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The Meat Axe is (Temporarily) on Leave

Saturday, April 15 saw the 2017 Meat Axe Challenge Tournament held at the Palo Alto Club. The annual contest pits Berkeley against PALBC in a match-up that has almost the intensity and rivalry of the Cal-Stanford game, except that this is lawn bowling rather than football, so is a bit more decorous.

Long story short, although we fielded 6 strong Berkeley teams, all bedecked in the spiffy new Club colors, we were unable to hold on to the trophy that has hung on the Clubhouse wall these past two years. After two sets of six triples games (morning and afternoon), the overall result was 9-3 in favor of the spirited Palo Alto players.

Accordingly, we had to hand over the cleaver until next year when the venue returns to Berkeley, and, hopefully, the trophy returns to its rightful home.

With appreciation to all BLBC members who participated and to the Palo Alto Club, which, as always, organized a fine sporting event.

BLBC Team sports their new Club colors ahead of the 2017 Meat Axe Tournament in Palo Alto.
Club Members

2017 Opening Day

Sixteen BLBC members bowled at Opening Day at Rossmoor LBC: Cathy, Giulia, Laile, Sarah, Susan, Bob, Cris, Des, Erwin, Gordon, Jim, Phil, Ray, Rob, Shawn and yours truly.

As always, Rossmoor LBC did an outstanding job of supplying food, beverages, decorations and three lovely greens! Before bowling commenced there was a “spider” on each green. Three lucky bowlers would win a bottle of wine. This was a gift from our club to Rossmoor to help them celebrate their 50th year. I guess it was only fitting that all three winners belonged to Rossmoor LBC! (Cathy and Sarah wrangled greens one and three. I wrangled green two. FYI:  A bottle of wine for Cathy and me, and a six-pack of beer for Sarah as thanks for wrangling….:-)

Five BLBC members won money:  Sarah, Cris, Phil, Rob and Shawn. Congratulations! On the lighter side:  Giulia and Rob each won a flower and balloon centerpiece….one winner at each table. (Rob graciously gave his win to Ginger Harris. Nicely done!). On top of that, everyone was given a pin celebrating Rossmoor LBC’s 50th Anniversary.
The PIMD 2017 lawn bowling season has officially begun. Let’s hope our little club has another big year! 
Club Members

Holiday Cheer at BLBC

The Club held its 2016 Annual Meeting on Saturday, December 10, immediately followed by the very popular Holiday Lunch. Alas, a hoped for beak in the weather did not materialize and attendees had to forgo the usual post-prandial bowling match as the rain turned the green into a small lake.

On the business side, the meeting voted to reduce the fees charged several categories of “non-regular” members—namely, Dual, Associate, and Students over 18, and amended the Club’s constitution to loosen the definition of Associate Member. Certificates were awarded to 2016 tournament winners and cheers went up for Club members who had performed well at regional or other competitive events.

As has been the practice on recent years, lunch was a pot luck affair, with as broad and tasty a selection of dishes as one might expect in the Bay Area, from competing lasagna dishes to curry chicken to every kind of salad and, of course, one had to leave room for the plentiful desserts.

Despite the downpour, a good time was had by all, and we look forward to a vibrant and fun-filled New Year, hopefully with a renewed lease as we gear up for the Club’s Centennial celebrations in a few years’ time.

And a special thanks to the Hospitality Committee—Susan Jamart, Sarah Allday, Cathy Dinnean, and Ann Brillhart—who set up a beautiful festive arrangement in advance!

 

Club Members

BLBC 2016 Draw Pairs

Jim Corr (skip) and Ray Francis (lead) took the honors in the BLBC’s 2016 Draw Pairs Tournament. The event was held on a lovely Saturday November 12, when “passing showers” in the forecast seem to have evaporated without touching the ground and the weather was pleasantly and unseasonably warm. Twelve strong bowlers were divided into six skips and six leads and then randomly matched to make up the separate teams. After three 12-end games, only two teams—Jim and Ray and John Hooper (skip) and Ann Brillhart (lead)—managed to win all three games, setting up a tough and spirited final. John and Ann started firmly, maintaining a lead until the half way point, but, as the shadows lengthened, Jim and Ray came back strongly to carry the day (or the evening as it was by then!). Congratulations to Jim and Ray and thanks to all participants, especially those who stayed on to watch and encourage the finalists!

Ray Francis (left) and Jim Corr (right), BLBC 2016 Draw Pairs Champions.
Ray Francis (left) and Jim Corr (right), BLBC 2016 Draw Pairs Champions.
Club Members

PIMD’s 2016 Closing Day

Over 90 bowlers from eight clubs celebrated PIMD’s Closing Day and PIMD’s 50th Anniversary at San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club. Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club was well represented by sixteen bowlers:  Twelve vets and four novices. The format:  One 12-end game in the morning, a break for lunch, and then one 12-end game in the afternoon. Two teams would be awarded 1st Place, 2nd Place and 3rd Place in both the morning and afternoon games. In addition, several ties were awarded. Prizes were awarded at the end of a very fun day!
 
Six BLBC members won money in the morning game:  Shawn Roney (skip), Frankie Napoli (skip), Bob Schwartz (second), Glenn Nunez (lead), Giulia Gallo (lead), and Sarah Allday (lead in tie game).
Four BLBC members won money in the afternoon:  Rob Hoey (skip), Bob Schwartz (second), Cindy Moss (lead), and Leslie Engler (lead). 
Congratulations to all BLBC winners and to all the BLBC members who participated! 

To celebrate PIMD’s 50th anniversary, fifty prizes were awarded based on today’s drawing from a large container of raffle tickets collected throughout the year starting on Opening Day. Anyone who played in a PIMD tournament or attended a PIMD meeting was given a raffle ticket. Nine members from our club won prizes! Cathy Dinnean and Sarah Allday each won a bottle of wine. Cris Benton won a set of decorative candles, Gordon Wilson won a Drake’s Pride towel and a PIMD 50th Anniversary coin, Annie Brillhart won a box of See’s candy, Jim Corr won a $20 gift card donated by PALBC, Cindy Moss won a $25 Bevmo certificate, Millard Long won a $50 Safeway certificate, Shawn Roney won $50 cash, and Frankie Napoli won $100 cash! 
Last, but not least, one of the primary goals of Closing Day is to recognize and encourage novices. Sixteen PIMD novices participated this year. BLBC novices included Cindy Moss, Glenn Nunez, Laile Giansetto, and Giulia Gallo. They are all a welcome addition to our club, and it was great to see them at Closing Day!
PIMD 2016 Novices
PIMD 2016 Novices

One of the highlights of the day occurred when Bud Birkenseer, PIMD Tournament Director, presented our own Giulia Gallo with a trophy to celebrate her win as the PIMD 2016 Novice of the Year. Well done Giulia!

Bud and Giulia, 2016 PIMD Novice Champion
Bud and Giulia, 2016 PIMD Novice Champion

 

Congratulations to everyone in our club who participated in this tournament!

Club Members

Ed Arnold Tournament

Fourteen mixed triples teams stepped on to the Palo Alto LBC green this morning hoping to bowl their best, have a great time….and maybe even win.

The Ed Arnold is a tough tournament because each bowler plays four ends as a lead, four ends as a second and four ends as a skip. Berkeley LBC was represented by four teams:
  • Rob Hoey, Leslie Engler and Bob Schwartz
  • Ethan Bortman, Cathy Dinnean and Erwin Vista
  • Jim Corr, Laile Giansetto and Bud Birkenseer (Palo Alto)
  • Shawn Roney, Ann Brillhart and Cris Benton.
There were some very close, hard-fought games. At the end of the day, only two teams won all three games. Congratulations to BLBC team Shawn, Ann and Cris! They took top honors with only a one point differential over team Mike Coiner, Frank Matyskiela and Michell Matthews. Congratulations also to two other BLBC teams:  Ethan, Cathy and Erwin took 3rd Place, and Jim, Bud (Palo Alto) and Laile took 6th Place. Go Berkeley LBC!!!
1st place winners: Ann Brillhart, Shawn Roney, Cris Benton
1st place winners: Ann Brillhart, Shawn Roney, Cris Benton

 

3rd Place Winners: Erwin Vista, Cathy Dinnean, Ethan Bortman
3rd Place Winners: Erwin Vista, Cathy Dinnean, Ethan Bortman
Club Members

BLBC 21st Jamboree a huge success

What a wonderful day! Not too hot, not too cold, and 24 bowlers from the PIMD were ready to step on to the green and start their games. But first, we took a few moments to present our club’s Howard Mackey with a certificate of appreciation for starting the Jamboree in 1996 and running it until 2014. This unique tournament requires players to keep individual rather than team score cards. Today’s tournament was named The Howard Mackey Jamboree in his honor! Special thanks to Jim Corr, our club’s talented wordsmith, and Cathy Dinnean, our club’s computer graphics pro, for the certificate! We also took a moment to acknowledge our club’s novices:  Cindy Moss, Laile Giansetto, Giulia Gallo, Hugo Deaux and Glenn Nunez.

As soon as everyone selected their score cards we headed out to to the green to find out who we would be bowling with…and against. Two bowlers had to drop out at the last minute, so we had to change two triples games to pairs, but that didn’t change the scoring. The top three skips, top three vices and top three leads would win money. It was wonderful to have ten bowlers representing clubs from Leisure Town, Oakland, Palo Alto, and San Francisco! Fifteen bowlers from our club rounded out the field with three of us rotating in and out as needed. While I tallied the scores after the final game, Cathy gathered all the players on the green for a “spider.” Our own Mr. Luo won the prize:  A bottle of wine. And, of course, everyone received one of Howard Mackey’s traditional post-tournament treats:  An ice cream drumstick!The winners:

1st Place Skip: Nikki Schrager
2nd Place Skip:  Pete Knopf
3rd Place Skip:  Ginger Harris

1st Place Vice:  Bob Beksel
2nd Place Vice:  Hugo Deaux
3rd Place Vice:  Dave McMullen

1st Place Lead:  Millard Long
Tie for 2nd and 3rd Place Leads:  Laile Giansetto and Giulia Gallo

Congratulations to everyone who participated! And a special round of applause for our club’s novices!

Club Members

Congratulation to Aussie Pairs Team Rob Hoey and Shawn Roney!

A very tough Aussie Pairs tournament this year at Rossmoor.  Twenty-eight top-notch teams played three 12-end games. Eleven bowlers from our club were on the green.

Huge round of applause for team Rob Hoey and Shawn Roney! They won all three games and took second place…losing only by a one point differential. The same thing happened to them last year! Third times the charm, guys.  Next year!

Team Bob Schwartz and his partner, Larry Collaco, won two and lost one. Well done!

Team Jim Corr and Annie Brillhart won one, tied one and lost one as did team Frankie Napoli and his partner, Sandy Souza.

Team John Hooper and Cris Benton won one and lost two.

Team Des Simpson and Dave McMullen tied one and lost two as did team Millard Long and his partner, Nikki Schrager.

Better luck to all of us next year!

Berkeley's Rob Hoey & Shawn Roney, the 2016 Aussie Pairs 2nd Place Team
Berkeley’s Rob Hoey & Shawn Roney, the 2016 Aussie Pairs 2nd Place Team
Club Members

Berkeley Takes 2016 2×2 Fours at Oakland LBC

On a beautiful August summer Saturday, forty bowlers from around the Bay participated in this year’s tournament; which was hosted by Berkeley, but played in Oakland. We’re proud that ten bowlers from Berkeley played on the greens – and especially pleased that a Berkeley team took First Place! Congratulations to Sarah, John, Cathy, and Cris.

Winners: BLBC's Sarah Allday, John Hooper, Cathy Dinnean, and Cris Benton.
Winners: BLBC’s Sarah Allday, John Hooper, Cathy Dinnean, and Cris Benton.
Club Members

2016 BLBC Triples Draw Tournament

Twelve bowlers waited to see who they would be bowling with (and against) in our club’s 2016 Triples Draw Tournament on July 16. It was a perfect round robin with the top two teams to play for the championship.

Des, Millard and Dave won all three of their games. (Excellent bowling you guys!) There was a very tough battle for second place between teams Erwin, Ray and Bob, Cathy, Phil and Ted, and Shawn, Ann and Luo. With a truly extraordinarily super bowl by Shawn at the last end of our third game, he moved his team into second place. Now his team had a tough assignment:  Beat the team (Des, Millard and Dave) that had just beat his team by two points. Well, Shawn’s team was definitely up to the challenge. They won with points to spare. Congratulations to Shawn, Ann and Luo!

2016's Triples Winners: Ann, Shawn, and Luo
2016’s Triples Winners: Ann, Shawn, and Luo