INDIAN HILL CURLING RINK
When these four members of the Indian Hill country club in Winnetka, Ill. formed a curling rink last fall their prospects of winning the women's national championships were lukewarm if not ice-cold. Only two of them (pictured left to right above), Mrs. Donald Jones and Mrs. Hughston McBain, had curled together before, Mrs. Gilbert Scribner's experience was relatively limited and Mrs. Clarence Jones, though a 10-year-veteran, was an emergency substitute for a member who became ill. But lukewarm determination was not the mark of the Indian Hill rink. Electing Mrs. Donald Jones as their skip, i.e., captain, they practiced hard, then picked up their brooms the other day and went purposefully off to the bonspiel at Highland Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb.
The competition that met them was fierce. Of the 4,000 U.S. women who curl, a select 128—from such cities as Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee and St. Paul—were in Highland Park. "We figured our chances," said Mrs. McBain, "at 32 to 1."
Yet slowly and systematically the Indian Hill team moved through the ranks of rinks, on the fourth day were squared off against acquaintances from nearby Skokie, Ill. For Skokie the three-hour final game was a wearying experience. But for Indian Hill it was exhilarating: the score made them U.S. champions by one point. "I'm too dazed to say anything," said Mrs. Donald Jones anyway. Said Mrs. Clarence Jones (no kin) with more self-possession: "I haven't been so thrilled since I was married."
PHOTO