Little did we know, when this picture was snapped, that Mr. Assman would go on to fame and (probably not much) fortune as a local celebrity curler. Lawrence sent along this clipping from the Calgary Herald on December 16th, 2006:

He's 63 years old, he spends all day on his feet cutting hair and he just wrapped up one set of curling playdowns earlier this week.You'd think that would rate some sort of consideration from the Southern Alberta Curling Association when it set the draw for this weekend's city men's playdowns at the Acadia Rec Centre. There was no such luck for Art Assman, as it turned out. His Calgary Curling Club quartet was one of eight entries in the 20-team field that drew the short straw, and would have had to win Friday night, and play three more games today to qualify out of the A event for next month's Southern Alberta playdowns in Airdrie.

"I'm up to it," vowed Assman, who along with teammates Jason Fuchs, Terry Gair and Dave Blaylock took care of part one of that assignment with a 7-5 win over Airdrie's Lorne Goodman in their late-finishing opening game. "I really don't think age is a factor, as long as you stay in condition."

And Assman does that. In addition to skipping three curling teams (his reigning Alberta masters 60-and-over champs qualified for the Southerns earlier this week, while his seniors team begins its playdowns run next month), he also plays old-timer hockey.

"And standing and barbering is probably a good thing for my legs," said the owner of Assman's Barber and Hairstyling Salon in Marda Loop. "The ice now is made, so it's very easy to slide on. You're throwing a lot of draws, so you're not pushing hard out of the hack. And if they go to eight ends, which there's talk of in the future, that will only help a lot of the senior curlers."

Not that Assman needs an awful lot of help. He's been a consistent performer on all levels, making it to a couple of men's Southerns and a provincial senior men's championship in recent seasons.

But his most memorable feat came last season, when he combined with Lloyd Heller, Guenther Theophile and John Kennedy to claim the provincial masters championship.

They followed that up with a solid performance at the national 60 and over championship in Bridgewater, N.S., where they eventually lost in the final to B.C.'s Dale McKenzie.

"It was great," said Assman. "It gave me great satisfaction to represent the province, and I guess in the end, that's what you get into curling for. Now, I know what (Randy) Ferbey, (Kevin) Martin and all the top-notch curlers feel like when they win the province. It was a great feeling."

That experience had Assman eagerly anticipating the 2006-07 season, and this weekend's men's playdowns, from which six berths into the men's Southerns will be decided.

"I'm curling well this year, and I think I'm probably more focused," he said. "The little run we had last year, going to the Canadians, kind of gives you a good picture on curling. So I don't want to miss out on that.

"I think we have a pretty good shot at getting to the Southerns again. I guess, name-wise, it's not as tough a field as last year (with many of Calgary's heavy hitters playing at the Canada Cup qualifying 'spiel this weekend in Edmonton), but all the games are tough. There are no real weak teams anymore."

EXTRA ENDS: The A-event finals are set for 7:30 p.m. today . . . Two more Southerns berths will be decided in the B-event finals Sunday at 1 p.m., while the C-event finals are Monday at 9:30 a.m. . . . The Southerns will determine three qualifiers for the Kia Cup provincial men's championship from Feb. 7 to 11 in Drayton Valley.