Shorty Jenkins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clarence W. "Shorty" Jenkins (born 1935 in Hanna, Alberta) is a famous ice technician in the sport of curling. He is known for his trademarked pink cowboy hat, pink leather jacket and pink cowboy boots.
Raised in an orphanage in Victoria, British Columbia, Jenkins served in the Canadian Air Force 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. That wouldn't last, and Shorty convinced the curling club in Trenton, Ontario 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. Shorty claims he is the only person who can "choose and match rocks for major championships". He refuses to do the ice of a tournament without choosing the rocks for it. Jenkins keeps video tapes of the tournaments he has done to see what the television announcers are saying about his ice.
In the late 1990s Jenkins starred in his own commercial for the Tim Hortons donut chain, celebrating "true Tim Hortons stories".
Presently, the Shorty Jenkins Classic curling bonspiel is held in his name. It occurs annually in Brockville, Ontario in the month of September.
