As recently as a couple of weeks ago, the Oxbow Curling Club seemed to be in dire straits financially. And while they didn't get money for nothing, they do have almost enough to guarantee their season, and enough to make a convincing case to their recreation board. 

"Our rec board asked for us to come up with a plan to generate $17,500 this season," explained club treasurer Rachelle Kitz. "At this point, cash in hand, drained right dry, we're at a little bit better than $13,000."

Donations have accounted for part of the stipend. Southern Plains Co-Op's Oxbow location donated money from sales of their groceries on a certain day, and that boosted the total. Recently, the club also held a meeting with members on how to meet the goal set by the rec board. 

"We had 13 people out to the meeting, which was really positive," said Kitz. "That's kind of what we've been trying to do is generate some more interest in the community. So we have some people that wanted to join our board, some people that just want to help, and we had some good discussions about a plan that we can present to our rec board."

The meeting with the rec board on October 27 will be to make their case to have the ice installed for the season. Financially, Kitz is confident they can show they'll be able to hit the required dollar amount. 

"Any shortfall from that $17,500 we should be able to recoup through fees at this point," she said, "and any other fundraisers that we can do while staying within CurlSask guidelines."

At that meeting, the curling club will present a formal plan to make up the rest of the money. Some more good news comes from the fact that more people are interested in curling in Oxbow this year than in years passed. Last year, there were only seven teams curling out of the rink. This year, a dozen have expressed interest 

"I think it's important, especially in rural Saskatchewan where winter sports are limited to skating and hockey," said Kitz. "It's nice to have another option for people and it's not dependent on your age, anybody can curl, right? Having a curling rink with a good, useable ice surface is a benefit to our community and is really part of the attraction of the Oxbow rink as a whole."

Kitz also said the return to curling guidelines will put some restrictions on them, making bonspiels tougher, but they're still thinking of putting on different curling clinics.