We lost a curling pin trading buddy this week. Lorne lived in the Ottawa area and used to travel to all the major bonspiels across the country. We knew him well from the Briers and I don’t know how many lapel pins he had altogether but he traveled with about 10,000 of them and set up his display with the permission and gratitude of the event committees. They knew that spectators would remember all the sparkles and rarities that Lorne would have on show and be the topic of many a conversation. He was also great publicity for whatever was going on and I can’t think of any time where he didn’t make the local newspaper with an article and photo of his displays as all the reporters knew what a treasure they had right there in front of them.It didn’t matter what club or event you asked him about… he always knew exactly what the pin looked like and any variations that it may have. If you walked up with one of your own club pins, even a brand new one he would take a glance at it and say “Sure, I’ve got one of those” and walk you right over to the exact spot on his boards where it was displayed. I don’t know if anyone ever showed him a pin he didn’t already know about but I know I could never beat him, and I would have felt bad if I had.
Lorne, we’ll miss ‘ya buddy... and send me a pin from your new club, would you?
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