Hunter Charity Barefoot Bowls
29 June 2016 / Article: Josh Fitzgerald Photos: Phil Mayo
2016 was rolling on and we had yet to make a decision on what to do for the Hunter Chapters charity event. It needed to be something fun and social, something everyone could participate in. On a club run when discussing with the group, a new member suggested “why not barefoot bowls”? Eyes lit up and light bulbs started flashing, what a great idea!
Even better, it turns out Elaine is on the committee at the local bowling club and so set about preparing a fun filled day for our members.
The question was asked, should we do a run to the bowling club? Being a car club the response was a resounding 'yes'!
So on 26th June, members met at our usual spot at the Beresfield Hungry Jacks car park for a leisurely run lead by David and Elaine over Mount Sugarloaf and looping back around to Boolaroo Bowling Club via the Oak Milk Bar at Freemans Waterhole.
On arrival at the club, food was served, raffle tickets sold and with beers in hand we headed out onto the green to get into the action.
With a cold snap bringing freezing temperatures and gale force winds across the state, forcing other chapter runs to be cancelled due to snow and frost, the barefoot bowls looked like it was going to turn into Uggboot bowls! Thankfully on the day, the sun was shining and while still freshness to the air, it was definitely warm enough for the shoes to come off for a few members.
Elaine started us off with a ‘spider’. Two targets placed at the end of the green and prizes for the closest two bowls. Doesn’t sound too hard, except everyone had to bowl at the same time! With this being the first time the vast majority of members had rolled a bowl, it was no surprise to see almost every bowl end up in the gutter way past the targets. After the remaining bowls still on the green were identified and winners announced, on we moved to the main event.
Lindsay worked tirelessly running the sweep, dividing people up into groups across 6 rinks and recording the scores after each end. Two ends were played and everyone was switched up again to mix the members up. After a few rounds, competitiveness was ramping up with the tape measure coming out on more than one occasion.
Game on!
After multiple rounds, the game was called and Jen ran a coin toss while Lindsay tallied the scores. Well the coin toss was as competitive as the bowling with the tape measure coming out again!
We headed inside where the raffle was drawn with multiple prizes on offer. Then attention turned to who was the overall winner of barefoot bowls. A congratulations to Bruce Bettinson, a deserving winner in a very tight points tally.
A very big thank you and congratulations to Elaine Gazzard for organising such a fun filled day, with $511 raised for the MX-5 Club of NSW’s charity “Careflight”. Barefoot bowls will definitely be on the calendar again!
Oh and just in case you were wondering, thankfully no one tried to roll a “Flipper” and yes, the beers were at genuine 1976 prices.
More of Phil's photos: HERE
More of Josh's photos: HERE
