Rhinelander Curling (the current iteration) began from a simple post on Facebook!
On a typical winter weekend, Rhinelander native, Erik Berth was visiting his sister in Minnesota. The unique aspect of that visit was that his sister was competing in a bonspiel--a weekend curling competition--and Erik was enthralled with what he saw. All the curling action, the camaraderie, and the socializing left Erik wanting more. You see, Erik was not a curler.
On February 23, 2023; the new Rhinelander Curling Club Facebook page (created by Erik) posted this message:
"This page has been created to bring together any and all people in the Rhinelander area that may be interested in joining a Curling Team. There is opportunity to get some time on a sheet of ice and get your feet sliding down the curling lane very soon."
The rest, as they say, is history. Steve O'Keefe and Terri Gleason both saw the post at nearly the same time and began to put the gears of curling in motion. With extensive experience and connections, a small nucleus of connected curlers was formed (Steve and Terri along with Paul Schaefer, Jean Rice, Geoff Goodland, Mike Gleason and Tom Miazga) and planning began in earnest for a curling club in Rhinelander!
Prior "Curling in Rhinelander" history:
The Wausau Curling club has played a roll in the history of curling in Rhinelander for almost a century! The Wausau Curling Club was organized in 1925 and their first president was BF Wilson--in fact, BF Wilson the the president of the Wausau Curling Club for it's first 9 years. At the time, BF Wilson owned the Wilson Mercantile Company, a wholesale grocer and supplier to many businesses in central Wisconsin and to many of the early lodges and Northwoods resorts in Wisconsin. Wilson Mercantile has headquartered in Wausau but had opened another office in Rhinelander and BF's son Perry was the president. Both BF and Perry as well as BF's other 2 sons, Edgar and George were curlers and there were early introductions to curling in Rhinelander beginning in 1926 during a winter carnival. Attempts were made over the decades to organize a curling club, with the help of the Wausau Curling Club, some more involved than others. For instance, in 1948, several members from Wausau planned two days of curling demonstrations at the Pioneer Park ice rink in conjunction with Wisconsin's Centennial Celebration and even announced a demonstration game over speakers at the park but no curling club ever came from the efforts. It wasn't until the 2023 version of events that a club was able to get off the ground and 5 of the club's first 7 members curled in Wausau at some point (Steve O'Keefe, Paul Schaefer, Geoff Goodland, Terri Gleason and Mike Gleason) in their curling careers with Wausau being Steve O'Keefe's only club and to him Rhinelander was always on his radar as a city with curling potential without even knowing the past history.
