Weyerhaeuser Company

03/24/2023 | News release | Archived content

Volunteer of the Year Gary Cleverley Helps Create the Perfect Surface for the Hudson Bay Curling Club

Gary, far right, with some of his coworkers at Hudson Bay. Gary's been with the company for 28 years.

Gary Cleverley, maintenance planner for our OSB plant in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, first learned the sport of curling as a school activity. He still curls today and regularly volunteers at the Hudson Bay Curling Club, one of almost 1,000 curling facilities across Canada.

The club is a popular community hang-out, but running and maintaining a curling facility is a complicated, time-consuming operation. To create the perfect sheet of ice for the sport is part tricky science, part special skill, and not many people in Hudson Bay, which has a population of around 1,400, can make time for the job.

Luckily, they have Gary, who has volunteered with the Hudson Bay Curling Club for 20 years, averaging more than 300 hours of service each year. He helps both install the ice and maintain the club's aging equipment.

"Several other volunteers help out, but it's Gary's knowledge and skill that provide our club with an excellent ice surface year after year," says Andrea Hoffus, accounts payable/payroll at Hudson Bay, who nominated Gary for our Volunteer of the Year award. "He can troubleshoot anything and has selflessly donated his skills for the benefit of our community. He invites people of all ages and cultural backgrounds to come down and throw some rocks, creating an inclusive, welcoming atmosphere. He is approachable, friendly and capable, and our community is better for having him in it."

As part of Gary's Volunteer of the Year award recognition, he received a $5,000 TREE-mendous Matching Gifts reward, which he sent to the Hudson Bay Curling Club.

Gary and his wife.

MEET GARY

You're a maintenance planner for our Hudson Bay OSB plant. Tell us about your day job.

I spend most of my time on equipment maintenance planning and scheduling people. Our maintenance team in Hudson Bay, including all the tradespeople, totals 40 to 50 people. I've recently been traveling back and forth to do some training at Edson, alternating two weeks at Edson with a week at Hudson Bay.

You spend 300 to 400 hours a year volunteering with the Hudson Bay Curling Club. What do you do for them?

My work starts in early September doing building prep and installing the ice, which takes about three to four weeks. I make sure the water's turned on and the ice equipment is ready to go; I also get the compressors ready to run. I'm at the club nearly every night when I'm in town, testing the ice, throwing rocks and watching temperatures. We're always trying to improve processes so we can do the same work with fewer people, and every year we try something new to raise the standards and take our ice to the next level.

Consistent ice is key. The other volunteers and I monitor the ice sheet every day and look at air and ice temperatures, humidity and other things that can impact the formation of decent ice. The sheet needs to be stable, whether it's for a singles game or Bonspiel (a curling tournament).

I've also done some coaching over the years. It can be a challenging sport - it's a team sport, but also an independent game, and it takes a lot of finesse. We've had lots of young kids interested in learning how to curl recently. A few years ago, they were only able to throw a rock halfway down the sheet, but this year they can throw it the full length, no problem. Partly thanks to the improvements we've been making to the ice sheets.

The Hudson Bay Curling Club. From September through April, Gary devotes much of his free time to the club.

What motivates you to volunteer?

The club wouldn't exist without volunteers. Volunteering also gives me the chance to work with some nice folks, some very good ice installers. We get some visiting in while we're installing the ice, so it's a good pastime.

What are the community challenges you see that you're trying to address with your volunteer efforts?

The club gives kids and adults somewhere to learn the sport and socialize. It's a good activity, and you can curl at almost any age. We have 4- and 5-year-olds out there learning right now, and we had a nice group of adults who came out for our Learn to Curl event this year. I curl with a guy who's 74 years old - another community member just recently retired from curling at 82.

What's your favorite part of volunteering?

Making and maintaining the ice. It's a daily challenge; there's something different every day. It's good learning.

Gary prepares to slide a stone on one of the ice sheets he helps maintain. When asked how he and other volunteers have been improving their ice sheets, he simply says, 'Ice maker's secret.'

What's next in your volunteer plans for the year ahead?

We've got a couple of big Bonspiels coming up, and then it'll be time to start planning to take the ice out sometime in April. That's a good two-week-long process. It's not just a matter of turning the switch off and letting it melt. We're actually prepping for next year's install when we take this year's ice out.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to give back but doesn't know how or where?

Just don't be afraid to get involved. Volunteer work is what keeps communities going.