The four curlers making up the Central Alberta Refugee Effort rink travelled from Red Deer to take their first shot at curling, attracted by the family-friendly, non-competitive Stettler Family Funspiel held on Saturday, Feb. 6.
The team was made up of two Canadians and two immigrants, none of whom had thrown a rock in their life.
"They seemed to have a lot of fun," Jamie Devnich, the curling rink's manager, said.
Twelve rinks registered for the day of fun, a number that was "up quite a bit from last year," Devnich said.
The funspiel was non-competitive, meaning that no one rink was the winner of the day.
"The emphasis was on fun, not winning," Devnich said. "At the end of the day, everyone left with the same prize." Curlers left with gift cards and fun memories, he said.
The day brought out curlers as young as seven as well as adults, with most rinks having at least one adult on the team, Devnich noted.
The next bonspiel is the openskin bonspiel on Feb. 19-20, followed by the ladies' bonspiel March 11-13.