A Year in the Life of Thame Bowls Club.
As your Secretary, I thought it would be a very useful and lasting exercise to record the tasks and efforts that go into making our Bowls Club function over a 12 month period from one AGM to the next in October. Hopefully I have tried to record and acknowledge the efforts of everyone who contributes to making the Club so successful and attractive to members. It is certainly a lengthy read, but I wanted to reflect the huge amount of effort and activity that needs to be generated to make the Club what it is. To recognise and if possible name all of the people who make these things happen and to celebrate the great number of successes we have during the 12 month period. I also think that sometimes we all take things for granted, happy to comment or be frustrated when some things go wrong, rather than reflecting upon the many hundreds of things that go really well!
I will start at the AGM in October 2017 – at this time of year the Green is “put to bed” when our turf specialist, Avonmore, carry out the Autumn maintenance programme, where they deep scarified, hollow core, then remove all cores and debris by power brushing. The green is then deeply slit all over and over-seeded with the specialist grass types that match our bowling requirements and are less susceptible to fungal disease and stress. The green is then top dressed to provide a new base for growth and resurfacing for the 2018 season.
Your skeleton green team then watch over the new grass as it becomes established, brushing whenever necessary in the mornings to remove excess moisture and dew which if left, encourages weeds and fungal disease such as fusarium.
From October to April we then play indoor carpet bowls on Wednesday’s and Friday’s and it is John Hurley who looks after the lion’s share of the organisation and competition elements of this indoor season. He recruits players, plans the games and teams, records the scores, calculates results and then buys and distributes the prizes on Presentation Night. Carpet bowls is great fun and full of banter, but it is always a friendly evening with the added attraction of John’s fabled meat draw each Friday. When John has been unavailable, lots of members have stepped in this year to help, Derek & Frances Goodyear, Norman Hyde, Jan Sargeant, David Holland, Richard Ramsey, Ron & Maire Duncan to name but a few. Wednesday is an informal practice night and on a Friday we play formal matches with competitive scoring! (I would urge everyone to come up and take part in the fun this Winter, there is a list on the notice board for members to sign up to compete for honours, or you can always come up for a drink, watch the bowls, have a game of cards and maybe win a joint of meat for Sunday roast).
As usual our aging clubhouse is vulnerable to the winter wind, snow and rain storms and last year we had leakages through both of the flat roofs at the back of the building. This caused damage to both the ceiling by the French windows, the now well worn carpets and the carpet bowling mat as well. But more seriously, the leakage damaged substantial parts of the ceiling, the carpet and decoration in the ladies changing room. Norman Hyde our key volunteer for premises work and maintenance liaised closely with Ken Bennell, the Treasurer of the Sports Club and the Committees to engage flat roof specialist to make repairs. As a result we eventually had the whole of one side of the buildings flat roof stripped and resealed. Norman later repaired, resealed and re-painted the ceilings in both the main room and the ladies changing rooms. Sadly all the flat roofs will remain vulnerable to any excessive weather conditions over the coming winter but we are holding off major expenditure in the hope that we are inching closer to securing the rebuild project next winter.
Come rain or shine the “sponsorship team” of Graham Watson and David Owens together with our Chairman Bill Giles, continue on the lookout for new board sponsors to boost our income. This year, through their persistence and energy, the team has managed to contract 7 new sponsors, increasing our number of sponsorship boards to an all time high of 24, which represents an overall value either by hard cash or services in kind of £3600.00 to the Club. In addition, the Rebuilding Committee negotiated a five year sponsorship deal with our solicitors, Lightfoots which provides £15,000 of income over this 5 year period. Graham Watson engaged our printer, MP-Printers to produce new signage for Lightfoots which are now displayed prominently on our two corner sites. The process was completed by Norman Hyde perched perilously on his ladder with drill and screws in hand – your green keeper hoping he didn’t fall off on top of me as I held the ladder steady. We even replaced the aging black welcome signage with a new brighter livery.
The boards do not make themselves though, of course and Graham Watson obtains suitable artwork from the sponsors then instructs the printers to produce the new signs. Graham then hands these over to John Hurley who constructs the frames in his garage and then the completed signs are positioned accordingly around the borders of our green. Graham Watson and David Owens clean and maintain the boards as does Graham Penn when the signs begin to show some wear and tear.
Over-winter and spring we carried out essential maintenance on the green surround and fixtures. Your green-keeper highlighted that there were quite a number of loose flagstones that needed replacing or re-mortaring for safety reasons. Again Norman Hyde was on hand to arrange this through one of his trusted contractors at “mate’s rates”.
The ditches soon get filled with topsoil and sand as the wind blows through over winter and Jesse Matthews, a stalwart member of the green team was on hand with brush and spade over a number of days to remove the debris and store it up for removal.
The close season is the busiest time of the year for the Fixture Secretary, a role which Graham Watson volunteered to take over this year from John Hurley, who had served splendidly for some years in the role. Graham has to liaise with the contacts from all of the 35 or so Clubs we play against, both mixed and ladies teams, then agrees dates, times, format and all other reciprocal arrangements. He then produces the bowling timetable which runs through from April to September, carefully fitting in all of the other Club competitions, league matches, County and other Guest matches, liaising closely with our printers to ensure the excellent member’s fixture handbook is accurate and available for the Membership Forum in March. Graham is at pains to point out that he could not have completed the task without the fantastic support and guidance he has received from Ian Rutherford, who helped him design and format all of the documentation for the printers and then proof read all of the documents before publishing took place. The fixture booklet is one of the most impressive in the County, containing details of all our sponsors, cost less than previous years and is a credit to Graham and Ian’s professionalism and commitment.
Over the winter period, our Vice Chairman, John Walker joined long time bar custodian Alfred Jochum in taking responsibility for managing all aspects of the Bar, liaising closely with the Catering Manager Jane Kimber, the Development Team and Club Captains. John and Alfred’s duties include weekly stock taking, orders from the brewery, weekly runs to the wholesalers and other suppliers to replenish stocks for not only the bar, but for catering, cleaning and all other basic club requirements. Over the winter, John and Alfred deep cleaned the bar and cellar areas, installing fresh equipment and throwing out many years accumulation of clutter. Room was made to accommodate a new freezer that Graham Watson purchased to facilitate improved catering arrangements. The bar has been updated with new glasses, fresh products and new ideas have been introduced to make each different event special.
Ian Rutherford then coordinated the installation of a new till to replace the ancient and misbehaving old one. The new till was paid for by a grant obtained from Thame Town Council through the informed and timely interventions of your Committee and the Sports Club. Ian researched the purchase, met with suppliers and has been the primary trainer and person who reprogram’s and updates the till. Alfred and John have worked very hard to ensure the extra capabilities the new till provides, benefit the Club’s stock control and profits, liaising closely with the Sports Club Treasurer, Ken Bennell who manages and banks the bar takings. John Walker has improved the quality and variety of products on sale through the bar and we will hope to build on this success going forward.
In early Spring it was apparent that the winter weather and general wear and tear had created the necessity for some repairs to the external plumbing and John Sear stepped up to mend some burst pipes and leakages, installing prevention mechanisms that should stop the same problems occurring this winter. We also replaced the hosepipe at the top of the green and installed two further hosepipes in other places to improve plant watering and irrigation of the green. John Sear also carried out repairs to the plumbing in the kitchen and bar area.
Graham and Doreen Penn actively assisted your green keeper in early preparations for the season as did Mrs Shannon and grandson Jacob. Weeds and grass were removed from the paths and ditches and Doreen scrubbed down all the exterior window frames and sills to remove the algae and dirt that had built up over the winter period.
With the new season approaching fast, preparing the green for bowling was a key priority for the Club. After we had been brushing the green throughout the winter, the contractors visited three times in March and April to slit, deep rake, aerate, feed, treat and then over seed the green. Your green team commences mowing two or three times a week at a level of 6mm, reducing this over the weeks to 5mm and then 4mm as the grass strengthens and the growth thickens up. We cut in the mornings around 8am after brushing the green to remove the dew and moisture which prevents a clean cut by the mower. To complete the exercise takes around 11/2 hours with two people allowing time for cleaning the mower and swishing the green to disperse any clumps of grass cuttings shed by the mower. Along with your green keeper, the mowing team are currently, Jesse Matthews, Terry Embersen, John Ashfield, Peter Gibbons and Ray Lewin and we try to ensure two people are involved every time we cut for safety reasons and to make the task social and as labour efficient as possible. Having a second pair of hands to empty the cuttings, swish the green, direct the cut , help move the ramps, the markers, the steps and help with washing the mower down makes all the difference. The final step is to then make the coffee or tea, sit and put the world to rights. It is a lonely task for one person and takes almost twice as long. We lost four of the mowing team from last season and although Roger Mackriell is joining us next year, another 3 or 4 helpers would make a huge difference to the workload of the existing team.
In addition, the surrounding grass verges and the hedges need maintaining throughout the year and this season it has been down to the Ray, Ray and Ray team. Ray Lewin and Ray Chapple have cut the verges on a weekly basis as the season progresses, an easier job for two as the benches, tables and sponsorship boards need moving back and forth, which complicates what would otherwise be a straight forward, if lengthy task. Ray Plested is the demon barber who relishes wielding the hedge trimmer and the strimmer to keep the hedges in check. Ray has cut all the hedges twice this season, which has taken him four or five days in total. Graham Penn and I helped to gather up and bag the clippings when available and with Norman Hyde’s and Janet Shannon’s assistance we took trips to the tip when the brown bins were at full capacity. Doreen and Graham Penn have helped your green team to weed the ditches and the two Rays trimmed all the grass back from the flags again half way through the season. Next year, I propose we arrange the odd mid-season working party to blitz the hedges and borders (as we have done in the past) and this will take some pressure off the only guys currently involved this year.
As usual at the end of February, the new season’s admin paperwork has to be ready for our first formal gathering of the new season in March, the Membership Forum. Everyone gets an invitation containing renewal application forms, competition entries and details of other events planned for the new season, including the Friday League plans. Graham Watson has to have the fixture books produced by then and your Chairman and Secretary will have been churning out and amending the new season’s paperwork for weeks. The Treasurer waits in glee to collect the subscriptions to swell the coffers and the development Group think up some entertainment to liven up events. As usual this year’s Forum was well attended and went well.
The Green was opened on the 11th April and we had a good turnout for the working party on the previous Saturday when we put out all the benches, chairs, tables, and refitted the ditch mats. I arranged for a skip and we had a good tidy up and got rid of lots of clutter from inside the clubhouse and behind the shed. We also cut trimmed all of the grass verges round the green back to the pavement edges. Thank you to everyone who helped with this session which we managed to complete in about an hour and a half in view of such a good turnout.
In May, we entered the second year of Sports Club 200 Club, though in essence this is a combined initiative supported by both Bowls and Tennis Club to raise funds each year towards the Rebuilding project. Conceived initially by Ian, Ken Bennell and myself last year, Ian Rutherford has driven this forward relentlessly and we now have all 200 numbers sold and we distribute good prizes each month to the lucky winners. This initiative provides us with £2400 of income each year towards the rebuilding fund and again strengthens our applications for grant funding as it provides hard evidence that we are working hard ourselves as a Sports Club to raise funds towards the rebuild.
As Spring progresses, Graham & Doreen Penn together with their grandson, Thomas Tisbury got to work on preparing the flower beds and tubs ready for planting this year’s flowers. With some help from a short stout green keeper some overgrown shrubs were removed and taken to the tip. Once the weather had improved, Graham and Doreen then visited our sponsor and regular supplier, Penn’s Nursery taking delivery of this year’s plants and compost and then went about the formidable task of planting all these out in the beds and tubs surrounding the Green. I think that everyone would agree the flower beds are a credit to the Club and greatly enhance the attraction and appeal of the Club’s setting and this regular contribution by Graham and Doreen is appreciated by all. On top of planting out all the beds and tubs, the Penn’s then also watered, weeded, fed and cultivated the plants throughout the whole of the Summer period, lots of times watering twice a day as was required by the scorching Summer. Other volunteers covering the watering during their holidays included Ray Lewin, Maire & Ron Duncan, Sharon Heafey, Janet Shannon, myself and Jacob Shannon – aged three, though he also watered his granddad whenever possible! For some years now, Gerry and Barbara Barry have carried out most of the watering and maintenance of the flower beds, but understandably took some time off this year. It would be good if we could recruit a few volunteers to help with this task next season so we could manage a rota instead of it being a daily task for the same people.
As the season progresses, catering for Club events becomes a primary issue. Our Catering Manager is Jane Kimber who over the last two seasons has used her experience and skills to ensure we maintain our reputation across the County for good quality catering at all events. Over the season, we have hosted 5 evening League matches, 4 all day County events, together with several other events that have required provision of food throughout most of the day. Jane’s regular team of helpers, Jill Brooks, Jenny Lowe, Janet Shannon and Maire Duncan have supported, but many others have turned out as well to help on occasions. Marion Keal, Caroline Walker, Maxine Plested, Susan Dadson and Sharon Heafey, to name a few are some of the members who helped and I am sure there are others I have overlooked. Lots of our male members have stepped up as well to assist with the washing up. Jane’s team have also deep cleaned the kitchen and we have up dated the pots and pans to make best use of the new cooker. Over the year, Club Catering contributes approximately £1400 to club funding and we thank Jane and all of her support for making this such a successful aspect of the Club.
The Club Matches commence from early April and fall into several categories and formats:-
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There are of course Ladies, Mid-Week and Weekend Friendly Matches of which we play over 55 in total. The Captains, Jill Brooks, Gordon Taylor, Les Canfield and John Walker, aided by their respective vice captains and regular stand-ins have to prepare selection sheets for the notice board, pick the teams, then communicate to those selected, often having to chivvy up and phone round to make up the numbers. On the day of the match they organise transport then make out the cards liaising with their opposing Captains, collect the rink fees and finally stand up and deliver the closing address and thanks to all. In between – they can have a game of bowls! Barbara Waters and Terry Emberson have been frequent deputies and our all our thanks to our Captains and deputies for their sterling efforts all season.
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We play in Division Three of the Oxford & District Men’s League on most Thursdays during the summer, where 16 male bowlers play home and away against six other Clubs around the County. We are always looking for new bowlers to put their names down to play in this format as it helps bowlers to improve their skills and competitive experience. Many thanks to Les Canfield, our Men’s Captain last year, and his selection committee of Ron Duncan, George Andrews, Graham Penn and Robin Jenner.
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The Friday League Competition takes place most Fridays commencing June and this competition provides an opportunity for at least 72 members to participate in the six 10 end triples matches we play each week. Everyone thoroughly enjoys this competition which gives our new bowlers an ideal opportunity to learn the fundamentals of playing in friendly competitive matches. Our Chairman, Bill Giles is the main powerhouse behind organising this competition every year with Maire and Ron Duncan organising us all on the day – many thanks to you three. Fridays are famous for bacon and sausage buns for which we must thank all the numerous volunteers who have taken their turns in the kitchen throughout the season (you know who you are). We must also thank Richard Ramsay, Norman Hyde and others for strong-arming us to fill all the numbers on the weekly money draw. The Friday League contributes over £1500 of funds towards Club funding, so we can thank everyone who participates for their part in making this such a success.
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Throughout the season another key element of bowls play are the Club Competitions which are open to all members wishing to experience in and benefit from individual or pairs play competition. This year Robin Jenner stepped in at late notice to organise and run these competitions which climaxed with 12 competition finals being played at the Club early September. We thank Robin for the excellent work he carried out this year in the role and acknowledge the support he received from his wife Jill Jenner together with some technical support from Ian Rutherford and your Secretary. To round off these competitions, Robin, Jill, John Hurley, and a host of others then organised a very successful presentation evening where we celebrated the victorious bowlers who had played their way onto the honours board for this year.
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To round things off, there are a number of additional Club Cups and Competition’s that are played for throughout the season. These cover the ladies, men’s and mixed sections and we thank Robin Jenner and Maxine Plested together with some help from your Secretary and others in organising and running these on the day.
On a connected front, like everything else in the Club the honours board does not update itself each year. For some time now after the finals each year, Graham and Doreen Penn commission the required lettering from a specialist company and then spend a couple of hours meticulously applying these transfers to the honours boards within weeks of the finals being played. We thank you Graham and Doreen for another of these seamless tasks that keep the Club on track.
In June, after much deliberation, we decided to invest in a commercial Dishwasher for the kitchen. Ian Rutherford sourced this through the same supplier as the new till and again the Sports Club Committee Chairman, Peter Bozier applied for a grant from the Town Council that covered 50% of the cost of this machine. Both the new dishwasher and glass washer in the bar require commercial water softener units attached to operate effectively. These units require recharging with salt and rinsing through at least once a month, a task which is carried out by your Secretary or Ian Rutherford.
Throughout the year we have held various events to entertain the members and raise funds for the Club or the Charities we work with each year:-
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Timmsy’s Bingo – this traditional Christmas event was held in December and was thoroughly enjoyed by all those attending. Thank you to John & Ruth Timms, together with Doreen and other helpers who made this a successful fund raising event.
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John Hurley’s Race Night – a traditional annual event held in November which spurns the sordid use of modern technology and has us all rolling dice, wearing jockey’s caps and cheering on your wagered metal horse as its jockey proceeds to negotiate it along the battered wooden race track and hurdles. Thank you to John Hurley for his invention and to Derek Goodyear, Chris & Janet Shannon, who took the bets, ran the tote, distributed winnings and managed the wagers on the night. The event was reasonably well attended and raised some useful funds for the Club – but it is great fun and we would welcome more attending this year please!
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The New Pre-Season Dinner and Secret Auction – this was held at the end of March and was organised by the Development group consisting of Graham Watson, Mike Ralls, Ian Rutherford, David Owens and Phil Reed, who together with the some of their wives, Irena, Sue and Sandra who could make it on the night did most of the cooking and serving so that the attendees could all enjoy their three course meal. The auction prizes that had been accumulated by the developments team’s cold calling and visits were excellent as were the many raffle prizes donated by members. All in the entire event raised a profit of over £1145 for Bowls Club funds.
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Community Stall in the Tuesday Market – we hired the Community stall in the market in April to recruit new members and invite people to come along to one of our three open days in April and May.
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Sport in the Street – we had a stall at the Sport in the Street event held on a Friday in June – again to raise our profile in the community and to attract new members.
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The Day Trip to Cheltenham – in June the Club hired a coach and had our traditional away day excursion and bowls match. This year we went to Cheltenham and 36 members and 5 visitors enjoyed the delights of the town before taking part in a 12 rink triples match against a local club. We must thank Ron and Maire Duncan for planning, organising and championing this event which is a great day out enjoyed by all who attend. Next year we plan to play against a club at Gloucester Docks which will provide us with easy access to the adjacent Retail Shopping Outlet Park as well. This should give members additional things to see and do as part of the day’s excursion and we would urge as many members as possible to come along to ensure we can put out sufficient teams to compete on the day.
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Evenings to host visits from the Local Scouts and Thame Round Table – on two Tuesdays in mid-summer through liaison with the Development team we hosted visits from the local Thame Scout Group, followed some weeks later by a visit from the local Round Table members. Both wanted to try their hand at bowling, though the Round Table members spent as much time in the bar as on the green. On both occasions members volunteered to help chaperone and guide our visitors and specific thanks goes out to, Roger Mackriell, Susan Dadson, Jonathon Dadson, Janet Shannon, Bill Giles and some others I have no doubt forgotten, but thank anyway as you know who you are. Events of this type help build our profile within the local community, which not only helps with recruitment, but is also one of the aspects that continues to help us attract funding for the rebuilding project.
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The Sponsors Evening held in Conjunction with the annual Ladies V Gents Club match in August – this was another very successful evening organised by the development group together with other key helpers. Food was organised and prepared by the development group and the very enjoyable event was attended by over 75 members, guests and sponsors.
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Presidents Day – In August we held the traditional Presidents Day Competition and dinner and once again Les Canfield did us all proud with a very enjoyable days bowls followed by an excellent meal and copious amounts of wine to wash down the dinner. Les’s family, lead by our former Chairman, Russell handled the majority of the preparation, cooking and serving – not least Les who cooked umpteen fruit pies and peeled hundreds of new potatoes (he hates the skins apparently!). Thank you Les and the family for an excellent day enjoyed by the large number of members and guests who attended.
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An Invitation Match for the Town Hall staff - In September we hosted the Town Hall staff who visited us for a team building and staff fun day. 16 staff from the Town Hall accompanied the Town Clerk, Graham Hunt and we mixed them up with 16 members to play a four rink match. This event cements our relationship with the Town Council, who are key supporters of our rebuilding project. They provided the cream tea everyone enjoyed after the match and the bar was kept very busy as everyone worked hard to drink their way through the generous kitty provided by the visiting management. Graham Watson handled the liaison for this event and Barbara Waters, Ken Calcutt, Les Canfield and some other senior members invested time to provide coaching to some of the staff in the previous week. John Walker rallied his bar team to support the post match celebrations which were prolonged.
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The Blind Bowling Charity Event – held in September this year, this has become a regular event in our calendar and once again we worked in conjunction with the Thame Lions to host this charity event, which attracts blind and partially sighted bowlers from all over the South of England. 24 bowlers visited the Club to compete in an all day tournament. Ann Midwinter the Thame Mayor attended on the day to open the event and then present the trophies. By way of preparation our two partially sighted bowlers, Mary Pitman and Bob Gerhardt and club coach, Keith Wright had run workshops over previous weeks to train members on the techniques required to provide competitors with the information they needed to compete at this level. On the day a large number of members and family turned out to help Keith, Bob and Mary make the bowling possible and to help with the catering and organisation of this well attended event. Funds raised on the day, including bar profits were donated to the UK Blind Veterans and Calibre, the company that distributes books and videos for the Blind. Specifically, our thanks go out to, Richard Ramsey, Norman Hyde, Roger Blackburn, Rosemary Fletcher, Ray Lewin, John Sear, Susan & Andy Dadson, Roger Mackriell, Michael Zakaszewski, Gordon Taylor, Mike Ralls, Brad & Christine Liddle, Ken Bennell, Bill Giles, Chris Shannon, Les Canfield, John Walker, Jane Kimber, Jenny Lowe, Jill Brooks, Barbara Waters, Barbara Lewin, Maureen Giles and Sandy Webb. If I have forgotten anybody, please forgive me, but thanks to all who helped this event be so successful.
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New Bowlers Evenings each Tuesday – throughout most of the season the development team have supported our new bowlers and extended an open invitation to anyone who has approached the Club to find out what bowls was all about. This has greatly improved our capacity to integrate new bowlers and their partners into the Club, making everyone feel welcome and comfortable to progress at their own pace and time. 26 new members have joined us this year and the feedback on our approach and hospitality has been extremely positive.
A highlight of the Tuesday events was the competition we staged over a three week period for the new bowlers, when they competed for the Paul Heafey Memorial Cup. No less than 16 new bowlers took part in this competition and I am confident that Paul would have been very proud of the steps we are taking to recruit and develop our new bowlers as a Club.
Lessons have been learnt from this year’s experience and one of the actions the Development Group has initiated is to arrange for six new coaches to commence training courses during October and November this year. This will give us more capacity to develop our new bowlers next year as well as increasing our ability to help anyone in the Club should they wish to seek support on any aspect of their game.
The development team involved this year in these Tuesday initiatives has been, Graham Watson, Mike Ralls, David Owens, and Ian Rutherford with fantastic support from Keith Wright on the coaching front. Others supporting these Evenings were Janet Shannon, Ray Lewin, Bill Giles and a number of other members who have been on hand to help steer things along.
I must also mention the daily/weekly/monthly activities that go on throughout the year to keep the Bowls Club functioning and successful. In business circles, these are known as boring but critical tasks that we all take for granted, but are essential to keeping any organisation functioning on track – all these tasks require volunteers to ensure they happen:-
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The Cleaning – the Bowls Club provides a team of volunteers to clean the Clubhouse and we receive funds from the Tennis Club to complete this task. In recent years the number of volunteers has declined, which means others have to turn out more often. Richard & Maxine Plested , Keith Rouse and John Hurley have been on the rota this year but have had to drop out for various reasons and the current team are, Ron & Maire Duncan, John & Pat Wills, John & Ann Ashfield, Marion Keal, Jill Brooks & Jane Kimber, Ray Plested, Mike Ralls, Bill & Maureen Giles, Barbara Waters, Terry & Jackie Emberson. More volunteers would be gratefully appreciated as this activity generates £1500 for the Bowls Club.
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The Bar – The bar would not function without the team who man it on a regular basis. The current team are Bill Giles, Terry Emberson, Alfred Jochum, John Hurley, Russell Canfield, Steve Silver, David Holland, Janet Shannon, Ian Rutherford, John Walker, John Sear, and on occasion Sharon Heafey and the regular go to stand in Chris Shannon. The Bar generates over £3500 of income for the Bowls Club so thanks from us all to John Walker and his team.
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Club House and site maintenance – Norman Hyde looks after all of the routine maintenance that requires doing around the Club. If Norman can’t do it – he knows someone who can.
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Looking after the Hirers – hiring the Club House not only generates income for both Clubs, but it also provides evidence supporting our application for grant funding. Ken Bennell one of our members on the Sports Club Committee looks after the needs of all our current hirers. Ken is also the Sports Club treasurer and looks after all of the finances and banking associated with the building.
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The Sports Club Committee Meetings – these take place around eight times a year and our representatives are Ian Rutherford and Bill Giles. Our representatives ensure the needs of the Bowls Club are given priority and attention.
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The Rebuilding Committee Meetings – these meetings usually follow on from the regular Sports Club meetings and Bill and Ian are joined by Chris Shannon, Peter Gibbons and now David Hickman as we approach a critical stage in the decision making and planning process. It must be mentioned that Pete Bozier, the Chairman of Sport Club and Tennis member has worked tirelessly over the last 18 months or more to drive the rebuilding project on and get us as close as we now are to achieving our goal.–
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The Website – Ian Rutherford has revitalised the Club’s website which had not been updated for 12 months. The website has been regularly up dated with articles and news of interest, including Mike Ralls’s weekly match reports. Ian and Irena Watson have taken regular photos to update the Gallery. The members section of the website also has the up-to-date contact details for all of the Club members, unless they have asked for these to be withheld. Ian has also ensured that links between the bowls and Sports Club website exist – he has also been instrumental in developing the Sports Club website as well.
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The Clubs Finance’s – For Fourteen years now, our Treasurer Keith Wright has taken care of the banking, bills, expenses, cheque issue, payments to suppliers and balanced the books for the Bowls Club. It is frightening to think how many bundles of cash he has processed over this time for rink fees, raffles, matches, shirts and whatever. He dutifully produces the accounts each year for the AGM, but this year will be his swan song as he passes the baton over to Ian Rutherford, providing you vote for this at the AGM of course. I know you will all join me in thanking Keith and of course the power behind the throne Beryl for the fantastic job done over the last 14 years!
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Communications – This year we have vastly improved the quality and content of information available via the club website. Mike Ralls has submitted a weekly report to be published in the Thame Gazette. Work is ongoing to further develop this and it is envisaged that the role of responsibility for the web pages will eventually pass to another development team member, Phil Reed.
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Bowls Club Committee Meetings – your committee meets at least 6 times a year to discuss all of the current issues regarding the Bowls Club. Minutes are produced and placed in the green folder in the Club for all to see.
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And finally back to the AGM – the story turns full circle as we return to the AGM, which all your officials work hard to produce the reports you will hear on the night.
I am sure I have missed out some important activities from this 12 month story, but I hope it sums up the immense amount of effort and work that goes into running this wonderful Club of ours!
If this has been a story, your Chairman and Secretary are probably the co-writers and Directors of the Drama. Bill and I are involved in some of the activities detailed above on most days, if not doing – then pulling the strings or nudging here and there to make sure everything is being planned and delivered on time as required. We like to moan, but we love it really.
In conclusion, I hope I have firstly managed to explain how much effort and activity is needed to keep the enterprise that is Bowls Club functioning as we all enjoy. Just as importantly I hope I have managed to mention everyone by name who contributes the energy and lubrication that makes this enterprise or “machine” working. If I have missed anybody out, I am very sorry – please tell me so I can add your name to the list. If you do not yet figure in the story but would like to, we need more members to contribute whenever they can to keep the machine working and upgrade for better performance in 2019.
Thank you all for reading this far if you have made it.
Chris Shannon
Hon Secretary TBC.
24 contestants from bowls clubs around the area, all with varying degrees of sight impairment, took part. 
