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It is Tuesday morning.
the 23rd day of September of 2025.
I am Chad Holmes, joined by Ian Welsh.
Ian, good morning.
Good morning, Chad.
We will have more with you coming up in just a little bit, but today we got a couple of guests joining us to start things off here on this Tuesday.
And it's time to start thinking about some of those winter activities.
I know some of you probably are saying, no, not yet, but doggone time does fly.
And one of the great, really, I think, terrific.
aspects here in Central Wisconsin of the different kind of activities you can be involved in.
And we are very fortunate to have a wonderful facility for curling here in Wasop.
And to talk a little bit about it, very happy to welcome back Jim Force.
Jim, good to see you again.
Hello,
good
morning.
And you brought a guest with you, Tucker Diedrich.
Yeah, hello.
Hi.
Great to have you here as well.
Yeah, thanks for having me
as I lose my headphones.
Let's jump right in because coming up, it's basically the start of the season, isn't it?
Yeah.
the start of curling season.
When does the curling really start to heat up around here?
I should say cool off, not heat up.
Well, we're putting in the ice as we speak.
So the ice, they turned on the compressors, they started getting some layers of ice down last week.
And then they'll start, they'll keep building up that ice.
And it's going to be about mid-October is when the excitement really starts to hit.
When we have people actually at the club, they're learning to curl, they're getting ready for the season.
And then it's beginning of November, end of October.
when we really start getting into league play and basically through St.
Patrick's Day, we're up and running and we're firing on all cylinders.
How many leagues do you have nowadays?
Maybe recently, I guess last year, maybe what you're thinking about this year?
Yeah, we have basically, starting at 5.30, we have two leagues happening.
every night except Friday, Saturdays and Sundays.
So we have a 530 league on Mondays and a 730 league on Mondays.
And that's Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday.
We have a Friday league.
We have a Sunday league.
And then every morning is when we have just open curling, where anyone who's a member can drop by and we just do pickup games in the mornings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
And Jim, let's step back a little bit and talk about how all this came together because this facility, the Wasak Curling Club itself, what are the...
What were the seeds planted for curling that's become such a big aspect here in such a Wisconsin?
Well, curling in Warsaw goes back a long, long way.
We've been able to trace it to the early 1900s, 1905, 1910, when local businessmen basically were curling first on the Wisconsin River and then later on the ice on the tennis courts at the old Y.
And around 1920, they started to look for an indoor facility.
Obviously, if you're curling, you need ice.
And if you're outdoors, the ice is, you know, it could be melting.
It could be not good.
So they sought an indoor facility.
One of the active curlers was also on the county board and active in the Marathon Park area, so they were able to set aside one of the buildings that was used for the fair in the summertime and make that into a curling barn or a curling rink in the wintertime.
It took a lot of work because every year they had to redo things.
It was not ideal, but it lasted for
A long, long time, almost a hundred years, that Wausau curled at Marathon Park.
In 2012, we opened the new Wausau Curling Center on Curling Way, down behind the cemetery on Wausau's southeast side.
That was due to the generosity of the community, foundations, corporations, individuals, families came forward and...
built a multi-million dollar curling facility, which today ranks as one of the best in the United States.
He's talking about time flying.
I didn't realize it was 2012.
I mean, it really does fly right on by.
And Tucker, really good timing here, because as you talked about the start of the new seasons coming up, and for folks that say, well, you know, I might be interested, but I've really never curled.
Maybe they have friends that are involved in it, like that, and one of the reasons...
you're here today is to talk about some learn at the curl classes that are coming up with the Wasa curling club and at the Wasa curling center.
Yeah, we're offering a lot more opportunities this year for people to come to the curling center and learn how to curl.
We're actually starting off with some open houses where people who just want to drop by and just see our facility and kind of get a feel for what the curling club is like and see some games in action.
You don't necessarily have to get on the ice right away if you bring a clean pair of shoes.
We'll get you on the ice and
We'll teach you how to maybe try to get the rock down the other end of the ice.
But it's really just a good way to introduce you and kind of stop by and see what it's all about.
And then we have our formal learn to curl sessions that are going to be happening, where we actually do provide more in-depth instruction about how to deliver a stone, the sweeping, the game, how to score an end.
You know, that's like those are the big things that everyone wants
to
do.
So we're kind of trying to do more where we can get more people through the doors and then really try to find people that, you know, if they're just kind of like on the fence, they can kind of come by, see what's
and then the people who are really into it and really want to learn, we have those opportunities as well.
It starts with the open house, doesn't it?
Correct.
When is this open house?
So
the open house we have is going to be on October 11th, and that's going to run from 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m.
And you can just drop by any time you want.
There's no set time that you have to be there by or, you know, when, you know, you can just stop by, get a little tour of the facility.
You can actually see some curling in action.
And as I said, if you bring a Cleveland pair of shoes, we'll let you go on the ice and we'll even give you a chance to...
to try to get a rock down to the other end.
And there's three different Learn to Curl classes or events coming up.
Correct.
Yeah, we have three Learn to Curl events.
Those are going to be on October 13th and October 15th, Monday and Wednesday.
Those are going to be from 6 to 8 p.m.
Check-in is going to be about 5.30.
That's going to include the full instruction, learning about the gameplay, and then the socializing afterwards.
This is always a big part
of
the curling.
You've got to sit with the team that you played against, sit there and socialize, and have a few drinks after.
And then we will also be having a learned curl on October 20th, as well at the same time, 6 to 8 p.m.
We will have more with Jim Force and Tucker Dietrich from the Wausau Curling Club in our next segment of the WXCO morning reports at 7.22.
But coming up next, it's a top of the hour update.
News, weather, sports, everything you need to know at the top and bottom of every hour here on WXCO.
And then after that, it's more of Mornings with Pat Crichtlow 98.9 WXCO.
you obviously deal with a lot of the folks that are going to be part of these learn to curl events.
And Jim, you're part of what's going on at the curling club.
You have the youth with the high school kids who participate.
And then you talk about the senior events.
It really is something around here that does connect with folks of all ages.
Yeah, I mean, the Sunday League, I call it the family league.
It's not necessarily for families per se, but that is a league where you see people of all ages participating.
It's families, the mom and the dad, the two kids playing.
I've played against the team where
was a dad, his dad, and then their
grandson
son playing whooping up on us because they've all got all this curling experience.
But it's multi-generational at almost every level of league play as well.
And I think that's what the great thing about curling is, is it doesn't matter what your age is, like you can play the game and you can play against anybody as well.
You got to get the rock down the ice.
You can hit any rock out.
You're not going one on one against somebody like in basketball where you can be playing someone who's way taller than you or anything like that.
game that lends itself to people of different abilities, different of ages playing and just enjoying the game.
And I think that's the most important thing is like there's a respect and camaraderie to curling that lends itself to all ages and all abilities playing at once.
Let me follow up on that.
I didn't mention the junior curling on Sunday.
Afternoons in November, December, we have junior curling.
These are youngsters as young as eight years old, and they will have their own bond spiel at the end of December, their own little tournament.
At the other end of the age scale, and that's where I come in because I'm a senior, we have senior curling.
The seniors curl on Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning in that open league, and we have some folks who are well into their 80s.
The secret to senior curling, and I would encourage seniors who
We want to stay active here in the community during the winter to come out and take a look at this.
We curl with a stick.
It's a push stick.
It's not unlike shuffleboard.
In other words, we hook our stick to the stone, we walk, or some people kind of jog up to the line and let the stone go.
So they can curl without having to slide and get down on the ice, and that's difficult for seniors in many cases.
All ages, as Tucker has said.
Let me
ask both of you, because you both have great experience with curling for folks that are just starting.
Yes, but there's also, again, you say different levels.
What is the most important skill in curling?
Well, let me jump in here.
I think the most important aspect of curling is sportsmanship.
It is a game in which you do not get angry.
You do not get mad at missing a shot.
You do not get upset with your opponent if they beat you.
We're always shaking hands.
So every curling match that you see...
at the start everyone shakes hands and at the end everyone shakes hands and as Tucker has mentioned it's very common to
put your brooms and sticks aside and go in and have a cup of coffee or have a beer.
And Tucker, what's the first thing that you teach at these learning events?
How to be safe on the ice.
I mean, as much as we kid around, it is very important.
You have a slider on your foot, and it's really important to know, hey, you need to make sure that you're not stepping on the ice first with that.
So it's really about how to be safe on the ice, because that is the big thing always that people always say, oh, I might fall.
I might slip.
Surprisingly, the ice isn't as slippery as like hockey ice, which is really flat.
It is pebbled.
So there is a little bit of a texture that makes it a little bit easier to walk on with just regular tennis shoes.
But it is safety first.
But then it's all about how to properly deliver a stone, how to transfer your weight into the stones, you can get it down down the ice and really just kind of working on the mechanics and how to do that.
And then to, you know, what an important skill to have is
is that sportsmanship, but I think just having a good open mind, because it's not, we watch curling on TV and everyone's like, oh, that looks so easy.
They're just
sliding on the ice and they're pushing this rock, but it does take some time to really get into that curler's pose and really kind of fine tune how you're going to deliver the stone.
It is a lot like golf, where you have to kind of like time your swing in golf and kind of get your mechanics down.
There is an aspect to that as well.
So I think having an open mind, especially for new curlers, having an open mind, knowing that it's going to be tough,
But at the end of the day, it's still gonna be fun and you have a lot of good support everyone who's curling at the club Learned from someone who curled at the club and that person learned from someone
who
learned from the club who learned from the club So it's it's a thing that's just passed along from member to member So if you have that open mind of just like hey, I'm here to learn.
I'm here to have fun Anyone can be successful in the game
and coming up this winter, and I'm sure a lot of everybody involved with curling is excited for the Olympic Games.
And one of the storylines we've seen the last couple of Winter Olympics is just how popular the coverage of curling is.
I've said, I've seen so many different stories about how the numbers for curling are, you know, you go away from the prime time, you know, Olympic coverage, the people that
search out and find which of the cable because they spread them out over so many different channels.
People find where the curling is and they just watch it and the numbers have been just fantastic.
Do you guys look at this as an opportunity again that every four years you have this the spotlight that does come to curling during the Winter Olympics that does that have an effect?
Have you been able to see folks get involved after say an Olympic Games to be involved in curling here in Central
Wisconsin?
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean after the 2022 Olympics that was the first
year that I started running our Lerner curls and I put on two Lerner curls that were completely full after like while the Olympics were happening so we see a noticeable bump not only in the participation of people wanting to learn to curl but then we also see a bump in people signing up to become members after those seasons as well so it's really exciting when you know we can kind of drift off or draft off of the success of the Olympics and we also get a lot of support from USA curling you know they you know as a member of
say curling the wallside curling club.
We actually get some resources to kind of help us do better with promoting the learned accurals, how to teach properly.
You know, that was one of my big goals last year was, you know, becoming certified in instructing so that we can teach people properly so that they can learn to curl and they can actually get in playing a game as fast as possible because I think for a lot of people, you know, they see a game.
It's like, well, I just want to do the sweeping.
I want to I want to throw the rocks.
I want to do takeouts.
But it's like, well, you have to also learn how to properly deliver the stone so you can do those things.
And that's
where, you know, that was my big goal was just making sure that we can get that instruction to people so that they can be successful on the ice and then they can get into having fun and
doing
those games.
But yeah, it's it's always a great benefit every four years getting the Olympics to give us a little bit of a boost and then
you know, towards the end of the season, that's when we see a lot of interest, and then it's in the next season where we get that bump in membership.
We will have a few more moments with Jim Force and Tucker Dietrich of the Wasak Hurley Club, talking about upcoming events to start the new season in our next segment of the WXCO morning report at 7.52.
Coming up, another farm report, an information update, and then more of mornings with Pat Critell here on 98.9 WXCO.
you
in particular, very fortunate to have a terrific venue, the Wausau Curling Club.
And we're talking about the upcoming events, including some chances for you to learn to curl with Jim Force and Tucker Dietrich of the Wausau Curling Club.
And Jim starts off by talking again about some of the opportunities with the club.
Just about every weekend, Tucker mentioned the leagues going on during the week.
But just about every weekend, we have a Bondspiel of some kind.
We have a women's Bondspiel.
We have the Badger Games.
We have that senior men's competition.
These are opportunities for people to come out and watch.
These are free.
They're open to the public.
We have a very nice viewing area, theater, seating.
We also have television monitors so you can see the action on the ice on the TV monitor.
You can watch through the glass wall.
It's not cold.
It's comfortable in the seating area.
We have our bar and our kitchen there, so oftentimes there are drinks or snacks.
So if the public is interested in curling, as I know they are, they can watch it on TV.
but they can also come out to the curling club and see some pretty good curling as well.
And we
also have our streaming service as well.
So last year was our first year where all of the games from every league and some of our Bonch Beals were actually live streamed on YouTube.
So anyone
who goes to YouTube and searches Wasak Curling Club or Wasak Curling TV, you can find some of the live feeds.
And I think that's been a huge benefit for our members as well because you can go back and kind of see if you had a really cool shot like, oh, look at this shot I did.
I know I'm guilty of that going back and saying like oh, I did a really cool double takeout I got to show my wife if she missed it or like when you miss horribly It's like what did I do wrong
on that
shot?
You know, it's really I think it's really helped just kind of Not only help our curlers as well They can kind of go back and relive some shots But the people that live out of town that you know like especially with like our high school curlers, you know, they You know someone from point coming to wasa they can actually see you know their kids if they can't make it to that game They can actually see them play and that's a huge
benefit, not just for our club, but for the surrounding clubs as well and the people in Central Wisconsin.
Let's get back to wrapping up about folks who may.
get hooked here.
And they say, well, I want to learn how to do this and be part of one of these events coming up, as you said, on Monday, the 13th of October, Wednesday, the 15th of October, and Monday, the 20th of October.
And of course, go to the open house on Saturday, October 11th.
But how do they sign up?
Is there any cost involved?
What are the details that people need to know about these Learn to Curl
events?
Yeah, so all the Learn to Curls, you can sign up at wasacurling.org.
We have a specific link for every night.
So if you want to sign up for the
Monday ones or the Wednesday one, there's a specific link for that.
It is $10 to do the Learn to Curls, but you can pay when you get there, you can pay online right away.
But if you're going to become a member, if I have people where it's like, I'm going to become a member, they have the minds, I'm going to be a member first, I'm going to sign up, and then I'm going to actually learn how to curl.
definitely possible.
If you become a member, then you're $10 that you're a member already.
So you don't have to pay the $10.
But if you're interested in learning, it's $10.
And then we usually try to find a way to get you that $10 back.
If you do become a member as well from that learner curl.
And I'm also going to be encouraging people that if they sign up for one of the learner curls, and they really like it, to come back to another learner curl.
And that one will be free if they come back.
And they just want to practice again or be a part of the class again.
So really trying to encourage people not only just to do the one, but if they really
like it and they want to try to get better, and they try to really seal the deal, like come back for one more, that one's going to be free.
So we just want to get people through the doors.
The only really reason that we do some sort of charges, we do provide some drinks, we do provide some snacks afterwards, but we do have limited capacity on these because we want to keep another reason why we're doing a lot more of the learner curls is we're trying to keep the attendance numbers to be a little bit more manageable.
So there's a little bit more one-on-one time
with
instructors and with people so that they can
get up and running a lot faster as well.
Anything else you would want to add about these events and anything else about the upcoming season, Jim?
Well, a lot of people don't know where the curling club is.
And I say, well, if you go to the east end of Kent Street and turn left, you'll find the curling barn.
It's right across from the Big People State Bank soccer fields.
It's on the street called Curling Way.
If you come downtown line road, it's
just west of the cheese factory there, and you follow the railroad tracks around.
We're down behind the cemetery and across from the soccer fields.
I know it always because I drive that that route every day to go home and come back to work.
So I go right past there.
Yeah.
And just, you know, for people who are interested in becoming a member and are brand new to curling, we have league specific for new curlers.
So we have a rookie league that's on Wednesday nights.
That is for all of our new members, like for anyone who's a new member, like that's the league just for them.
If you're a new member, you can be in any league you want, but this one is more for.
who are brand new to curling.
We have people who have curled for years who helped.
teach the rookies during this league.
We have a lot more on ice instructors.
So that is a great opportunity.
If you're new to the game, you can participate in that.
And then we also have what is called a five and under league, which means five and five years or less of experience.
So that is a league where you have to you have to be brand new, basically.
So there's not going to be someone who's been curling for 20 years knows how to do all these cool, you know, you know, take out shots off of seven rocks or anything like that.
It's it's really for people who are
been curling for maybe like two or three years and they're trying to curl against more people of their ability.
So that's also another really good opportunity for people who are new to the
new to the club and new to curling.
And that's what we're trying to foster at the curling club is like, yeah, you learned how to curl, but then what do you do next?
So
it's you want to
become a member and then we have leagues that will help get you into the game a little bit more.
And then as you learn to play, then you can get into more of the, you know, more met, you know, some of the men's league or the women's league.
We have a great opportunity this year where we have a Monday early league.
That's what we call an open league, which means men and women are playing against each other of various teams and ability.
So a great opportunity.
That's the first
we've done it where we have an open league on Monday in the early slot.
So we have a lot of, it's really exciting, really excited for the season because it's going to be another fun year at the curling club.
Fantastic.
Again, you can get great information by going to the website wasacurling.org.
That's wasacurling.org.
Get information on signing up for these events to always be able to see the schedule of upcoming events as well and should be, again, another wonderful winter for everybody involved in curling here in Central Wisconsin.
Absolutely.
terrific gym force.
Always great to see you.
Thank you.
And again, Tucker Dietrich.
Thank you for coming on by as well.
Appreciate it.
Take advantage of these terrific opportunities here in Central Wisconsin.
So again, thanks to Jim and Tucker for giving us that information.
Got a top of the hour news update and then more of mornings with packed right low.
We'll be back at 822 for another WXCO morning report here on 98.9 WXCO.
and excuse me, good morning once again.
The time is 822.
Beautiful start here in North Central Wisconsin.
Lots of sunshine out there and a temperature of 55 degrees.
I am Chad Holmes with Ian Welsh.
It's our final WXCO morning report segment of this Tuesday morning, September the 23rd of 2025.
Are you ready to learn the curl now after getting all that information this morning?
It was a lot of cool information.
I think I might actually have to give it a try
I've actually thought maybe I will go to one of those classes because it's something that you know during the winter time I'm not sure how much I'll be able to because I'm pretty busy with high school sports, but at the same time at some point going to be at the
Level will have to slow down in that respect, but you want to stay active and then maybe meet new people and it sounds like a great opportunity in so many different ways So again check out our show notes at the end of the show We will have as we do every day posted at wxco.fm Under the news category the wxco morning report.
We will have in its entirety in fact unedited We had a little more with our discussion.
We will have that posted
unedited, along with the podcast of this morning's morning report.
Plus, I will have a link to the website for the Wasa Curling Club and other information for you to be able to take advantage of a great facility and a great sport here in North Central Wisconsin.
Again, there's so much that we are able to do here in North Central Wisconsin.
And of course, one of the things is Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Grand Theater, free.
No cost, unless you want to make a donation, which is, I think, a very worthy thing to do as well.
But at the Grand Theater Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, Center Stage will be presenting its annual show.
And it's fantastic, and one of the people that knows a lot about it is Ian Wells, because you are part of the Center Stage show group in choir, correct?
Yes, I am and you will be on stage at the Grand Theater this weekend You are in the midst of final preparations final rehearsals.
We are
last night was our first a tech rehearsal at the Grand Theater and we still have things to work on but overall the last night was a lot of fun and Very productive it will definitely be a great Show especially with a live audience
it'd be
good to get that energy and their
reactions as well.
And we will learn more about this production coming up tomorrow morning here on the show.
We will be talking to a pair of the members of the center stage group, and I just want to make sure who is coming in.
Reese, Arthun, and Kayla Reesey.
I have to remember that.
Reesey, Arthun, and Kayla Michiel.
Is that correct?
I will it's Mitchell Mitchell.
Okay, man.
You got two names the real test me but we will have racy and Kayla tomorrow morning starting at 6 52 to learn more about the Production coming up this week, and I'm sure you will be involved in it as well because you have great information So we'll have three members of the group talking about it tomorrow morning, and we'll also be talking to Quinn Sushon.
He she is the
Business manager the Marathon County Literacy Council and they have an adult spelling bee that's coming up on October the 7th an adult spelling bee you say Well, it is something that sounds again very very interesting.
It's for a great cause we'll learn more about the Marathon County Literacy Council Learn about this adult spelling bee and more as well.
So we have a big morning of terrific interviews tomorrow during our part of the program the WXCO morning report here on 98.9 WXCO so
We will learn tomorrow.
We will learn about what's going on with on the stage.
We'll learn about what's going on with the literacy council and something about the literacy.
I didn't, I didn't know a lot of this information before I started contact being contacted by Quinn.
But I mean, if you're somebody that is looking to learn in some way and they are there and they're right here downtown, right next to Yankee bookstore.
So again, I encourage you to make sure you tune in tomorrow morning to make sure that you find out about that and also get ready to.
maybe be part of the spelling bee.
And it's really an event for the entire family.
It's an adult spelling bee, but the kids can be involved in it as well.
It should be a lot of fun.
It should be.
Absolutely.
So again, lots of fun activities to talk about.
Also, make sure you tune in during the course of today.
Isabella Nieto, our new news reporter yesterday.
There was an event in the Wausau area in Weston, in fact, Senator Tammy Baldwin paid a visit and she
Isabella was there got some sound from Tammy Tammy Baldwin, so Make sure that You tune in during the course of the day during our newscast at the top and bottom of the hour talking about
Local constituents impacted by the GOP taking away affordable care act tax breaks So very important information make sure you tune in during the course of our news updates with Isabella Of course, we have local news at the top and bottom of every hour and also we will be talking about during the course of this week Tomorrow evening in Wasa Tom Tiffany will have an announcement.
It sounds like Tom Tiffany
will be running for governor, so...
We'll have some thoughts on that as we continue.
We'll wait for it to become official, but then some thoughts about that as well.
So, lots of interesting stuff going on.
Also, interesting each and every day is our number for the day quiz.
Yes.
And today, it's time for you to know what you were right yesterday, correct?
Yeah, one for one.
So, one for one so far this week.
If he gets today right, that means he already clinches a passing grade for the week because he gets three choices, one of which is correct, 33%.
Anything about 33% for the week is a pass.
grade anything that's more right than wrong for the week is a winning week four out of five for the week is an A grade and five out of five is a gold star perfect week number for the day today the number of languages in the world approximately number of languages in the world okay your choices are three thousand languages five thousand languages seven thousand languages how many languages approximately are there in the world
3,000, 5,000, 7,000.
You know what?
I'm gonna say 5,000.
I'm gonna say 5,000 is my final answer.
There are approximately 7,000 languages in the world.
One for two.
One for two.
You're not bad yet.
So we'll try to get you over that hump for the...
for the passing great tomorrow.
Yes.
So again, lots on the plate tomorrow.
Hopefully you can join us back to Pat Crichtlow coming up.
Ian, have a good rest of your day and a good rehearsal tonight.
Thank you, Chad.
Happy Tuesday, everybody.
Stick around after an information update.
More of morning to a Pat Crichtlow on 98.9 WXCO.
