BOWLING CLUB

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 72, Issue 6242, 14 June 1946, Page 5

BOWLING CLUB

ANNUAL MEETING PRESIDENT’S COMPREHENSIVE REPORT 1 The annual meeting of the Te Awa-j mutu Bowling Club was held* last/ ' night. There was" a* fair attendance,l the chairmen being Mr John; ;Sierritti (retiring president) - Mr <H. C.l Rainey*.(incoming president). ' f

A' large number 'of-apologies; for unavoidable absence were received and sustained.

The president, Mr Sterritt, present-' ed the following annual report:— At the last annual general meeting held on the 9th June, 1945, I was elected president.

Bereavements: We deeply regret the passing of three valuable members, namely, Mr S. H. Dunkley, a past president and a life member, Mr B. Worthington and Mr H. Collinson, all keen lovers of the game. Time will not dim our memories of these departed friends. Opening Day: The official opening was held on the 29th September, 1945, and judging from the comments of our own players and the visitors’.it ’was a huge success. Twelve full rinks visited us from sister clubs, and 134 visitors participated. The first kitty was thrown up to strains of selected music by the Te Awamutu Municipal Orchestra after which the past president’s wife, Mrs Judd, presented Mrs Sterritt with a shoulder spray. Mr Seccombe.represented the Thames Valley Centre and Mr T. Grant the Dominion Bowling Council.

Official Visits: Our club was represented at the official openings of Putaruru, Ohaupo, Te Kuiti, Cambridge, Leamington, Glen Massey, Arapuni, Otorohanga, Hamilton East, Hamilton, Central Cambridge and Whitiora. Our representatives were myself, Messrs Macky, Thompson, Waring and Grant. Greens and Grounds: The greens have never been better, thanks to our green superintendent, Mr Jukes, and our groundsman, Mr Catley, and to all those who so ably assisted throughout the season.

Inter-club matches: Eight teams visited Otorohanga and four teams visited Pirongia. Our visit to Cambridge was cancelled on account of rain. We received visits from Cambridge and Hamilton Clubs and on each occasion we had a most enjoyable afternoon. Tournaments: During the season we had one club tourney and three open tournaments. The local tournaments were thoroughly enjoyed by our own players. The open tournaments beat all records as we had all three greens full on the first and last tournaments. The visitors were most appreciative of their day’s sport. Financially the tournaments were a huge success showing a revenue of £73, this being a record sum for the club from open tournaments.

Major Tournaments: The club was represented at the Dominion tournament held at Christchurch by Messrs Leggatt, Thompson, Grant and Preston. We were also represented at the 44th Rotorua Open Rinks Tournament by Messrs Leggatt, Douglas, Hopping and Borich who put Te Awamutu on the Dominion bowling map by winning the Rotorua Pennant for the first time in the history of this club. Our hearty congratulations go to this team for their wonderful performance. We were also represented at Cambridge by three teams, at Thames by one team, at Waikato Thames Valley Centre by one team, and last but not least at the North Island Full Rinks Tournament held at New Plymouth. Our congratulations go to this team for their particularly fine performance; 137 teams participated from all over the North Island, and Mr Borich’s team almost got into the semi-finals. Champion of Champions: Again we extend our hearty congratulations to Mr Borich for adding more laurels to our club by winning the Champion of Champions singles. We hope that in the coming seasons Mr Borich will add many more trophies to his valuable collection.

Competitions: All competitions were completed with the exception of the Handicap Pairs, the winners being:— (a) Championship Single:: Mr M. Borich.

(b) Junior Championship Singles Mr McCallum.

(c) Championship Pairs: Messrs Martin and Munro for the second year in succession.

(d) Handicap Singles: Mr T. Grant. (e) Handicap Pairs: Messrs McConkie and Moore.

Percentage Tours: The players in this competition showed more than usual interest in the score board throughout the season, the winner earning most points being Messrs Gilbert (lead), Hinton (two), Andrew (three) and Moore (skip). Our thanks are due to Mr Judd for his donation to this competition. The Sterritt Handicap Singles Challenge Button was competed for by 24 players, the last winner being Mr Chard who held it at the close of the summer season. I hope it will again be challenged for and used throughout winter play. Donations: Mrs Owen O’Brien presented the club with a very fine silver cup, to be held by the junior champion each year and will be known as the O’Brien Memorial Cup. A miniature goes with this cup to be retained by the winner. The junior champion this year was Mr McCallum. Our sincere thanks go to Mrs O'Brien for the donation of this valuable trophy in memory of our late member Owen O’Brien. Mr Judkins presented the club with a useful gift of tournament scoring cards which were very much appreciated by our secretary. We sincerely thank Mr Judkins for, his useful gift. Mr T. Harvey presented the club with an outdoor coat rack. This useful gift was much appreciated by the players, as evident by the use made of it. Our thanks are due to Mr Harvey for this useful gift. The very fine weather vane, depicting a bowler at play, erected and presented by Mr W. G. Martin, besides being ornamental, is most useful to bowlers on a windy day. We sincerely thank Mr Martin for this fine addition to the club building. I would also like to thank Mr W. Leggatt for his donation of a line reflector mirror, a very useful and necessary article to decide a fine point in keen games.

Farewell: One of the best musters of the season turned up on the 23rd March to bid farewell to two wellknown bowlers—Mr S. Dowds and Mr R. Noonan, both past presidents and members who gave of their best for the benefit of the club. A fitting presentation was made to both members

who carry with them the good, wishes of the club.

Dominion Council: Our congratulations go to Mr T. Grant on being elected as a member of the Dominion Bowling Council. He thoroughly deserves the honour conferred on him by the bowlers of New Zealand. Closing Day: The season was brought to a fitting close by a club’s tourney. At the afternoon spread we were able and proud to invite the ladies from the Croquet Club who thoroughly enjoyed themselves and lent colour to the occasion. After afternoon tea the trophies were presented, thus fittingly bringing to a close the end of a perfect bowling season. In conclusion I wish to thank our secretary, Mr Rainey, our vice-presi-dents, Messrs Thompson, G. Macky, and Waring, all members of the committee and each member of the club for their ' continual support throughout the year. Our special thanks are due to our patron and Mrs Wallace for their assistance throughout the year, to the ladies for their help at all time and to the press for reporting our activities. Personally I can say, “Fellow bowlers, I thank you all for making my years of office so easy and such a pleasant time.” Mr T. Grant moved the adoption and complimentetd the president on the fullness of the report and the ground it covered. Mr Judd second the motion which was carried. The balance sheet which disclosed a particularly healthy state of finance, was adopted, Mr Judd extending his hearty congratulations to the secretary, Mr Rainey, on the document. Election of Officers Patron, Mr A. S. Wallace; president, Mr H. C. Rainey; vice-presidents, Messrs G. Waring, W. G. Macky, Thompson; secretary-treasurer, Mr G. N. Gilbert; committee, Messrs T. Grant, D. Semple, R. C. Judd, G. Smith; auditor, Mr Burchell; match committee, Messrs Judkins, Sadd and Semple; green superintendent, Mr M. Jukes; deputy, Br Brill; delegates to South Auckland Bowling Centre, Messrs Grant, E. Hopping and Rainey; handicapper, Mr Burchell; coach, Mr M. Borich; reporter, Mr H. Judkins., General Business Mr Grant moved that on future closing days, all players including the skip play three bowls.—Carried. Mr Burchell asked that the executive set aside a day for the R.S.A. to conduct a one-day tournament on the local greens. Entries to be called for from other clubs. Mr Judd favoured the motion, and recommended that the visiting teams should bear no expense in preparing the greens.—Carried. Mr John Sterritt queried whether the date of the annual general meeting could not be advanced. It was pointed,out that owing to the club’s financial pear ending on May 31, it was not possible to arrange the annual meeting earlier, without altering the club’s constitution. Mr Grant thought that owing to the club’s financial position £lOO should be transferred to the building account.— Carried. Mr Grant moved that in future a trophy be presented to the runner-up in the Champion Singles.—Carried. Mr Sadd moved that the Percentage Fours be abandoned in favour of the ordinary draw, seconded by Mr Burchell. A close result saw the motion carried.

Mr Grant favoured, on some Saturdays, a reversal of placings in accordance with their gradings, so as players would gain valuable experience. Mr Coupland offered to make visits to the Waikato Hospital on behalf of the club should members be in-patients of that institution.

Mr Borich favoured holding three one-day club tourneys during the year, instead of half-days, but teams to be selected in their grading. He offered to donate trophies for one of these events.

Mr Borich moved that a sole selector be chosen to select the champion rinks for the coming season, with the proviso that the picked team can be challenged by an opposing team. Mr W. Douglas was appointed selector. A vote of thanks was accorded the outgoing president for his work during the past season. The meeting then closed.