August 2021 Newsletter
Chairman’s Corner
COVID 19 Lockdown and Return to Bowls
I am sure many of you like me, are frustrated with the lockdown and no bowls. At this stage we don’t know the rules and regulations that will allow the Club to re-open although the COVID vaccination status of the members might well be a consideration.
Accordingly, the Board has decided, subject to government regulations, that the Bowling Club will initially open only to members who are fully vaccinated against COVID 19. This was decided so the Club might open at the earliest opportunity and provide members with the safest environment possible. Other COVID safe measures will also be in place. We are fortunate that the vaccine is freely available and there is time to have two doses by the time the Club is likely to open. I encourage all members to be fully vaccinated for themselves, their families, and the Club!
Activity
While the Club has been closed there has been plenty going on behind the scenes.
Our Treasurer, Ian Kimmorley has been busy chasing government assistance to help make up for lost income. In July we received a NSW Government COVID grant of $10,500 and since 18 July we have been receiving $3,000 per fortnight as part of the Job Saver Program. There is considerable red tape associated with these grants and we are very fortunate to have someone with Ian’s skill and tenacity to make sure our Club receives its full entitlements.
Paul Goodwin has project managed a new Club website and Facebook page to support the Coaching Clinic that is being established by Lorraine and Gary Forster.
Phil Lewis has arranged for new rink furniture which looks great and is much safer.
Barry Jones has managed the installation of 21 new foldaway shades for Greens 1 &2. They look amazing.
The Club finally received the $10,000 bequest from the Estate of the Late Leon Basser. Leon was an ex-Roseville member who enjoyed his bowls well into his nineties.
Membership
We have finally turned the tide on declining member numbers. Over the past financial year, we have recruited 24 new members while 9 have resigned. A wonderful outcome mainly due to Phil Lewis and Gerry Ryman attracting new members.
Roger Parks
Chairman
ZONE TRIPLES
We have been advised that the 2021 State Championships which were scheduled to be held at Ettalong later this year have now been cancelled due to Covid restrictions. Whilst we did not have any teams qualified we still have entered two teams in this year’s Zone Reserve Triples competition. It is not known at this stage if and when this Zone competition will be conducted.
The State Pennant Play-offs are now scheduled for 15 to 17 October whilst the State Champion of Champions competitions are now scheduled for 22-26 November.
CLUB COMPETITIONS
Our Club Fours are at semi-final stage and will re-commence after completion of the lockdown. The Club Triples has commenced but still has quite a long way to go but will continue after the lockdown. The Bowls Committee will need to discuss which other competitions we will proceed with once we are more definite about the lockdown situation.
MID-WEEK CHALLENGE
Our most recent advice was that this year’s Mid-Week Challenge will still continue but at a date yet to be advised. We have entered one side in each of Grade C and Grade D. This competition will be 3-bowl triples but, in a departure from previous years, matches will be played as 2 x 9 end sets with a tie breaker if required.
SEAFOOD SUNDAY
Having been delayed for over a year due to Covid-19 restrictions our seafood lunch has once again had to be postponed, this time to 26 September. Let’s hope that the lockdown will be a thing of the past by then.
CHRISTMAS FUNCTION
We have booked the function room at the Roseville Golf Club for our club’s Christmas lunch on Sunday 12 December so mark this date in your diary. More information will be available closer to the time.
ETQUETTE TIPS
*When at the head, bear in mind that some bowlers like a clear view of the rink markers. Stand behind the head, inside the rink markers, but not obscuring the central rink number.
*When at the head in sunny conditions, or as the sun sets, avoid standing where your shadow is cast over the jack, making it difficult to see from the mat.
*Players at the mat-end of the rink who are not delivering a bowl should stand at least one metre behind the mat.
EAST LINDFIELD FAIR
Our club is teaming up with the organisers of the “That Great Market” to hold their market at our club but due to the lockdown this may not happen until next year. This event will be a big community day and will be widely promoted in the hope of attracting large numbers of people to our club. It is hoped that we will derive a number of new members as a result of this initiative.
Coupled with this event, our coaches including Lorraine and Gary Forster will be starting a “Coaching Clinic” which will run over a six session timeframe. This initiative sounds very exciting and has enormous potential. Once out of lockdown, we will commence promoting the clinic across the local area, targeting specific groupings and locations.
NEW CLUB WEBSITE
A team of hard workers from our club have been pooling their resources together to create a new and more vibrant website for our club. Our existing site has mainly been focused on providing information for our members. The new website, whilst still informing members, will have a stronger emphasis towards people from outside our club in the hope of attracting more members. Paul Goodwin and Lorraine Forster have been putting lots of effort into this along with a web designer that we have engaged. All being well, the new website should be active from around the end of August. Once we are back at bowls we will be able to source a greater variety of suitable photos to display on the new website.
FROM BARRIE JONES
Chris (our greenkeeper) has just returned from four weeks leave. The greens have been mowed twice a week and rolled several times a week so are in good condition. New fold out shades have been installed on greens 1 and 2 and look great. Hopefully we can get to try them out soon.
Even if you are not a great fan of those TV talent shows this will no doubt interest you:-
https://www.youtube.com/embed/SxS3NDACZmQ?controls=0
OUT OF LOCKDOWN ONTO THE BOWLING GREEN
Everyone is well and truly over being locked in their homes after such a long, drawn-out period!
This is the time for all our members to put on their thinking caps and find a friend, neighbour, book club member, family member, sister, brother, cousin, bridge partner or anyone else that is looking for some lovely fresh air where they can meet with their friends for a social meeting after this very restrictive lockdown is over.
Bowls could be the answer for all of them!
We need every single member to encourage just one person to join our Beginner Bowlers’ Clinic and we would become one of the biggest, most friendly and welcoming bowling clubs in Sydney.
Please offer a copy of the Beginner Bowlers’ Clinic Enrolment Form to your nominated person, have it filled in and return it to Gary, Lorraine, Gerry or Alan and we will show them just what they are missing.
As Gladys says: We are all in this together!
Let us all rally and introduce at least one member to the program and our club will surely thrive into the future.
DOWNLOAD COPY OF BEGINNER BOWLERS’ ENROLMENT FORM FROM ‘NEWS’ SECTION ON OUR WEBSITE or click on this link:-
FROM ALAN BARWICK
I still communicate regularly with Steve Longley in the UK who’s back playing bowls and is presently on a roll, playing extremely well. The weather in the UK has been quite hot and the greens very fast and Steve’s mates believe it was all the practice he had here that makes him so good. Go Steve!
The spread of Covid-19 is based on two factors -
1. How dense the population is
2. How dense the population is
After many days of lockdown my dog looked at me as if to say:-
“See … this is why I chew the furniture.”
So what I’m hearing is that the best way of surviving all this is directly linked to the common sense of others.
A quote from Eleanor Roosevelt -
I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: - 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.'
A quote from George Burns -
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending;
And to have the two as close together as possible.
This clip has come courtesy of Roger Morrow. Whilst it was made last year it is still very enjoyable -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAkGG4mCiX0
(Skip through the Ad).
My wife sent me a text that said, “Your Great”.
I sent back a text to her saying “No, You’re Great”
She’s been walking around all happy and smiling.
Should I tell her that I was correcting her grammar?
Finally old enough to do anything I want. Too tired to actually do it.
MARKET PLACE
Following a recent email to members advising about this new section in our newsletter we have already had success with one elderly member who has just given up bowls being able to sell his bowls to a new member. We have several new members looking to buy their own bowls so if you have changed bowls at some stage and would like to sell your old set please let Phil Lewis know so that they can be listed in a forthcoming newsletter. There is a particular interest from people wanting to buy smaller size bowls from size 00 to size 3.
When we arrived at a car dealer to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door. As
I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked; “Hey, I announced to the technician, it's open!”; His reply, 'I know – I’ve already done that side.'
BRUCE STRACHAN has provided a copy of a booklet entitled The Art of Delivery by Maxwell Walker which was published in New Zealand in 1933. Having quickly browsed through it, much of its advice is quite relevant today although the writer is strongly of the view that you should never bowl with anything less than a size 5 bowl.
See the outfit worn by most bowlers of that era below. The booklet also includes some “quaint” ads one of which is also shown here … maybe we could all do with some Rickard’s Embrocation!
