It's the WCC..the World Crokinole Championship..in Tavistock, Ontario

[JR]

First question.

People here know this board game?

I played it regularly as a child with my Victorian grandmother who was fierce.

We had a mahogany board that Grandma would wax regularly.

I played it at our cottage with my son ER. Four out of seven and the competition was furious.

There's a video on this article on how it's played.

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2013/05/29/crokinole_capital_of_the_world.html

Not exactly sure of its roots but it's definitely popular in SW Ontario and may have Mennonite roots.

HC & I may go to see the Championship tourney on Saturday!!!

Crokinole has been around since the late 1800s. The oldest known crokinole board was crafted by a Perth County, Ont., in 1876. It now hangs in a museum in Kitchener. The name of game is derived from the French word croquignole, which today means small cookie.

 

[Football_Bat]

At first I thought this was the World Cornhole Championship.

 

[HanSenSE]

Not impressed:

 

[Mystery Meat II]

funny. i saw this and thought it was walter cronkite's version of cornhole.

 

[Iron_chet]

I think you are right about the Menno roots on this. My Menno grandparents had a board my grandfather made that I would play on when I was a kid. My 2 ancient great aunts (grandpa's sisters) alos had boards in their homes.

 

[JR]

I think you are right about the Menno roots on this. My Menno grandparents had a board my grandfather made that I would play on when I was a kid. My 2 ancient great aunts (grandpa's sisters) alos had boards in their homes.

Just a question about your Mennonite grandparents because there is a huge community of them here in Ontario around Kitchener.

Did they live in Manitoba or Ontario where most of them settled? Were they Russian or German? Were they conservative i.e not using cars but horse carriages and did they not allow electricity?

I have some Mennonite customers and they fascinate me.

Always curious and totally respectful of the way they live

 

[Double J]

I grew up with a guy who's won the world championship, I think, three times. Along with a bunch of other titles. He was just a whiz at whatever he tried - I can remember when we were 12 and he could solve the Rubik's Cube in something like 20 seconds.

 

[Huggy]

Tavistock (a place I have never visited) is also home of the Royals of the WOAA right, JJ?

 

[Iron_chet]

@JR

My Menno grandparents were of Dutch and German descent and settled in a heavily Mennonite area in Manitoba, basically the area around Morden, Altona, Carmen and Wiinkler.

I don't think Manitoba had the electricity/technology eschewing Mennos, my grandparents always had modern conveniences (except for a TV very late in life). We do however have lots of Hutterite colonies who dress sort of Amish but still use technology (biggest purchasers of full size Suburbans and full size vans).

My grandparents spoke a version of German called "Low German" that I understand to basically be dying off.

Here is a Mennonite joke that made the rounds back during the start of the Aids crisis:

Hey did you hear there is an Abes crisis is Steinbach?

Seems it spread from Dyck to Dyck through Siemens with no Reimer Friesen!

FWIW both my Dad and Grandfather are named Abe (Abram) and had no middle name. When my toddler son is acting like a **** I call him "little Abe".

 

[Huggy]

When I worked in the OHL we had a kid on our team from Steinbach. He is now the asst. coach and asst. GM of the Steinbach Pistons.

 

[Iron_chet]

Steinbach has the richest per capita wealth in Canada IIRC, those folks save their money. I think it is also still a dry town.

Winkler's high school team nickname is he "Zodiacs" which cracks me up to no end given the fear of the occult in those communities.

 

[Double J]

Tavistock (a place I have never visited) is also home of the Royals of the WOAA right, JJ?

Correct. Senior AA finalists in five of the past seven years, but champions only once in that time period.

 

[JR]

@JR

My Menno grandparents were of Dutch and German descent and settled in a heavily Mennonite area in Manitoba, basically the area around Morden, Altona, Carmen and Wiinkler.

I don't think Manitoba had the electricity/technology eschewing Mennos, my grandparents always had modern conveniences (except for a TV very late in life). We do however have lots of Hutterite colonies who dress sort of Amish but still use technology (biggest purchasers of full size Suburbans and full size vans).

My grandparents spoke a version of German called "Low German" that I understand to basically be dying off.

Here is a Mennonite joke that made the rounds back during the start of the Aids crisis:

Hey did you hear there is an Abes crisis is Steinbach?

Seems it spread from Dyck to Dyck through Siemens with no Reimer Friesen!

FWIW both my Dad and Grandfather are named Abe (Abram) and had no middle name. When my toddler son is acting like a **** I call him "little Abe".

One of HC's fellow opera singer is a Wiebe, I believe from around Winkler

And a book company I used to work for did a lot of printing by the Friesen company in Altona

A lot of Mennos in our area still speak Low German and live in houses with no electricity and only use horses for travel and field work

And that's a good joke. ;)

 

[Football_Bat]

Friesen? I once lived in Freisen (different pronunciation, a small town of 5K in St. Wendel County, Saarland.)

The Wikipedia entry says it is noted for its Turkish cuisine, namely Döner Kebab, which is true for every community south of the Ruhr, frankly.

Back in the day, they had a kickass Imbiss mit Schnitzelweck und Currywurst.