As I eased my way along Balsam Street (in Coniston), preparing to cross Fourth Avenue, I slowed to marvel at the scene before me.

As a shimmering white full moon glistened just above the roofing of the Coniston Curling Club, a tribute to the crisp wintery evening we enjoyed. The backdrop of evergreens gently lined with the new-fallen snow of the past week made the entire vision worthy of a postcard.

It would not have surprised me to hear carollers making their way from home to home, or to see the off-screen staff of a Hallmark movie entourage emerge from around the corner, such was the perfectness of this Christmas-like feature.

Inside the curling club itself, the atmosphere was perhaps more social than festive - though I suspect both descriptions are equally applicable. Such is the environment in which one is immersed for the Thursday Night Men’s League in Coniston, an interesting cross-section of curlers from all phases of the sport.

Newbie Ryan Purdy has finally made the jump, along with his team, a group of Coniston friends (plus an import from Garson) who have grown familiar with one another through their summer gatherings at Twin Stacks Golf Course. “We’ve always meant to get out curling,” said the 47 year old who could not remember the last time he curled prior to joining the league this year.

“It’s great to live in a community like Coniston where they have all of these things.”

While there are definitely seasoned curlers strewn throughout the various rinks, the introduction of those who have not participated - ever or in quite a long time - is critical to the survival of smaller clubs. “It’s been great so far,” said Purdy. “All of the teams that we have been playing have been very welcoming, very supportive, giving us tips.”

“We’ve even come out on Mondays for Learn to Curl, just to get a little more practice in. It’s been a really positive experience.”

And as all those who have even taken to the ice for even a very recreational bonspiel can attest, one of the beauties of curling is that even those who limited experience can make a shot to remember. “We’ve had some of those, where the other teams tells us great shot,” said Purdy.

“I’m just going to go along with it - that was the plan all along,” he added with a laugh.

A competitive junior curler back in the day, Kevin Fowke can not lay claim to having as little to draw upon as Purdy as he made his way to this league some three years ago. Of course, as he noted, those days were quite a while back, when he was much more “limber” - his words, not mine.

“I hadn’t curled in maybe 15 or 20 years, but it’s been good coming back; we’ve got a really good group of guys,” said Fowke, who attended both the association playdowns and one set of provincials from his time when he was attending St Charles College.

Perhaps to ease him back into the flow of curling, Fowke was allowed to remain as a second, the position to which he had grown accustomed in his teenage years. “The second usually gets a lot of hits - and I like the hits,” he said. “But vice is nice because you get in a little bit of strategy and tougher shots.”

Sporting teams being what they are, they are many a cross-connection, even on this rink as Eric Lancup joins Fowke on his team, the two of them having spent many a sunny summer afternoon together watching their young lads compete in baseball or golf. Lancup, for his part, does not have the curling resume of his friend, limited to the occasional bonspiel.

“You try and get pointers off the veterans,” he said. “When I am coming out of the hack, I am figuring out the weight that I need, the placement of the rock, things like that.”

Eventually, my meanderings lead me to the Coniston CEO, as he’s affectionately known. Claude Gosselin has curled for well over twenty years, though his involvement on the board and in league organization is much more recent. “My wife suggested that I get involved or stop complaining,” he said with a laugh.

The reining club champion and still competitively active with the senior rink skipped by Roger Sauve, Gosselin has long enjoyed a close connection to this club. “Curling has always been part of our family,” he said. “Both my parents have passed away but when I come here, I can just feel them here.”

On this every serene wintery eve, that seems entirely plausible.