Category Archives: Special Events

Club Members, Special Events

Annual Meeting

December 13th, 11 AM

The Annual General Meeting will commence with a Call to Order and verification of a quorum, followed by the President’s Welcome and Annual Update regarding club membership and operational highlights. Key financial presentations will be provided, including the Treasurer’s Report detailing the club’s fiscal standing, income, and expenses, as well as a report from the Memorial and Endowment (M&E) Fund Trustees regarding asset growth and grant disbursements. Additionally, the agenda will include a PIMD Report outlining regional goals and relevant news from the division.

Following the administrative updates, the meeting will transition to specific Committee Reports, covering Hospitality, Building, Landscape, Greens, Tournaments, and Coaching. These reports will review maintenance projects, tournament results, and volunteer acknowledgments from the prior year. The proceedings will conclude with the Election of Officers and Directors for the new term and an open floor session for member questions and the introduction of new members.

The BLBC Board announced the following slate for the 2026 election which will be held at the AGM on December 13. As a full member, you must be present to vote so put it on your calendar. Dual members are also invited to attend. There will be a short meeting followed by a delicious potluck lunch and bowling. 

President          Ethan Bortman
VP                      Ben Corson
Secretary          Patricia Erwin
Treasurer          Ben Steinberg

Directors – for the two positions open

Mark Baker
Rob Hoey
Cindy Moss
Gary Samonsky

Club Members, Special Events, Volunteer Work

Green Maintenance soon

BLBC is preparing for the Annual Fall Workday for the Green, scheduled for Sunday September 14, 2025.  This aeration (tining), seeding and sanding is critical for maintaining a healthy green.  

Work day on Sunday, 14 September, 2025

In preparation for the upcoming fall Greens Maintenance workday, nearly 6 tons of special sand was delivered to the club.  The greenkeeping crew helped guide the truck onto the premises and the sand drop was perfect.  At $1700+ for the load, it was important that nary a speck was lost. So, the stage is set and we could use some help.

Tight quarters
Sand at the ready

The Greenskeepers need your help with various steps including plug removal and sand application/removal, among other tasks. There are also some light duty tasks in addition to those that are outlined below.  As many of you know, this is a great opportunity to learn more about how our green is maintained and to meet other members you may not know.

We will be providing pizza and light snacks for those who volunteer, please let us know if you will join for that.  

Below is an outline of main tasks and timing.  We hope to be done by early afternoon and can use your help even if for a short period of time.

Starting around 8:30 we need 6 volunteers to shovel the plugs from Jose’s tining into wheelbarrows.

View of tining plugs, numbering over 200,000, being swept up for removal.

Starting around 10:00 we need 4-8 volunteers to shovel sand into wheelbarrows and then use buckets to dump the sand into the mechanical spreader. The larger number of volunteers would allow for breaks. 

Starting around 10:30 we need 2-4 volunteers to sweep sand into the plug holes along edges and corners only. Jose will use the tractor with a broom/mat to sweep the sand from most of the green.

The club has most of the equipment, but we could use snow-type shovels and sturdy dollies. Please bring them along if you have those.

Spreading sand to fill the holes created by tining.

We do have some work/gardening gloves, but please bring your own if you have those. 

Please reply to the Greenskeepers via email (greensblbc@gmail.com) by Sunday September 7 to let us know that you can join and what time slot, or to let us know any questions.

Following the workday the green will be closed for approximately one month for continued maintenance.

Club Members, Special Events

Tuesday bowls gain steam

This week 27 bowlers, plus one supporter were in attendance for the second iteration of our revived Tuesday Evening Bowls

What a great showing considering the weather wasn’t all that flash. Two new members, and three Rossmoor folks came over for the fun and camaraderie. 

There was plenty of food for all, with chips and salsa, Fresh cherries, three or four delicious salads, pizza, apple pie, blueberry loaf, wine, all generously brought along by various club members. I’m sure I have forgotten some items that were brought along.

A pleasant après-bowling gathering.

Everyone had a great time bowling with people from all levels, helping coach those who were new, or just playing to practice for no good reason.

Let’s see if we can get 30 bowlers next Tuesday. 

Let the good times roll

Club Members, Special Events

Tuesday Evening Bowls

Rolly Coe has stepped forward to revive the summertime Tuesday Evening Bowls series. Here is his report from the initial gathering:

Our first Tuesday evening bowling for 2025 was attended by 19 club members, a strong showing.  We started bowling a few minutes after 5:30pm, and finished up at just after 7:00pm

There was cheese and crackers, Pasta salad, Cheese Board pizza, wine and beer, which was brought by various club members and was enjoyed before and after bowling.  Going forward we will follow this format, where if you can bring some food or beverages to share it makes for a relaxed atmosphere.    

Everyone had a great time.

Community, Special Events

Hold that pose

This past Saturday, our BLBC neighbor, Jessica Phrogus, arranged for the First Saturday Urban Sketchers to visit the lawn bowling club to sketch.  About a dozen sketchers arrived on a chilly morning and quickly found a spot and settled down began sketching the bowlers, green and surroundings. Many of our usual Saturday bowlers were in San Francisco for the PIMD Pairs Tournament.   

Thanks to Annie Brillhart, Ginger Cheng, Cathy Dinnean, Bob Schwartz  and Claudia Benton, who had a game with a roving lead and provided models for the sketchers.  The sketchers drew entertaining pictures while commenting that the bowlers were so nice to each other and there were no swear words used.  Good work bowlers!  Below is a sample of the delightful artwork by the First Saturday Urban Sketchers.

Club Members, Special Events

Opening Day 2025

Opening Day, the official beginning of the lawn bowling tournament season, was held on 5 April at the Rossmoor Lawn Bowling Club. Rossmoor’s three greens were looking fine and, better yet, bowled well with a reasonably fast pace. Opening Day provides a welcome opportunity to renew acquaintances from other clubs with this year’s attendance including 108 enthusiastic lawn bowlers from the Bay Area and beyond. That’s eighteen triples games underway at once on three greens.

Calvin Darling and Bud Birkenseer get things rolling.

The event was kicked off by Calvin Darling, PIMD President, and Bud Birkenseer, longstanding Tournament Director for the PIMD.  Bud, as always, ran a smooth ship – no small feat given the large turnout. He is undeniably one of the great heroes of Bay Area lawn bowling and a most pleasant guy to boot. The winning teams were awarded prize money!  A good time was had by all.

From upper left clockwise: Ethan and Judy, Leslie and Cindy, Stephan and Karen, Chris and Mike.

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club had a great showing with 22 bowlers participating in the games. The weather cooperated with a pleasant sunny day and slightly warm temperatures. It was great weather for bowling and for our home green’s recuperation. While we were having a good time bowling at Rossmoor, our green back home was enjoying its last days of rest in recovering from the spring tine and sand maintenance. We should be bowling back home fairly soon.

From upper left clockwise: Cris, Glenn, Phil, Bernadette, HC and Ashok.

It was good to have this group of Berkeley bowlers practicing during Opening Day, for we will be back at Rossmoror next Saturday for the annual Over the Hill Tournament to be played on their home turf.

From upper left clockwise: Aika and Lennon; Janie and Patricia; Leslie and Charlie; Claudia and Mei.

Community, Special Events

Terry Taplin Visits

Terry Taplin, the Council Member for Berkeley’s Second District, stopped by today’s draw game for a tour of the club and an introduction to bowling.

Our City contacts back in 1930.

The club is located in Mr. Taplin’s district as are well over a dozen club members. Our long history with the city dates back to BLBC’s inauguration in 1929. Our green and clubhouse are situated on City property so it is a fine thing to have the opportunity to brief the Council Member on developments at the club and our upkeep of facilities.

Council MemberTaplin displaying fine form on the green. We hope he comes back to bowl.

It was lovely to meet the Council Member and his staff. We appreciate their taking time to visit.

Club Members, Special Events, Volunteer Work

Green Maintenance soon

We approach the Ides of March and that means it is time to lavish even more attention on our lovely green.

Work day on Sunday, 23 March, 2025

The Greenskeepers need your help with tining, plug removal and sand application/removal, among other tasks. There are also some light duty tasks in addition to those that are outlined below.  For newer members, this is a great opportunity to learn more about how our green is maintained and to meet other members you may not know.

We will be providing pizza and light snacks for those who volunteer, please let us know if you will join for that.  

Below is an outline of main tasks and timing.  We hope to be done by early afternoon and can use your help even if for a short period of time.

Starting around 8:30 we need 6 volunteers to shovel the plugs from Jose’s tining into wheelbarrows.

View of tining plugs, numbering over 200,000, being swept up for removal.

Starting around 10:00 we need 4-8 volunteers to shovel sand into wheelbarrows and then use buckets to dump the sand into the mechanical spreader. The larger number of volunteers would allow for breaks. 

Starting around 10:30 we need 2-4 volunteers to sweep sand into the plug holes along edges and corners only. Jose will use the tractor with a broom/mat to sweep the sand from most of the green.

The club has most of the equipment, but we could use snow-type shovels and sturdy dollies. Please bring them along if you have those.

Spreading sand to fill the holes created by tining.

We do have some work/gardening gloves, but please bring your own if you have those. 

Please reply to this email by Sunday March 9 to let us know that you can join and what time slot, or to let us know any questions.

Following the workday the green will be closed for approximately one month for continued maintenance.

Club Members, Special Events

BLBC February Follies

Glenn Nunez to BLBCers on 3/30/2024:

It was pointed out to me recently that I’ve been remiss in sharing the results of the recently-completed BLBC February Follies with our Club members. Mea culpa.

This experimental league event turned out to be aptly named, as the folly of scheduling anything during the unpredictability of February weather in the Bay Area presented more than a fair share of topsy-turvy. Two dates postponed by rain led to some folks, unable to meet the new schedule, playing their matches midweek. Only half of the original twelve entrants bowled in glorious sunshine during the final Saturday.

When the dust finally settled, Cindy Moss, Ashok Verma, Art Kotoulas, and Sal Garcia-Lemus took home prize envelopes. Cathy Dinnean laid down the winning shot in the post-tournament scramble to claim the not-insubstantial contents of the Ron Byus Memorial Kitty. All in all, it was a pretty good event…

If enough people show interest, I’d consider setting up a similar league – with a couple of format tweaks – sometime this Summer. Let me know back-channel if you might be interested and if so, would you prefer a daytime event on a weekend, or an evening during the week.

Club Members, Special Events, Tournaments

Florida Here We Come!10/29-11/4/2023

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.