JUNE 2025
Newsletter to all members
I am sure that we are enjoying the current bowling season. At the half way stage all our teams in the NF and S&D leagues are well placed for glory.
Memorial Bench The families of some of our former members who are remembered with a plaque on the memorial bench enjoyed afternoon tea on Saturday 7th June. Many of you will remember Bill Waight. His widow, Brenda, sent the following email:“It was so nice to meet you last Saturday. I’d like to say a very big thank you from the Waight family for such a lovely afternoon. Please tell the committee how much we appreciated their hard work for this occasion. The cream tea was absolutely great as was the table service they provided. We were all very moved to see the memorial bench with members names and felt very honoured to see Bill’s name there. We were most impressed with the entire building. Although I’ve been in it on numerous occasions it was the first time for the family. Everything looked pristine. I know Bill was very proud to be a member of the bowls club.” See the website for some photos. Several members deserve our thanks here – Les Maffey for his excellent idea, Chris Fripp for organising the plaques, Jean Aplin and Jan Puttock for their generous donations and Mike Griggs for his precision screwdriving.
New outdoor carpet Yes, we will be having a new carpet! When? Not sure, yet. Your committee has met with staff from the Town Council and we are about to submit all the relevant information for them to make a bid for a grant from the Community Infrastructure Levy held by NFDC. How much money we are awarded depends on the outcome of their deliberations which may not be until later this year which then determines what further conversations we may need with the Town Council. Hopefully, if all goes well, we will have a new carpet laid in time for the 2026 season.
VE 80 Day Party Thank you to all those involved for making this such an enjoyable event – especially to Bob Masters and his helpers for the splendid clubroom decorations (it was more than just sticking a few pins in the walls and ceiling to hold up bunting!), to those of you who loaned some amazing memorabilia, to Barbara, Jill and Carol for a lot of hard work to provide an excellent afternoon tea and finally to Joyce whose idea it all was. I apologise if I have failed to mention anyone else. There are some photos on the website of a superbly decorated clubroom.
The Spring Plant Sale on Saturday 10th May was both enjoyable and successful. Much hard work was put in by many people, not least Jill Holgate who was the brains behind the event. Over £1150 was raised to be split between Club funds and this year’s charity, Testwood Lakes Sailability.
Cycle Stand At last the concrete cycle stand has been built. The Town Council financed it, including the two stands, for which we are very grateful.
Bowls’ Big Weekend on Saturday 24th May saw a few visitors to the Club, but was generally a disappointment, in spite of plenty of local publicity. We’ll think about whether or not it’s worth doing in the future, but thank you to those of you who helped on the day – you did your best.
The Eight Cup Event and afternoon tea on Friday 27th June should see good weather. Mia Male from Eight, who are our sponsors for this event, is grateful for your support, and I’m sure that it will be an enjoyable afternoon.
President’s Day is on Saturday 9th August. I hope that as many of you who can will join together for a fun day of bowling and maybe a quiz to exercise the little grey cells. We’ll have a BBQ and I’ll bring my chocolate fountain if I can get it to work. Details to follow next month. Family and friends welcome, as always.
Thank you to those who organised Ladies’ Invitation Day on Friday 6th June. Bryan Kirton and Carol White were the winners of the Greta Two Woods Pairs Trophy which was played with three woods. Don’t forget Ladies Ruby Day is on Tuesday 8th July.
Mandy is hoping to organise some defibrillator training from South Central Ambulance Service. We’ll let you know when this will be.
Sponsorship – Eight will sponsor some new leather embossed scorecard holders. Leightons have offered sponsorship for new scoreboards but we don’t yet know how much they will offer.
We need a new Club Secretary to take over from Rosemary who announced several months ago her intention to resign after five years. This is an essential post as without a Secretary the Club cannot function. It can be done by a man or a woman or indeed by two members, one taking responsibility for correspondence and communications (mostly by email today) and the other for the agenda and minutes of meetings. Rosemary will explain what is involved for any member who may be interested. Please consider this matter seriously.
… and finally … NFBA Vice President 2026 In accordance with the NFBA constitution, a new VP is appointed at the AGM in November each year for the following year. He then becomes President in the year after that. It is Totton & Eling’s turn for 2026 and we will soon be invited to submit a nomination. Please read the statement that I have posted on the noticeboard.
With thanks, as always, for your support.
Steven Brice,
President, on behalf of the GPC
