Monte Armstrong, second from left, is this year’s Lloydminster Oil and Gas Open Bonspiel’s Oilman of the Year and will receive the honours at the WLS Convention Centre banquet on March 15. Meridian Source File Photo
Monte Armstrong is expected to be the star of this year’s 55th annual Lloydminster Oil and Gas Open Bonspiel.
The Lloydminster curling skip will head into the event at the Lloydminster Golf and Curling Centre from March 14 to 17 as the defending A Event champ and more importantly, this year’s Oilman of the Year.
The award will be presented to him during the tournament banquet at the WLS Convention Centre on March 15 with a sizeable family entourage in tow, including dozens of other well-wishers.
Armstrong may be sporting a tan from an ongoing family holiday in Palm Springs, California, where he got the call from banquet chair, Derren Weimer, during a bonspiel committee meeting in Lloydminster.
“I was quite happy about it. It’s an honour to be chosen. I look forward to the evening,” said Armstrong, adding, “I’ll get a few things to talk about before that.”
Being the Oilman of the Year is more about recognition for Armstrong’s work behind the scenes and accomplishments in the oil and gas industry over a 34-year career, than his own curling prowess.
As proof of that, Armstrong can tell you he’s held every position on the committee for over 40 years, including president, but he’s not sure how many bonspiels wins he’s notched.
“I think with the win last year, that might have been the 8th time. I got some young guys that enjoy playing the game, too, playing with me,” he said.
Armstrong stepped down from committee work a couple of years ago, leaving a legacy of volunteerism with the bonspiel and in the community.
He helped start the Heavy Oil Mixed Bonspiel, the Lloydminster Junior Bonspiel, served on the Oilmen’s Golf Tournament Committee for 20 years, and even coached minor hockey, for example.
For Armstrong, the oilmen’s has always been a fun event as a volunteer and competitive player.
“That was kind of my goal to make sure it was a fun event, competitive to some, but mainly fun to involve people from the oilfield,” he said.
The organizing committee is shooting for 30 teams this year, which Armstrong says is a big change from the way it once was back in the heydays of oilfield spiels.
“I can remember when we used to have 128 teams and we’d get 160 entries. Of course, the industry is changed and a lot of things have changed,” he said.
“If they can keep it where it’s at it’s a pretty positive event.”
He says the oilmen’s is also a great opportunity to network in the industry.
“Anytime you can get a group of people together, it’s always good,” said Armstrong.
The long version of Armstrong’s oilfield career will be read out loud at the banquet, but in a nutshell, his career highlight was launching Granite Oilfield Services with his wife, Chris, and co-owners Blair Denny and his wife, Linda.
“We worked together in similar businesses before, but when there was a downturn things kind of changed. When we started Granite in 1987, things kind of progressed and grew from there,” he said.
Granite worked with contractors to provide pipefitting, welding, construction and plant maintenance when they sold out in 2010 and Armstrong retired.
Looking back, he said “I guess technology is the biggest change. There’s just so many things now controlled remotely.”
He says he misses a lot of people in the industry, but he is enjoying retirement spending time at the lake, travelling and playing golf.
“Right now, I am very busy with family,” he said.
The Armstrongs have three adult sons who all curl and live in Lloyd along with a daughter in Saskatoon and three grandchildren.
Family members were cheering on Armstrong and his sons Tyson and Ryan, and their curling buddy, Al Dmytryshyn, taking on world-class competition at the Astec Safety Challenge held here in January.
“My sons were actually invited to play in it and they asked me to curl with them, so that was kind of a bonus for me,” said Armstrong, who called it a great experience.
“We got to play (Bruce) Mouat from Scotland who won the world’s last year. We curled Mike McEwen who is representing Saskatchewan in the Brier.”
He says at that calibre of curling, they don’t miss a whole lot of shots.
“We wanted to be competitive against them and we had a couple of good games. One game we should have won, we were up three, but let it slip away,” he said.
Armstrong skipped for that team and will skip at the oilmen’s too, saying it’s easier on his 65-year-old body.
“I’m not in perfect condition for curling, but it’s a game I enjoy and something I always try to work at a little bit to stay in the best shape you can,” he said.
“I’m not a sweeper, so skipping, I don’t have to be in peak condition like the sweepers do. So far it’s worked.”
