Go curling with the HOT SHOTS

It's that summer curling camp time of year, and TCN's fave is the HOT SHOTS series run by David Gravelle. Why? The fantasy camp angle, but of course.

There are two camps in Oakville, Ontario on August 25-27 and September 8-10, and the lineup of instructors has just been announced. August will feature 2006 Brier runner-up and twice Brier and world champion Glenn Howard among many others. September's camp will see a Yankee invasion led by 2006 world runner-ups Debbie McCormick – also 2003 world champ – and teammates Nicole Joraanstad and Natalie Nicholson, as well as new Kevin Martin third Johnny Morris, again among others.

Meanwhile there are still spots open at HOT SHOTS camps planned for Duluth, Minnesota (October 27-29), Barrie, Ontario (November 4-5) and Madison, Wisconsin (November 10-12). Sign up today for one of the best on-ice (and off-ice) experiences you will ever enjoy!

On the youth beat, Jim Waite's Ametheyst camp is underway and will conclude on July 7, with the Trillium camp set to begin soon. The dual website for both camps is located here.

What else is up, you ask?

• Monday's Edmonton Journal featured new Banff resident Mike Harris, and how he is coping with his new golf job and life in the mountains of Alberta. Harris said the phone has been ringing steadily and he's also been visited by Edmonton's Don Walchuk and Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons, while CBC cohorts Joan McCusker and Don Wittman have merely threatened to drop in.

There's one group dropping by in August that has got Harris pumped: Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Sergio Garcia, Big John Daly and Calgary's own Stephen Ames are in town Aug. 7-8 for the nationally-televised Telus Skins Game...

• Attention World Curling Tour players: organizers in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan are celebrating their 20th anniversary Wayside cashspiel with a whopping $75,000 prize purse, including a $5,500 qualifying payout. The news is so fresh, the event website wasn't updated at the time of this writing...

• 2007 Brier chair Dwayne Piper has been busy promoting his mammoth event in and around Hamilton...

• This is also a busy time of year for the CCA's Danny Lamoureux and his curling club growth and marketing program known as The Business of Curling. Here's a report on a struggling curling town (Digby, NS) and their newfound willingness to look at new ways of operating the sport in their community. If you're a club owner, president or passionate volunteer who is tired of the same-old/same-old – God knows our sport is chock-full of too much of that – this program is simply a must...

• The International Paralympic Committee has confirmed that the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games will feature 10 wheelchair curling teams, up from Turin’s eight...

• Finally, West Toronto (ie. Mississauga) curlers may want to check out a new historical – and oddly-titled – book, From Frozen Ponds to Beehive Glory, which features the Dixie Curling Club...