A member of the Altona Curling Club has been named Curling Canada's 2016 Manitoba Volunteer of the Year.

Keith Stoesz was awarded the honour for contributions to his club and the game of curling. In particular, the award recognizes Stoesz's leadership and volunteer work at the club level.

"It's always nice to be recognized for some of things we do ," said Stoesz. "It's kind of my nature to get involved in things that I'm interested in."

Some of his contributions to the local curling scene involve Stoesz's work with the local junior program which drew a total of 80 youth from the ages 6 to 15.

"We have a very strong junior program that goes back almost ten years when the Zacharias girls started curling. The juniors are the future of our club, because without the juniors getting involved in curling, where will the club be ten years down the road."

The volunteer award also recognized Stoesz's leadership which was on display when the Altona Curling Club purchased a new ice plant last year. Through a number of fundraising events and grants, the club was able to replace its 1960's vintage ice plant with a new one.

"We had good support from the town of Altona and we also had a good plan in place where we have been putting money away for many years to cover some of these costs."