“Backroom Girls” Of Bowling Tournament

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28482, 11 January 1958, Page 2

“Backroom Girls” Of Bowling Tournament

“The backroom girls’* at the St Albans Bowling Club are doing a big job. It begins soon after they rise in the morning, when they heat up the oven for a big batch of scones, and ends about 5 p.m when the last of’ the afternoon tea cups has been put away for the next day. These are the women who do the catering for the competitors in the Dominion bowling tournament, playing on the St. Albans greens and for visitors who come to watch. The Menn A team of four, all members of the women’s section of the club, do duty in the morning and another group takes over in the afternoon. They serve morning tea of home-made scones, biscuits and cheese; for lunch, it is ham, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, bread, butter and cheese. In the afternoon come the sandwiches

and cakes. Every morning from Monday to Saturday two women on the duty roster arrive with hot scones, which they have made before breakfast. Immediately after morning tea lunch is prepared and sandwiches are cut early in the afternoon.

Thousands of cups of tea have been poured upstairs in the pavilion since the tournament started on December 30. The score of sandwiches cut would not be far behind the* number of scones buttered, which if counted, would probably add up to something the total eaten by a family of six hungry children in three months.

About 5 pjxl the women leave the bowling green to return- to their home catering. “Fish and chips? Never. My

husband needs a good meal after a days*' play and I cook it for him,” said Mrs H. Harper. president of the women’s section oi the club.

His bowling clothes must also be kept freshly laundered. Household chores cannot be ignored. One of a Team When it comes to tournament time. Mrs Harper says she is “just one. of the workers in the gang,-* headed by Mrs V. Barker, convener of the women’s social committee. with Mr R. Leith in charge of catering. Players pay for the lunches served and the New Zealand Bowling Association meets the cost of morning and afternoon teas. Scones, however, are the gift of the cooks. If' a man prefers to bring his own lunch from home he is given a cup of tea to go with it “It has been fun and we’ve enjoyed doing it” Mrs Harper said. “Our ‘backroom girls’ have worked as a wonderful team and we will be quite ready to do it all over again when the Dominion tournament comes back to Christchurch in four years’ time.” Women have undertaken similai tasks at the other suburban bowling greens with the same team spirit Only headquarters, the United Club, has had the services .of professional caterers. At this big club the task would have been beyond a band of volunteers.