This past week Curling Canada announced that The Rotary Club of Kingston’s Ken Thompson will be the the 2023 winner of the Ray Kingsmith Award for dedication to curling.
The Ray Kingsmith Award is named after the man who played a leading role in bringing curling to the Winter Olympic family. He was a tireless volunteer in administration and management roles in the sport of curling. The award honours an individual who best demonstrate a similar commitment and dedication to the s[port of curling that made Kingsmith the consummate sport executive.
Ken Thompson, a member of the club since 2003, has spent countless hours working behind the scenes on successful major curling events in Ontario, and it all started at the 1974 Brier in London, Ont., where he volunteered as a driver for visiting media.
Ken Thompson, a member of the club since 2003, has spent countless hours working behind the scenes on successful major curling events in Ontario, and it all started at the 1974 Brier in London, Ont., where he volunteered as a driver for visiting media.
Since then, he has chaired or vice-chaired four Canadian curling championships — the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier in Kingston, the 2017 Canadian Curling Club Championships in Kingston, the 2013 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the 1991 Brier in Hamilton.
He’s also been active at the local level as well, serving as a board member, a former curling board chair and president at the Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston.
Thompson also showed his journalism skills as a feature writer and co-owner of the Ontario Curling Report for 38 years.
As a member of Kingston Rotary Thompson sits on five committees, including The GGB Event Planning and Coordination Committee and the Gala Committee.
For a more complete report see the Kingston Whig Standard at https://www.thewhig.com/sports/local-sports/local-curling-event-organizer-ken-thompson-wins-national-award