Dear All
A slightly delayed update this time to enable us to include more news.
Clubhouse Rebuild
The best piece of news is that in the past few days Thame Sports Club has received the SODC Planning Control Certificate of Practical Completion, formally signing the building off as finished!
Last week the window blinds were fitted in the clubroom on windows and patio doors overlooking the bowls green and the newly laid tennis courts, in the small bar area by the main door and in the kitchen. TillyNilly in North Street have been our suppliers. We are continuing to add to the various fixtures and fittings required to make us feel at home in our new surroundings, but the building work is now complete and fully functional.
Jane Kimber and John Walker and their respective helpers (Jenny, Maire, Jill, Janet, Alfred and Ron) have machine washed and put away all of the kitchen and bar ware. Norman Hyde, together with his apprentice labouring team of Barry, Ian and Chris have been beavering away to install shelving and other sophistications to personalise the new shed storage areas and ensure they are bowler friendly for next year’s activities.
Then on 15th the Thame Town Council will be bringing back the tables, chairs and other bits and pieces they’ve been kind enough to store for us this past 13½ months.
As you know, the ladies and gents toilets by the main door have been open for players’ use for a couple of weeks. Until now the main door has been wedged open but from now on we are to use the number pad on the door to obtain access. That code will be 22345.
This code will get you into the entry lobby and ladies and gents toilets. Other parts of the building are covered by an intruder alarm. When the alarm is off we can get into the remainder of the building using the keypads on the doors in the lobby. During the bowls season the alarm will be off during the day but during this winter, because of Covid protocol, it will be armed unless someone is present in the building from tennis or bowls for a specific purpose.
If any club member has yet to see the inside of the new clubhouse and would like to, please let Ian or Chris know and one of them will make the necessary arrangements with you.
On the Green
We have been very pleased indeed with how many club members have used the green this summer. A totting up of the number of members both old and new who have booked a rink has truly exceeded our expectations at 74 and we’ve had another 5 guests playing too!
And some of those 74 have been back many times over. We think the ladies Jill Brooks, Marion Keal, new members Heather Hallchurch and Deirdre Page may be the ones who have used the green most, although Geoff Roynan and Keith Brooks might justifiably want to claim the title. We sincerely hope Heather and Deirdre felt most welcome and that they’ve enjoyed themselves at Thame Bowls Club.
Of course we had the Mixed Pairs Competition during September with Paul Costin and Gini Williams winning the Red League and Ade Kemish and Terri Blackburn winning the Blue League. The final was due to be played at the weekend just gone when we had extreme wet weather and diaries and illness has made it impossible to subsequently fit the final in, so it will now be played next year.
Again we wish to record appreciation to John Walker, Jane Kimber, Gordon, Sharon Heafey, Adrian Wilcox and Maire and Ron for helping Chris and Ian with some of the daily morning set up and evening close down sanitisation procedures.
Many thanks also go again to Jesse Matthews, Barry Green, Ray Lewin, Terry Emberson, John Ashfield and Mike Sawyer for helping Chris and Janet with the mowing and maintenance tasks throughout this most unusual season.
Avonmore are due next week to perform the Autumn Maintenance and effectively put the green to bed for the winter.
That being the case the green will close for play on Sunday 11th. Sunday's weather looks dry and sunny so make the most of it!
AGM
The AGM was originally set for 2nd November as noted in the Fixture card, but at a Video Committee Meeting on Tuesday 6th it was resolved to delay this until late November. Clearly we won’t be able to hold the AGM as we usually do, but we will write to all members shortly to advise how this will be organised this year and how we propose to enable everyone to raise proposals and contribute to the decision making.
In conclusion
As we said above, we are delighted such a significant number of our members safely played bowls this summer on our green. The green has played extremely well and all credit has to go to Chris and the Green Team for making that a reality. And the Mixed Pairs Competition has attracted a lot of interest and most, if not all participants enjoyed the ‘edge’ and adrenalin of a friendly but competitive game.
The Clubhouse as a building is now formally finished. A lot of work now has to be done to enable us to use it during the winter as and when Government Guidelines allow. Announcements will be made as soon as the necessary arrangements and permissions have been obtained, including the necessary Safe Bowls status to allow short mat to be ‘officially’ played in the clubhouse.
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
