BOWL ALONG NEWS FROM STOKE.

19th May 08.


A lovely sunny morning on Sunday led to an excellent turn out for the club AGM. It went very smoothly, with all positions filled during the election of officers, and very little general business to discuss.
Gavin Sparks has come in as our new president and Allan Griffiths is vice-president. Colin Aitken and Marilyn Robertson join David Merritt as selectors, and Graham Bishop is now the Director of works and maintenance
Beryl Calder, Kevin Hoult, and Peter Rutherford were thanked for their contribution over past years.
The demise of the social committee was discussed, as we have no social functions planned for the winter, and hopefully some volunteers will step up for this. We need you!

It was a great pleasure to see Janis Reynolds elected a life member of the club.
She has been the club's secretary almost since she first joined Stoke, as well as serving as club president, catering convenor, special events convenor, and attending most centre meetings and generally keeping an eye on everything going on in the club. We are lucky to have her.

Some very tired men finished a huge job earlier this month when they removed the turf on the Carter green. It was taken off like ready lawn and many blisters appeared with the shovel and barrow work! You did a great job fellas! Thank you.

We have been fortunate to have Ferrers McCarthyand Colin Aitken on the board of the Nelson Centre for some years, as they have contributed such a lot of ideas, and time and effort to this. We hope you enjoy your retirement from this!

Tuesday afternoon euchre continues to be very popular with 45-50 players at the first sessions.
Do join in. Just $2 for the game and cuppa, plus there are raffles and a sales table.

SEE YOU NEXT SEASON

April 6th.

Just 3 weeks to go to the end of the season!
Have you noticed how good everything still looks around the club?? Don has trimmed the shrubs again and they look wonderful, and so do the greens.
And the clubhouse always looks so bright and welcoming thanks to John's care
Thanks Don and John.

We still have a major event to look forward to with the Invitation Pairs on the 18-20th April. And hopefully everyone getting involved in the State of Origin bowls when YOU can play for your region. Last year the overseas team won so get ready to support your area.

Most of our regular bowls play has just finished.
On Tuesday the Casual Bowls group had their last session, and were put through their paces by Lynden and Kath. It's a very happy social group where new folk learn to play, and they appreciate the time Lynden and his helpers have put into it.

The Saturday jackpot bowls also finished last week . Interruptions by rain, and other fixtures curtailed this a bit this season, and surprisingly the jackpot was not won. So on the final day it took about a dozen spins to come up with the lucky score! Thanks to Jim who organised it each week.

Friday mufti triples finish this week ,and again Lynden and his helpers have organised this well, with games possible most Fridays.

Coaching sessions were held on Monday mornings to learn shot play and other skills, and coaches took the new players in hand on Tuesdays too.

Have a look at the champs results page and you will see that our players have had good results this season .
CONGRATULATIONS to our successful members, especially the gold star winners Diane, Nigel, Paul and Gary.

A group of secondary school students practised at Stoke and took part in the Inter-school competition. Amy, Julia and Kelly will play in the NZ final in Dec.

After Christmas, Janis organised a 6 week league, playing 2 one hour games in the evening with either all non-members , or one member with 2 new chums in each team. This brought quite a few new players to the club.

A new trophy was played for last weekend for parent or grandparent and child. It was good to see the number involved from a 10year old with his grandmother, to some quite large sons !

We are lucky to have willing people to organise bowls play to suit everyone. Our selectors, match committee, tournament directors, and other organisers do a great job.
It sure makes for HAPPY BOWLING.

NOTE:
EUCHRE AFTERNOONS COMMENCE MAY 6TH. 1.30PM.
ALL WELCOME.

December 26

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hope 2008 is a Happy, Healthy Year for You, with plenty of happy bowling too.

The first part of the season has whizzed by.
The lack of rain meant lots of extra watering and care of the greens by Don, but also, no delays in getting matches played. Most of the club champs are completed or well under way.
Several of our members are heading off to CHCH to play in the nationals and we wish them well. Our 2 young NZ reps , Misty and Amy , are going to play in the womens singles and pairs.

After the holidays the Summer evening social bowls will get under way from 15th Jan.
Do talk to any mates/neighbours etc and get them interested. Further info for this is on the Have a go page.
Saturday jackpot bowls will also be starting up later in the month for members.
And on Jan 6th a game of triples is on - - put your name on whiteboard please.

HAPPY BOWLING - - -

October 29th

Another weekend of fine weather has meant the men's champ fours are almost completed...Hooray! says the match committee.
The mens champ fours final will be between teams skipped by Gary Watson and Allan Griffiths.
The women's champ triples and open singles are also well under way.

Only 10 days to go till the Invitation Singles.
Some volunteers are still needed for the bar roster and there are a few spaces where markers are needed too.Have a look at the whiteboard.

This morning we had 4 more new folk come along to Tuesday's Casual Bowls and the coaches soon had them going well. Do tell your friends to get along too...then they'll find out why you're never home!! It is a friendly group and an ideal way to socialise as you get more confident at playing the game.

Let's hope we have some nice calm days ahead........Happy Bowling!