Fergus resident part of curling federation

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, May 5, 2008

Curling is described as the “Roarin’ Game” with the roar coming from the noise of a 42-pound granite stone as it travels over the ice. The sport, which became a full medal sport of the Winter Olympic games in 1998, has been a big part in the life of Fergus Falls resident Warren Lowe for 37 years.

Lowe, a retiree who for many years owned and operated an industrial supply company in Chicago, first participated in curling in 1971. In 1992 he was elected to the board of directors for the U.S. Curling Association and was elected president in 1995.

In 2004 he became director of finance for the World Curling Federation.

“I’m grateful and humbled, since I was elected to the finance position by representatives from 43 nations,” Lowe said. “The federation needs people who have the time to do the work behind the scenes.”

What’s obvious is that Lowe loves curling.

Last month he was busy at the World Men’s Curling Championship held from April 5 to 13

at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks. Twelve nations competed, with Team Canada taking first place. Team Scotland took Silver and Team Norway was awarded bronze.

“This big event in Grand Forks was three years in the planning stage,” Lowe said. “We had 53,000 fans in attendance over the one week of competition. We drew many fans from Canada where curling is very popular.”

Grand Forks bid for the world curling championship and had the winning bid over proposals from Italy and South Korea.

Lowe and his wife, Jannette, have lived in Fergus Falls since 2002. The couple had earlier ties to Otter Tail County and were looking for a rural area in which to live after their many years in Chicago.

“Jannette had been a friend of Janet (Hensch) Knapp for many years,” Lowe said. “We spent a lot of time at Otter Tail Lake in previous years. Moving here (to Fergus Falls) was the right decision.”

Being able to use e-mail from home and access the world wide web allows Lowe to perform most of his World Curling Federation finance duties from home.

“Being relatively close to Hector airport in Fargo also is a contributing factor — enabling me to do my job,” he said. “I try to attend at least three world championships each year, and I travel to Europe or Asia about three times a year.”

The world headquarters is Perth, Scotland.

Lowe, aside from his World Curling Federation duties, also is a member of a four-man curling team that participates during the winter months at the curling facility in Detroit Lakes. He participates along with Jim Knapp, Vern Johnson and Tim Atkinson, a recent addition.

The other nearest curling facility is located in Fargo and a new, active facility is in Alexandria.

The St. Paul Curling Club has close to 1,000 mem