Another update for you on the Thame Sports Clubhouse development and Thame Bowls Club, seemingly so soon after the last one!
Clubhouse Rebuild
The clubhouse project is close to the finish line but frustratingly a couple of things are preventing a full handover back to the Sports Club and the issue of a completion certificate from Building Control.
As mentioned last time, difficulties in obtaining building materials have now been overcome; the key issue now is completion of the work, the main one being the laying of paving slabs around three sides of the new building. This job is nearing completion and our fingers are tightly crossed for the coming week.
We are also waiting for a couple of small jobs to be completed, the main one being some paint work. Window blinds are on order from TillyNilly in North Street, but they won’t be fitted until all paint work has been done.
Since the last note, a small but perfectly formed team brought back everything from the container site over 2 days - thanks to Keith Brooks, Geoff Roynon, Ray Lewin, Barry Green, Colin Feltham, Chris Shannon and Ian Rutherford for undertaking this task. The cooker, dishwasher and so on are now in place and the kitchen and bar items that were in storage are now in the shed waiting for final works to be completed so we can put them in the clubhouse.
Also, when we are given clearance to move everything in, we can get the tables, chairs and various other bits and pieces back from the Town Council store.
After that the next important step is to get the toilets available for use by both tennis and bowls members. There are no immediate plans to hire out the clubhouse, but discussions will continue as to when and how we use the club during the autumn and winter.
On the Green
Quite a few members have enjoyed being back on the green since it opened at the end of July. The weekday 11:30-1:00 slot continues to be the most popular by far and we are delighted that the Rink Booking system is working extremely well.
The sanitisation processes are straightforward and feedback suggests are well understood and appreciated, certainly all reports are favourable. A note of appreciation goes to John Walker, Jane Kimber, Gordon Taylor, Sharon Heafey, Adrian Wilcox and Maire and Ron Duncan for helping Chris and Ian with some of the morning set up / evening close down arrangements.
Avonmore came to do their regular maintenance on Thursday 27th and confirm the green is in good nick. Again, many thanks go to Jesse Matthews, John Ashfield, Barry Green, Ray Lewin, Terry Emberson and Mike Sawyer for helping Chris and Janet with the mowing and maintenance tasks.
Mixed Pairs Competition
It has taken some time to arrange, but following responses to Adrian Wilcox’s message, a Mixed Pairs Competition has been put together to round the season off with a little bit of extra fun for those who wanted to enter. Unfortunately not everyone who put their name forward could be accommodated but they’ve been included as reserves should there be a need for stand-ins. We have two leagues of five teams, so four games to be played, then a final between the top two league winners. Each game will be 10 ends, three bowls each player. Teams agree their best time to play, so that is why you will see a new option on the Rink Diary. Everyone involved in this competition has received an email with full details of how it will work. We will keep everyone informed of results via the website.
Club Finance
August has been another month when more money has gone out than has come in, despite some more sponsor money arriving to help out! As ever we appreciate sponsor support and thanks to Graham Watson for working with them and getting the money in. Our sponsors have their signage on our website, in our fixture card and of course have their boards around the green – please support them as they support us and better still, mention the Club when you buy from them.
In conclusion
It’s been a long haul. It was 7th August last year when we started ‘Project Clubhouse Clear Out’ and the 31st August when we moved the last of the clubhouse contents out of the building to the container site. As we said in last month’s note, Covid has been a considerable impact on the project and our playing season (not to mention our lives).
But the green is in good condition, and being well used, and so far as we know, everyone is ok.
As before, any one of your Committee is very happy to discuss your concerns or answer any questions not addressed by this latest note to all bowls club members.
We hope you all remain safe and well and, as always, we are very grateful for your support and understanding in these difficult times.
Bill Giles OBE Chairman Thame Bowls Club and the Bowls Club Committee
