This Saturday will be a tournament day at BLBC. Bowlers from the Leisure Town LBC will visit Berkeley for an all day contest.

On Thursday, 6-16, we will be starting our summer work/bowl/pizza night. If you can come for all or just some of the event, please do. At 3 p.m., there will be a work party to clean the ditches, tidy up, trim ivy, etc. At 5 p.m., the bowling begins. Then, at around 7 the pizza arrives and we eat! ($5 donation for the pizza, please).

We had a great time tonight. The draw game started at 5 and ran until about 6:30. After that, we fired up the Barbee and had a potluck dinner. It wasn’t a large turnout, but it proves it can be done.

It was a cold and stormy morning, but the bowling went on as planned last Saturday. With five teams, we planned four 8-end games with each team receiving one bye during the day. The winning team – Nikki Schrager, Gary Knox, and Jason Chien – didn’t have to play the final game because it wasn’t possible for them to lose. Therefore, the last game was cancelled and we all went inside to warm up.

What if you threw a party and then someone with a birthday showed up? Well, it happened last Saturday. Erwin Vista (Mr. Vista to his friends and students) was celebrating his birthday and invited a bunch of his friends. We had coaches, put every single set of loaner bowls into use, enjoyed the fresh, homemade cookies provided by Gary Knox and just plain had an enjoyable day. We even managed to squeeze in a triples game that came down to the last end to decide the winner.

One guest enjoys curling on the ice in Oakland…check out our “curling without the ice” video elsewhere on this site.

Forty-two bowlers from around the bay area converged on the Berkeley green on Saturday, April 9, for the annual Berkeley Jamboree. This event, organized and hosted by Howard and Barbara Mackey is an early-season tradition in the PIMD. The format is simple – yet complicated. Each bowler bowls three games with randomly drawn teammates. Using a time-tested formula, the tournament director tallies points for the day. Fifteen of the 42 bowlers received cash prizes.

This year, Lennon Hamilton (BLBC) was bowling lead and accumulated the most points. Ellie Lewis of the San Francisco LBC was also bowling lead and came in second. Lennon and Ellie pose in the winner’s circle in the first photo.

The assembled bowlers are shown in the second photo. Howard Mackey, Tournament Director and master tally keeper is shown at work in the third photo.

The Bay Area Senior Games was held recently with the lawn bowling competition hosted by the Palo Alto LBC. Berkeley’s Jim Corr paired with Nikki Schrager (a dual member of the Berkeley club) and were awarded the bronze medal in pairs. Congratulations!

The weather had the upper hand this year and forced the cancellation of the 2011 opening day event. Over 130 bowlers were signed up from clubs all over the Greater Bay Area. Many of those bowlers will be on hand for the Bay Area Senior Games planned for March 28 at the Palo Alto club. Let the games begin!

Since the February birthday event was so successful, we’re going to try it again in March. On Sunday, March 27, we’ll have a hosted lunch followed by a game of bowls. The game will be a “draw game”.

These draw games are tons of fun. Don’t get me wrong, there’s stiff competition, but newcomers are welcome – no, they’re encouraged to come. What better way to improve your game while you’re having fun?

Lunch at noon, bowling after.

(Donations for lunch are encouraged.)