// VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR Brugler took up curling more than 20 years ago at the club in Rochester.
“I had apparently lived just a few miles from the club for many years and did not even know it existed or what curling actually was,” he said. “Te adults must have liked curling more than the kids, and I joined the Rochester club with a few of my friends the following season.” Brugler was nominated by fellow club members for his commitment to a
variety of curling club activities, including serving as the main coordinator for scheduling and instructing outside groups (youth, business, organiza- tions, family groups), giving up many hours of his free time to make the events successful.
“Doug has shown great patience in passing
along the history and fundamentals of the sport when working with these groups,” said John Ya- worski, Rochester club president, in his club’s nomination form in support of Brugler. “He sac- rificed many a weekend in hosting and instruct- ing these groups, oſten doing two to four groups per day.” In the process, Brugler has recruited more than 50 club members to volunteer during the Learn to Curl events. Te successful events have helped the club raise more than $92,000 in the past two seasons by bringing in more than
190 groups. Brugler also played an instrumental role in the club’s refrigeration sys-
tem replacement project, a two-year project that was a labor of love as Bru- gler supervised the removal of the old system, which was donated to the Pittsburgh Curling Club, and implementation of the new system. Brugler can also be found working on the ice, stocking the bar and pick-
ing up tools to do any maintenance work around the club to keep things running smoothly. According to Mike Egan, fellow club member, “Doug is a valuable re-
source both on and off the ice. He is a great ambassador for the club and the sport and always embodies the spirit of curling.” A retired engineer, Brugler has always been intrigued by the sport. “For
me, curling is a fascination on very many levels, beyond the challenge of the skills, strategy and physics of the game itself,” Brugler said. “As a former youth sports coach and now ‘Professor of Curling’ for a local university, in- structing new curlers is always a rewarding experience. By coordinating the club’s extensive team of other instructors, we have been able to introduce many thousands to the joy of curling, while earning the club some much- needed cash at the same time. And the best part of that is the chance to help spend some of it on projects to improve our facility.” Brugler squeezes in all his volunteer hours while juggling his daily life
as a husband and father of two grown children. He also volunteers for the local ambulance service as an emergency medical technician and treasurer. “My wife is very tolerant, most of the time, when I am involved in curl-
ing activities. Our adult son and daughter have enjoyed curling a few times with groups of their friends and maybe someday will join a league with me.” Brugler was previously honored for his volunteer efforts by the Rochester club with the Bob Scheiber Behind the Scenes Award. n
Congratulations! Jennifer
Stannard 2011-12 Circuit
Champion Do you know a great volunteer like Doug Brugler in your club? To learn
more about the 2012 USA Curling Volunteer of the Year nominees, check out Kim Nawyn’s column on Page 5. Have a great volunteer to nominate? USA Curling is now accepting applications for the 2013 USA Curling Vol- unteer of the Year through June 1. Please visit www.usacurl.org/goodcurl- ing to learn more. USA Curling would like to thank Jerome Larson for gener- ously donating the awards (shown above) for the first five years of this program. Te first Volunteer of the Year Award recipient, Doug Brugler, and the nominees profiled in Nawyn’s article are featured in a USCA club poster this season.
USA Curling (( 11
East Region Nutmeg CC Thank you to last year’s Circuit sponsors: