The Hi-Line Curling Club invites other curling clubs and sports enthusiasts to join them for Montana's longest running bonspiel scheduled for March 18-20. The 12th Annual Hammers and Hacks Bonspiel will be held at the Havre Ice Dome. Registration deadline is March 1.

The Hammers and Hacks tournament guarantees that each team will play a minimum of three games. The more a team wins-or loses-the more that team will play. Day one of competition begins when the first stone drops at 6:00 on Friday evening, March 18. Play continues on Saturday, beginning at 8:00 a.m., and Sunday will see teams shooting and sweeping from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

To register, a team should email hilinecurling@gmail.com. The cost of registration includes a pizza feed on Saturday night, plenty of curling competition, and a commemorative shirt from this 12th Annual Bonspiel. The March 1 registration deadline ensures that accurate shirt sizes can be ordered in time for the tournament.

Spectators are welcome at the bonspiel, which will also feature a bottomless beer cup, Caesar bar, silent auction, raffle prizes, and Closest to the Button competitions.

For the uninitiated, curling is a sport played on ice in which two teams slide-or shoot-stones made of granite towards a target known as a House. Weighing approximately forty pounds, the stones are fashioned from a special type of granite. The trademark sweeping seen in the sport serves to gently warm the surface of the ice in the stone's path. Sweeping can extend the stone's gliding distance, allowing it to travel two or three meters farther. Sweeping can also reduce the curl and straighten the trajectory of a gliding stone.

Anyone with questions or concerns about the bonspiel or the registration process is encouraged to contact Doug at 586-344-5260.