BLBC Pres. Ashok Verma to BLBCers on 4/16/2024:
Please join me in congratulating Daniel Gorelick for being selected to represent the USA in a four-country tournament in Ayr, Scotland in August 2024. Other countries are Canada, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
If interested, you could find the details in the April 2024 Bowles Bulletin of BUSA
BLBC Pres. Glenn Nunez to BLBCers on 9/26/2023:
As many of you know, BowlsUSA’s National Championships take place next week in Sun City, FL. Representatives from each of the seven divisions face one another in a true Champion of Champions tournament to determine the finest in our sport.
But did you know just how grand Berkeley’s presence will be during this prestigious event? As a result of having won the PIMD Playdowns earlier this year, Annie Brillhart (Women’s Singles), JIm Corr (Men’s Singles), and dual-member Frankie Napoli (Men’s Pairs) will be carrying the BLBC banner throughout the week.
This is a big deal! Put it in the following perspective: There are only four separate categories in the Nationals and we have members in THREE of them. Not convinced? How about this then: PIMD is sending six players from among its eleven clubs and HALF of them have lockers on Acton Street. Our Club has every reason to be proud.
There’s a list of competitors at
www.bowlsusa.us/national-championship.html with a link to the full schedule of events, which I suspect will be updated with scores as they become available.
Annie, JIm, and Frankie, as you pack for your flights to Florida this Saturday and prepare for your first game on Wednesday morning, know there’s a huge team pulling for you back home. Best of luck from everyone at BLBC!
********
And, more from our Facebook page on 10/31/2023 … Ann Brillhart and Jim Corr are headed to Nationals! We hope you bring us back a couple of trophies.
Less than a month ago, on June 17th, we held a farewell party for Laile Giansetto and Dave McMullen to show our appreciation for their contributions to the Club and wish them peace and happiness at their new location. We extend our love and look forward to seeing them back on the green at BLBC in the near future.
The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club sent seven triples teams to Rossmoor Bowling Club in Walnut Creek for the “Over the Hill” Challenge. The BLBC competed against them and indulged in a little bit of the friendly rivalry typical of the match since the Challenge began in 1969.
After a hiatus of twenty years or so, the clubs resurrected the event in 2016. Scheduling conflicts in 2019 prevented that year’s challenge from happening, so the clubs agreed to hold the 2019 version of the challenge on February 15, 2020 (the 2020 games will take place this August at Berkeley).
Berkeley went into lunchtime with a healthy advantage of 6 wins and only one loss. After the break, Rossmoor returned resurgent, as the afternoon games revealed. Some of the games went down to the wire, but Berkeley prevailed to win 5 of the afternoon games. The final total for the match: 11 wins for BLBC and 3 wins for Rossmoor LBC. Credit to Rossmoor for wonderful hosting and very sporting play. We’ll see them again in August! Well done to everyone that bowled yesterday, especially to some members representing the club for the first time.
A note from our Greens-keeper: The BLBC greens are closed for maintenance. As the picture shows, when we mean maintenance, we mean it! We expect the work to be completed by February 14. Thanks to our Greens-keeper and the volunteer labor of our members, we will have the green in good shape for bowling when the weather turns nicer. See you then!
Warm temperatures and blue skies made for a beautiful day at the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club green. The invitational attracted some high quality players from the Bay Area, making up some very strong mixed pairs teams. The level of bowling on display was a credit to the PIMD and to Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club, who hosted this new event on the calendar. There were some really close games and some very tight results. As you’d expect in a tournament with this many quality players, no one ran away with it and the final results came down to the last couple of bowls being rolled on the day.
Taking first prize and drawing the tournament winning shot with his last bowl:
Gareth Cole & Giulia Gallo
A very creditable second place went to the very strong team of:
Russell Leonard & Janice Bell (good luck to Janice in the upcoming Nationals!)
And third place went to the extremely consistent pair of:
Jim Corr & Annie Brillhart Many thanks to everyone that came from near and far to participate and to everyone at the club that helped make the day run so smoothly.
Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club initiated its first Young Bowlers Program in April. Twenty-three sixth graders (and one brave teacher) from The Berkeley School were introduced to lawn bowling. Club coaches set up four games of Triples and were on hand to help with learning how to bowl, to explain rules and strategy, and to ensure everyone had a great time. The student’s Physical Education teacher was on thegreen giving encouragement and watching their progress. The students were very enthusiastic and completely involved in the games. No slackers in this group! All the kids were awarded gold medals by their coaches. Our Club plans to continue the relationship with The Berkeley School as part of the School’s regular phys. ed. program. Who knows, maybe a future national champion is in the making?
Fifteen Berkeley bowlers made the trip to Palo Alto on Saturday, January 21st, for this year’s battle for the meat axe. Two triples matches were played under crisp, clear winter skies. In the end, it was Berkeley seven, Palo Alto 3 and the coveted trophy was returned to its rightful place in the Berkeley clubhouse.
The BLBC is proud to announce that it has been awarded the 2014 Best Retro Sports Activity in the East Bay by the East Bay Express, the free weekly magazine of news and culture. We owe this achievement to the hard work of all who have contributed to the maintenance and promulgation of the Club, not least Dave Rockhold, who insisted we publicize our “retro” appeal, Cris Benton, who devised our snazzy new website that has drawn a lot of viewers, and Ann Brillhart, who has managed the campaign to get groups and companies to use the Club as a venue for parties, team-building sessions and so on. They have been ably assisted by many others, especially those who have devoted hours to coaching newbies, both “walk-ins” to our Saturday and Sunday lessons, as well as the groups, sometimes 50 or more who have enjoyed the Club’s facilities.
To further publicize our status, we have had local graphic designer, Ian Ransley, create a great new Club poster (pictured), which will be prominently featured at our booth for the 40th Annual Solano Stroll on Sunday September 14. The Stroll is one of Berkeley/Albany’s “must” events of the year—a mile long festivity that includes food, music, fun stuff for kids, and many local non-profits. We will be in a prime location—just outside Andronico’s near the north end of Solano Avenue. Members are encouraged to show up (no need for “whites”), lend a hand if you can, but especially bring a non-bowling friend.
The booth will be set up around 9/10am and will be staffed throughout the day until the close of the Stroll at 6pm.
Well, it was deja vous all over again after Palo Alto came to town to defend the Meat Axe. Both teams fielded four teams (with only minimal use of dual members) for the competition. After tasty snacks and a few howdy-dos, it was game on as tournament director Howard Mackey gave us our marching orders. The green was running fast but did present a few challenges to all present.
A special thanks to Cathy Dinnean, Ann Brillhart, Susan Jamart, and Jim Corr for all the behind the scenes work it takes to put on an event like this one.
And finally, Erwin Vista deserves special mention. Not long ago, he was a novice. His performance this weekend and last as a skip was outstanding. Congratulations, Erwin, it was a pleasure to see how fine-tuned your shots have become.
So, as you can see in the picture above, Palo Alto’s VP John Lee was please to take possession of the trophy for another year and President Phil Grattan did his best to look gracious as he shows off the “We Lost” trophy. 
