Board of Directors
Dixie History
Dixie Curling Club was incorporated on March 1, 1956 and is now in it’s 68th year of operation. A six-sheet club with more than 500 members, Dixie has established a reputation for hospitality, good curling, good fellowship and sportsmanship. Dixie is a member driven club striving to grow the game of curling and provide a social environment for all ages. Dixie operates as a not-for-profit organization and is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors.
Mission Statement
To develop and enhance the curling life for all ages and skill levels in the community and to provide an environment that is inclusive, diverse, accessible and friendly to all.
Vision Statement:
- Providing a curling experience that includes:
- Diverse membership and programs;
- A strong sense of camaraderie;
- A high-quality facility; and
- Partnerships with an engaged and growing community.
Terms of Office
Each year at the Annual General Meeting, 3 new Directors are elected to the Board, as 3 others complete their term. The term of office is 4 years, and Directors must serve one year before they can hold an Executive Position. These positions include President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. When a Board member has to vacate the position unexpectedly, the Board may nominate an individual to complete the balance of the term.
Brian Divell - President
Brian has extensive experience in senior management of Canadian and Foreign Insurance companies, including President, CEO and Chief Agent position. Brian's last ten years experience was Manager and Supervisor of Financial Institutions at OSFI, where he reviewed many institutions for ensuring the financial solvency of operations, capital requirements, board and risk policies and strategies. He also participated in developing regulations and standards for the Industry to protect Canadian policy holders.
Bob Leeder - Vice President
Member of the Dixie Curling Club since 2007.
Sean Holman - Secretary
Sean started curling in high school at Weston Golf and Country Club and remained an active member at Weston until curling ceased in 2018. Sean joined Dixie in 2018 and joined the Board in January 2021. He has been Board Secretary for most of his tenure. Sean is also on the Board of the Toronto Curling Association having taken on the role of President in September 2022 after previously serving as Vice President and Secretary. Sean has been a competitive curler throughout his curling years having competed in a number of provincial championships. In addition to his involvement in curling, Sean was also the Treasurer of Athletics Canada following a long coaching career. Professionally, Sean is a Chartered Professional Accountant who has worked the last decade for Plexxus, one of Ontario’s leading hospital shared services as Director, Sourcing Analytics and Program Management.
Deb Lawrence - Treasurer
Sue Baird - Past President
With a forty year career under her belt, Susan started her curling at the Dixie Curling Club as a participant of the Junior program. As a Junior, she represend Dixie and Ontario at the Junior Women's Nationals in 1985.
Sue is a graduate from Laurier with a BBA and briefly went to Vancouver and worked as a Sales Rep for Dow Chemical before returning to Ontario. She has played competitively for many years and currently plays in the Friday Women’s CYOR league and Thursday nights with a few Day Women’s draws mixed in as well.She enjoys bonspieling and has coached the Junior program at Dixie and the Loyola high school team. Last year, she joined the CurlON Coaching Clinic team to help further curlers and help with their skills development
Debbie Harding - DirectorDebbie has been a member of Dixie for approximately 20 years. She has also been a Law Clerk for over 30 years and for the last 15 years, she has been at Mitchell, Bardyn & Zalucky in Etobicoke. When she's not curling, she enjoyslawn bowling, cooking and spending time with family and friends. In addition to volunteering on the board, she has also volunteered in the club’s mixed section as their “sponsorship committee” for many years.
Lorraine Teeter - DirectorLorraine has been curling since 1998 and has been a member of Dixie Curling Club since 2013. She is a graduate of The University of Western Ontario and has been a real estate law clerk with the same lawyers since 1984. Besides curling, Lorraine is an avid gardener and enjoys a round of golf.
Randy Park - Director
Randy Park has been curling for eight years, starting at Weston and joining Dixie last season. He is enthusiastic about the game, and as a physicist is always trying to figure out why things work the way they do. He has developed some curling test equipment, some of which he took to the World Curling Federation sweeping summit in 2016. Randy plays Monday afternoon skins, Tuesday afternoon OCYOR, and Friday morning Men’s.
Mark Beattie - Director
Mark has 21 years of food service and hospitality industry experience, including 10 years as a Chef, working in Banquet, Fine dining and Gastro settings. Most recently Mark has 11 years as a Sales and Marketing Professional working with the industry’s largest Food Service equipment Manufacturers. He is a graduate of the Niagara Culinary Institute. Mark started curling at Weston and joined Dixie in 2018 when Weston closed. Curling is one of Mark's passions and curls at Dixie three times a week.
Andrew Kwiatkowski - Director
Andrew began his career with GTE Sylvania as a Marketing specialist, then moved to Equifax Canada, as Marketing Services Manager. Since 1993, he formed his own company Katika Integrated Communications Inc that provides marketing services for various companies. Andrew is an active community member and has volunteered his time and expertise to several charitable organization. Andrew startted curling in 1991 at High Park and curled there until 2001. After a short sabbatical, he rejoined the curling community at Weston and then moved to Dixie when Weston closed.
Bruce Lambert - Director
Since 2000, Bruce is also a practicing chiropractor and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Univserity of Western Ontario and a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Parker University (Dallas, Texas). Bruce has been a longtime member of the Dixie Curling Club. He currently curls in the Monday Night Men's league as well as the Friday Night Mixed Social League. He also has volunteered his time to coaching the Little Rocks Program and the Bantam Junior Program since 2012 and 2015 respectively.
