Shorty Jenkins
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Clarence W. "Shorty" Jenkins (1935 – 11 April 2013) was a famous ice technician in the sport of
curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...
. He was known for his "trademark" pink
cowboy hat The cowboy hat is a high-crowned, wide-brimmed hat best known as the defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy. Today it is worn by many people, and is particularly associated with ranch workers in the United States, Canada, Mexico, C ...
, pink leather jacket and pink
cowboy boot Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a High-heeled footwear#Men and heels, high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no l ...
s. Born in
Hanna, Alberta Hanna is a town in Central Alberta, Canada, approximately 57 km northeast of the town of Drumheller. It is surrounded by Special Area No. 2 and the district office of the Alberta government's Special Areas administration is located in Hann ...
and raised in an orphanage in
Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...
, Jenkins served in the
Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...
from the age of 17. He would be posted in Germany and in Canada to do various military jobs. He eventually left the military to work with
Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware state law and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Dating back to 1886, the company has transformed from a vertically integrated energy ...
. That wouldn't last, and Jenkins convinced the curling club in
Trenton, Ontario Trenton (2001 population 16,770) is a large community in Central Ontario in the municipality of Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. Located on the Bay of Quinte, it is the starting point for the Trent-Severn Waterway, which continues northwest to Pe ...
to take him on as ice maker. He wanted to be an ice maker after noting how terrible the ice was at the 1974 provincial championships he was competing in. One trend Shorty started in curling was that of timing rocks. He used his idea to judge how good the ice was. Jenkins claimed he was the only person who could "choose and match rocks for major championships". He refused to do the ice of a tournament without choosing the rocks for it. Jenkins kept video tapes of the tournaments he had done to see what the television announcers were saying about his ice. In the late 1990s Jenkins starred in his own commercial for the
Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., known colloquially as Tim's, Timmies, or Timmy's, is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain with headquarters in Toronto; it serves coffee, Doughnut, donuts, sandwiches, Breakfast sandwich, breakfast egg mu ...
donut chain, celebrating "true Tim Hortons stories".Archived a
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and th
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Presently, the Shorty Jenkins Classic curling
bonspiel A bonspiel is a curling tournament, consisting of several games, often held on a weekend. Until the 20th century most bonspiels were held outdoors, on a frozen freshwater loch. Today almost all bonspiels are held indoors on specially prepared ar ...
is held in his name. It occurs annually in
Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec and the U.S. state of New York (state), New York converge. It is Ontario's easternmost city. Although it is the seat of the United ...
in the month of September. Jenkins died on April 11, 2013, at the age of 77, following a lengthy illness.


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Who is Shorty Jenkins?Curlers, fans, icemakers mourn the passing of Shorty Jenkins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Shorty 1935 births 2013 deaths Curlers from Alberta Curlers from Ontario Royal Canadian Air Force personnel Sportspeople from Quinte West People from Special Areas, Alberta Curlers from Victoria, British Columbia Canadian male curlers Curling ice makers 20th-century Canadian sportsmen