For one week in 2018, North Bay was the centre of the curling universe.
On the heels of the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, athletes and sports fans from around the world made their way from South Korea to Northern Ontario for what would become the Gateway City’s largest-ever tourism event, registering an economic impact of $7.3 million.
The stars aligned for the World Women’s Curling Championship when the newly crowned Olympic gold medalists from Sweden faced the most recognized name in curling, Canada’s Jennifer Jones, in the championship game before a sold-out crowd at Memorial Gardens.
When the final went into overtime, Canada won on the last rock. This year’s John Toswell Memorial award recipient had one of the best seats in the house and the responsibility that came with it.
As one of over 400 event volunteers, Jamie Graham acted as a co-director and the Supervisor of Timers with the best view of the play – necessary to ensure accurate recording of the time remaining in each game.
Supervising timers and/or statisticians is a role that Graham has also played as part of the 2015 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, the 2017 Northern Ontario Men’s Curling Championship, and two Grand Slam of Curling Championships (2019 and 2022), all hosted in North Bay. These are Jamie’s fondest memories from a lifetime of dedication to curling and they are among an extensive inventory to choose from.
Jamie was introduced to curling at the age of 10 when he would accompany his dad on visits to his hometown, the volunteer-operated curling club in Grimsby, Ontario – where his dad was a member of the ice committee. Within a year or two of hanging out and casually throwing rocks about the rink, Jamie officially joined the junior program and has been curling ever since.
As a junior curler, Jamie participated in high school intermural competition, as well as in a weekly Niagara Region junior curling tour, and the Pepsi School Boys playdowns. When Jamie went on to post-secondary studies at Queen’s University, he joined the university curling executive and helped organize 250 students who participated in a weekly co-ed curling league running late into the night every Sunday.
After university, Jamie moved to Toronto for work and joined the renowned Avonlea Curling Club – which was, at the time, home of ‘The Dream Team’ skipped by 2-time Canadian and World champion, Ed Werenich. Jamie and his wife Pat helped organized the Mixed Section there and would continue to do the same when they later moved to Dundas (joining the Dundas Granite Club), and then again in North Bay (joining the North Bay Granite Club in 1993).
As a long time employee at Nipissing University, Jamie was able to blend his pride for the Lakers with his passion for curling when he helped coach varsity curling teams that were qualifying for playoffs on the university circuit while also cutting their teeth in the Granite Club’s competitive league against the likes of the North Bay Sport’s Hall of Fame’s Team Scott Patterson.
More recently, Jamie has been an instructor in Nipissing University’s curling practicum course, which is enrolled in by aspiring leaders in physical and health education.
Though it’s clear that Jamie most enjoys the fellowship that is synonymous with curling, he’s become an accomplished player along the way as well. Jamie has participated in more than 10 Northern Ontario Senior playdowns, skipped a team to the final of the provincial Masters Curling Championship in 2024, and is a two-time North Bay Granite Club Champion (2015 and 2022).
As the North Bay Granite Club celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2025, Jamie reflects positively on his experience as a member for more than 30 years. When asked about the future of curling in North Bay, Jamie hopes the club will continue to prosper and be a venue for good sportsmanship and recreation for another 75 years and beyond.
In particular, Graham would like to see the North Bay Granite Club become a destination known for boosting participation among youth curlers – a cause he has contributed to as an instructor with the club’s youth program, school electives program, and a volunteer with many NDA, NOSSA, and OFSAA curling championships hosted in North Bay.
"You might say that Jamie is a living example of how curling, when introduced young, can benefit a person throughout their life. Jamie met his spouse through curling, has cultivated numerous close friendships through curling, developed leadership skills through curling, and whenever he moved to a new community – well, it didn’t feel so new when the first place he sought out to meet the new neighbours was a place of familiarity – the curling club," a release from the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame continued.
Jamie Graham will be presented with his award at the 44th Annual North Bay Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner on Saturday, May 3 rd at the Davedi Club. Tickets are available from Larry Tougas at 705-303-8104 or Tim Lowe at 705-497-4225. Tickets are also available at the Davedi Club by calling 705-474-4190.