Glow and Throw sweeps up high attendance

Glow in the dark curling became a hit during Lights on Stratford.

The Stratford Country Club partnered with Destination Stratford to bring Glow and Throw to the Lights On Stratford Winter Festival of Lights event for 2024/2025. The country club’s Glow and Throw sessions offer the opportunity to drop in and try out glow-in-the-dark curling.

Jessie Jacob, certified wedding planner and event and hospitality manager, said Destination Stratford proposed the idea to the club in the summer of 2024.

"Destination Stratford has been great,” Jacob said. “They're definitely wanting to try new things and throw out some new initiatives to get people involved in sport tourism as well as just getting locals and more people from outside of Stratford to Stratford during the winter months to help support our tourism in Stratford."

Each session holds a maximum of 32 participants. When Glow and Throw began on Dec. 13, 2024, the attendance was at half capacity. Now, most drop-in sessions have been full.

The Stratford Country Club was to host a bonspiel on Jan. 18, but the bonspiel did not have enough registration. Instead, the club will hold more drop-in sessions that day, and the afternoon slot is already full.

"I would 100 per cent say it's due to price, probably,” Jacob said. “The drop-in sessions are only a dollar as they are all sponsored by local businesses, so it gives people a chance to try it for a fairly reasonable price, where the bonspiel was $50 per person or $200 a team, so a different price-point comparison."

She added the drop-in sessions are much shorter than a bonspiel would be.

 "Bonspiels take up the majority of your day, where these drop-in sessions are two hours or an hour and a half,” Jacob said.

Those of all ages are trying out Glow and Throw, and the Stratford Country Club received positive feedback.

"The majority of them are super happy and they always have lots of fun out there,” said Charlene Louwagie, assistant event and hospitality coordinator. “We've had a couple of curlers this past weekend as young as … a three-year-old on the ice, so it's just super nice to have the entire family out there doing something fun together."

Glow and Throw will hold sessions from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 7:30-9 p.m. on Jan. 18. All participants must bring clean, indoor shoes for Glow and Throw, and those under 16 require a helmet. Wearing neon and white clothing is encouraged for a fully illuminated experience.

More information can be found by visiting stratfordcountryclub.ca/glow-throw.