Wood, Nora

Year Inducted / Année Intronisé:

1979

Province / Province:

Ontario

Category / Catégorie:

Builder

Biography / Biographie:

Nora Dorothy Wood was born in Arnprior, Ontario, in 1903, and lived all her life there until she died in 1988. She attended elementary and secondary school in Arnprior. She married local businessman Roy E. Wood and together they raised two daughters and two sons.

Nora’s father, J.C. Ward, who curled when the game was played on the Ottawa River, was likely Nora’s inspiration for the sport. She began to curl about the age of 17, and was one of the first women curlers in Arnprior. At that time curlers used irons and wide brooms, and each curler brought her own. The women wore suits with skirts: they stood in the hack to deliver the stones, and did not slide out. Nora curled this way all the years that she played.

Nora curled each winter in Arnprior, and often went to other Ottawa Valley towns such as Renfrew and Pembroke by train, with her team to participate in bonspiels. The highlight of each season was the Tweedsmuir Bonspiel, which was, and still is, a double rink competition involving teams from Pembroke, Deep River, Renfrew, Cobden, Arnprior, and the winner from the Ottawa clubs. The finals were played against the Quebec winners. Nora’s double rink won the Tweedsmuir once and was runner-up twice.

Nora’s commitment to playing the game was matched by her commitment to building the sport, as a member of the local executive, and as a member of the national executive. She traveled the country attending meetings with representatives from across the nation for many years. Even in Nora’s later life, when high school girls became interested in curling, she coached them on an informal basis, and often accompanied them to local bonspiels and provincial competitions.

To celebrate Nora’s 60 years of curling, the Arnprior Ladies Curling Club hosted a tea for her, and presented her with a brooch – a gold curling stone with a central diamond. It was  a great honour for her when she was named to the Curling Hall of Fame in 1979 as a builder of the sport. She very much appreciated this recognition of her work, which she did for the love of the game (provided by Mrs. Isabel Judd, daughter of Nora Wood)