There is a wonderful never-ending sense of discovery in all that life has to offer that absolutely radiates from certain people.

Radiates might be a bit strong, but there was certainly a buzz of excitement in the air as I caught up with the Adult Learn to Curl crew at the Copper Cliff Curling Club Monday night.

“I can’t believe I had gone my whole life without curling; it made me feel like I had missed out on something my whole life,” said Antonietta Dell, 63 years young and a non-stop source of energy throughout the club.

Where many in this collection of 35 newcomers or so, far more on the north side of their 40th birthday than not, had absolutely no prior involvement with the game, Dell had received her curling indoctrination two years ago.

“The only problem was that we weren’t very good,” she laughed. “We went through the whole year and didn’t win a game. We felt that we probably needed a little more guidance.”

Enter Sandra Lahti and her band of merry elves (coaching assistants in Copper Cliff), now eight weeks into their program of shared curling knowledge. “Fabulous” is the word that Dell used to describe Lahti, a testament to the progress that the former Health Sciences North lab tech has shown on the ice this fall.

(interestingly enough, it’s a group of workers and retired workers from the HSN labs that have gathered, Dell included, to form teams for the Wednesday Night Mixed League in Copper Cliff)

“This has given us a chance to go over some of those little things that we may have missed before, just because there was simply too much to learn at the beginning,” said Dell. “Now, we’re really starting to feel like we understand.”

“Some things came back quickly. I understood about the rotation (of the stone), but I had forgotten the proper delivery. I would aim my rock; I wasn’t aiming my body.”

Watching curling on TV on an ever-increasing basis, Dell and her husband are garnering a greater appreciation for the level of precision that exists at the very top level of the sport. “This is just like golf,” she said. “There is so much to remember. I sometimes struggle with trying to do it all.”

“It’s easy to get frustrated, but all it takes is a couple of good shots.”

At 65 years of age, Vickie Perreault is even more of a newbie than Dell, entering both the Learn to Curl sessions as well as Tuesday Night League play with more or less zero knowledge of curling. For Perreault, the social element of the sport more than offsets the learning curve that she faces as she adds more and more pieces to the puzzle on a weekly basis.

“This has exceeded my expectations,” she said. “The camaraderie, the whole atmosphere of the curling community – right from the first day, they took us under their wings and gave us pointers, motivated us. The only agenda here is to have fun – and I love that.”

That is just part of the messaging that Sandra Lahti and cohorts emphasize – with regularity.

“Sandra is an awesome, awesome instructor,” stated Perreault. “I’ve learned so much from her. Now, I’m starting to get the strategy bit, but that’s the last thing that I’m learning.”

Assisting Lahti every step of the way is friend and club-mate, Deb Lachance, a woman who has no trouble at all putting herself in the shoes of those who she is now trying to teach. “I didn’t start curling until I was in my thirties,” she said, having celebrated perhaps a birthday or two since then.

“There was an opportunity to take a Level 1 curling course (coaching), so a couple of us from the club went. It was in the hopes of starting a junior program back then.” Eleven years later, said program came to a halt, at least temporarily.

“I wasn’t an experienced curler but I had a love of the sport and the kids were great,” added Lachance. “I just loved it.”

And as she works her way through the basic fundamentals, she sees the challenges that Dell and Perreault alluded to, the same hurdles that the juniors faced upon entry. “You teach the components of the delivery, one step at a time, and everything works well,” said Lachance. “But when it comes to putting it all together, it’s out the window – just the same as the kids.”

“It all comes together eventually,” she added with a smile.

It might not all yet be coming together for most of this class, but components of curling definitely are. “You kind of have those ah-ha moments,” said Perreault. “I can now read the skip; I know what the skip wants me to do. There are so many steps to delivering the stone, but step one is staying vertical.”

Such is the attitude which runs full circle, which makes the teachers want to teach even more.

“These adults that we’ve had are just wonderful,” said Lachance. “They are so anxious to learn and improve and get better. The more times we go out on the ice, the more excited they are when we come off, always looking forward to the next time that we’re on.”

Lachance, for one, has witnessed the evolution of the sport over the years, contrasting her teachings of a decade or two ago from what they now stress, as instructors. “It’s a much simpler delivery, with less steps, less movement – very simple, but effective,” she said. “And when I started to learn, I was a slider sweeper, and now we don’t teach that.”

“It’s double grippers and safety on the ice first.”

After jumping in to assist from time to time with the program last year, Deb Lachance is thankful that this time around, she’s been there right from the start. “I’m just thrilled with the numbers that have come out and their enthusiasm,” she said. “They are so eager to be part of it.”

Looking around the NOCA, the Christmas break will lead right into a trio of provincial playdowns, with the men’s and women’s brackets determining their Briar and Scotties representatives respectively from January 4th to the 9th in Kenora.

Sudbury hopes fall squarely on the shoulders of the Curl Sudbury quartet of Sandy MacEwan, Dustin Montpellier, Lee Toner and Luc Ouimet, though both Kendra Lilly (third on Team McCarville) and Amanda Gates (lead with Team McCormick) find themselves competing for rinks from northwestern Ontario.

Just three days later, Team Toner (Mia Toner, Valerie Ouimet, Justine Toner, Clara Dissanayake) and Team Rajala (Brendan Rajala, Ian Deschene, Kyle Vainio, Jesse Crozier) are in action in Fort Frances, one step away from qualifying for the national U18 bonspiel in Timmins in mid-February.