HER name was Beatrice Pack, and her mustard-coloured cowboy-style hat bore witness to her lifelong love of curling.
The 75-year-old great grandmother from Lethbridge, Alberta, was one of the sport’s most devoted fans.
She had just arrived at Prestwick Airport, on board one of three planes bringing 700 Canadian enthusiasts to the following week’s Air Canada Silver Broom world curling championships at Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall.
All three flights were greeted by a welcoming committee and Pipe Sergeant Jimmy McCallum, who had been the unofficial piper at the airport for more than 30 years.
Mrs Pack looked fresh despite her eight-hour-long flight from Calgary. She had an orchid peaking out from under her fur jacket.
“Curling?” she said to a Glasgow Herald reporter. “I’ve been curling long enough so that I don’t have to pay any more club dues now.
“I’ve played all over Canada but this is my first visit to Scotland and my first trip abroad. I’m looking forward to this and I’ve been saving for it for a long time.”
Pointing to one of the badges on her hat she said: “This is the one I’m most proud of. I got it in Winnipeg last week.” It bore an image of a bespectacled granny and the words ‘Golden Gals’.
Her long journey from Canada was certainly not in vain; in the event, her national team won the championships in a one-sided final against Sweden.
Victory went to skip Al ‘Iceman’ Hackner and his four-man rink from Thunder Bay, Ontario. It was his second triumph in the world championships, and Canada’s ninth since the first Broom in 1968.
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