Throughout the history of Aksarben Curling, Sigrid Festersen led, served, and provided continuity from one generation to the next. She saw our organization through successes, setbacks, building moves, and explosive growth. Our Sigrid Festersen Volunteer of the Year Award provides a way for us to honor Aksarben Curling members who go above and beyond in the same spirit as she did.
This year, the Aksarben Curling Board of Directors voted to honor Nate Wendel with this award.
As an arena club, we totally lucked out when Baxter’s Ice Manager got hooked on curling. While much of what Nate does for us does fall under his official job duties, he has continuously gone above and beyond to bring us the best ice possible.
He’s dug into best practices for ice at arena clubs and educated his zamboni drivers on what we need for a good ice surface. And when it comes time to set up the ice for a league or event, Nate is always out on the ice to help.
During our ice’s most negative times, he was doing what he could to counteract the heaving beneath the floor. Nate’s research and outreach to other arenas ultimately led to a solution to the problem and brought our ice back to what it has been in the past – one of the best surfaces for curling in a non-dedicated facility. Better ice contributes to the overall health and continued growth of Aksarben Curling, and we appreciate all that Nate has done to give us the best curling experience possible.
About Sigrid Festersen
Throughout the history of Aksarben Curling, Sigrid Festersen led, served, and provided continuity from one generation to the next. She was a terrific curler and an advocate for women's curling everywhere. She saw our organization through successes, setbacks, building moves, and explosive growth.
All future success of curling in Omaha can be traced back to a foundation Sigrid was so deeply involved with. While we lost Sigrid in 2022, Sigrid’s spirit lives on within our organization.
Read more about Sigrid Festersen and her legacy with Aksarben Curling.
