Saturday morning was really busy! We had several guests who were giving the sport a try. Club members were also taking advantage of the fantastic, warm day to stretch those muscles and have a little fun.

Too bad you weren’t there to join the fun.

The memorial service for Keith Brooks will be held at the St. Matthew Lutheran Church at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 22, 2011. The church is at 399 Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek, CA 94598. BLBC members are encouraged to attend.

Phone (925) 932-1955.

Wishing everyone the chance to learn more about lawn bowling in 2011.

It is with great sorrow that we report the recent death of long-time BLBC member and friend Keith Brooks. Keith died in a house fire on December 27, 2010. Investigators believe that the fire was started by an electric blanket.

Keith joined BLBC in 1991 and has served the club in countless ways. He was club president in 1999 and 2000. He also served on the Board of Directors for the club’s Memorial and Endowment fund.

Keith was active in the club and participated in many tournaments. He opened each of the club’s monthly birthday celebrations with a series of jokes that he delivered with his dry, witty style. Some were so bad that they were good.

Keith was a WWII veteran who saw service in both the European and Pacific theaters. Keith served as the webmaster for his army unit – the 86th Infantry Division.

The members of the club share his family’s sorrow and join in the celebration of his life.

Henry van Dyke once said, “Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.”
Keith lived! We shall miss him.

Representatives from the bay area clubs who make up the PIMD will meet at the Berkeley clubhouse on Saturday, the 8th of January to start the process of setting tournament dates. Our club will choose available dates for next years tournaments after the PIMD calendar is set.

After being rained out twice earlier this fall, we started the day with a half dozen showers. But we wouldn’t give up – it’s bowl or drown. Once we got going, the day was actually very nice. Not too hot, not too cold. Novices Dave Schmalenberger, Andrew & Janet Stapleton, Susan Jamart, Jason Chien, Gerard Lazo and Gary Knox participated in today’s event. Sadly, Mark Gurling and Erwin Vista couldn’t make it and Richard Whitlock was on “injured reserve”.

We bowled two preliminary 12-end games (much to the surprise of PIMD head referee E.B.Parkel who had “never seen” singles played to a set number of ends). After our lunch break, the top four – Andrew, Jason, Gary and Dave – played a semi-final game to 16 points or 12 ends whichever came first. That brought us to our final game.

Andrew Stapleton faced Gary Knox. Both were “in it to win it”. Andrew was off to an early lead, but Gary battled back and, finally, got in the lead. But Andrew was not ready to give in. He battled back until the score was 17-18 Knox advantage. Gary refused to give in, however, and it was in the 24th end that he scored the 21st point for the win.

Here are Andrew and Gary after the match. Congratulations to both men – it was a well-played and entertaining match that drew applause from the spectators when it was over.

A huge thank you to markers Geoff Chandler and Cathy Dinnean who made the day go so much smoother.

If you have a group that would like to give lawn bowling a try, please contact the club. We can usually accommodate a dozen bowlers. As usual, we will provide all needed equipment. All you bring is the desire to have fun and flat soled shoes to protect our natural grass lawn. Please look through the website for more information about the game.

Your group can make use of the clubhouse for lunches, birthday parties, etc. if arrangements are made well in advance. Please contact the club for more information.

Berkeley bowler Nikki Schrager has placed in two PIMD tournaments. Nikki, along with Ginger Harris and Heather Seacrist placed second in the Women’s Triples tournament at Rossmoor.

Nikki and Ginger then placed first in the PIMD Women’s Pairs event held at San Francisco LBC.

Way to go!

Jim Corr has posted six photos of professional lawn bowlers in action on FLIKR. Visit flikr by following the link shown on the links tab.

The next Pizza Night will be on September 23. Bowling will commence at 5 p.m. and will follow the usual informal draw game format. Pizza will be served following the game ($5.00 per person). For those who are willing and able, the club will have a light duty work party starting at 3:30 p.m.