotch Cup, and the Air Canada Silver Broom.

The first World Championship took place in Scotland in 1959 with Canada and Scotland playing, won by the famous Richardson brothers out of Saskatchewan. It grew to 10 teams in 1985, represented by the flags on the base of the trophy.

A point of interest for employees and retirees of Air Canada was the fact that two employees actually played for the Silver Broom in Karlstad, Sweden in 1977. They were the runners-up that year: Jim Ursel, Skip and Brian Ross, Lead.

They played out of the St. Laurent Curling Club in Montreal.

Click the icon for more information on the history of the Silver Broom.

Extracted from a Winnipeg Free Press article, March 2009