The United States Curling Association (USCA) has named Traverse City resident Don Piche its national Volunteer of the Year. Rich Lepping, the Chairman of USCA, will present the award to Piche on Oct. 25. Piche will also be featured on the cover of the fall issue of Curling News magazine.

Piche was the driving force behind establishing the Traverse City Curling Club (TCCC) in 2014 and currently serves as the club’s board president. It is now the third largest curling club in the state. TCCC finished the 2015-16 season with 88 paid members, started a junior program, had 160 Learn to Curl participants, and boasts six certified USCA Level 1 instructors and one USCA certified wheelchair instructor. Additionally, the club has hosted two regional tournaments, called “bonspiels,” that attracted 32 teams from across the Midwest and Canada, including Olympic curlers.

The USCA Volunteer of the Year Award was established in 2012 to provide recognition for the work that curlers throughout the nation do to advance curling on the club level.

Lepping, the Chairman of USCA, will be in Traverse City Oct. 25 to present the award. The event begins with an informational curling meeting in the Community Room upstairs at Centre Ice at Centre Ice at 7pm, after which the group will be led onto the ice by bagpiper Stephen MacNeil for the award presentation. That will take place in David’s Rink at approximately 8:30pm at Centre Ice.