|
|
The man known as "The Friendly Giant", Hector Gervais, began his curling career as a young man in St. Albert. His interests were so close to curling he helped his grandfather in building the St. Albert Curling Club. Hec's success in the 1950's at bonspiels was consistent; however his success at the Provincials and Dominion levels had not yet surfaced.
In 1959,
Hector joined forces with the legendary Matt Baldwin, Freddie Fekete
and Bill Price. The team dominated at the bonspiel level throughout
that year, and advanced to the provincial finals in Calgary playing on
arena ice. They were defeated in the finals by Stu Beagle, of Blackie,
to represent the Province of Alberta.
In 1961,
Hector went back on his own building a new team consisting of Ron
Anton, Ray Werner, and Wally Ursuliak. Hector advanced on to the
provincials winning as well the Canadian and the Scotch Cup --
emblematic of World Curling Supremacy.
Hector had
now arrived at an era with outstanding competitive curlers, his
menacing foe from Calgary, Ron Northcott and of course the legendary
Richardson team from Saskatchewan. In 1962, Hector again advanced to
the Brier and was defeated by the Richardson foursome of Regina.
He
continued to knock on the door each year but not until 1967, Hector
with Don Anderson, Bob Hawkins, and Wally Ursuliak lost to Ron
Northcott of Calgary.
In 1969/70
season with a team consisting of Hector, Bill Mitchell, Wayne Saboe,
and Bill Tainsh; Hector again won the right to represent Alberta in the
Brier. A highlight of the Brier was the game against Saskatchewan's Bob
Pickering. The arena was packed with over 10,000 spectators, and the
host province of Manitoba was not playing that night. The Gervais team
finished runner up to Don Duguid of Manitoba that year, whom went on to
win the world’s championship.
|
