Sunday, August 30 saw the second staging of the Bay Bridge Challenge, a tournament inaugurated in 2013 to pit BLBC’s bowlers against their San Francisco counterparts. The format was five 14-end triples matches in both the morning and the afternoon. Unfortunately, the story is short: the West Bay overcame the East Bay with relative ease, winning by a score of 8-2 and thus retaining the trophy they initially captured a year ago. But, as always, it was a pleasure to bowl with our friends in what used to be called the Paris of the West, and in fog-less conditions no less. And, special thanks to our hosts for the treats they provided after the event. There’s always next year…
Category Archives: Special Events
2014 Triples Champions/Familiar Faces
Eighteen bowlers showed up on time and ready to bowl in the club triples match today. The format was random draw with three fourteen end games.
The team comprised of Frankie Napoli (skip), Ted Crum (vice) and Cris Benton (lead) finished the day with three wins and 23 plus points. They had a perfect record for the day and this was a repeat for Cris who was on the winning team in 2013. Our forever young Ted Crum was declared the team’s MVP
Dave Rockhold (skip) with Xian Zhi Luo (vice) and Andy Stapleton (lead) finished in second with two wins and 16 plus points.
It was indeed a beautiful day with a refreshing breeze to moderate the expected hot weather.
.
Berkeley bowlers fare well in Senior Games
The 2014 Senior Games (hosted by the Palo Alto Lawn Bowling Club) was, as anticipated with so many great bowlers, full of exciting matches. There were several games that were tied at the last end. This year two BLBC members won medals. Our own Bob Schwartz and his partner, Larry Collaco, won the gold medal in pairs. (Well done, Bob!)
Our other BLBC member, Ann Brillhart, above, won a silver medal in triples with teammates Bud Birkenseer and Sam Hebert. Bud, Sam and Ann won the bronze medal last year. Let’s hope they can win the gold next year!
Berkeley Jamboree 2014
Which would it be? The first definition of jamboree in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is “a noisy or unrestrained carouse.” This seemed improbable as I watched 42 bowlers from around the Bay Area arrive for the 2014 BLBC Jamboree. To the neighborhood’s relief definition no. 2 – “a large festive gathering” – was more applicable for our fine day of bowling under pleasant skies. 
Holding court in front of a clubhouse festooned with banners and ruffles, Tournament Director Howard Mackey orchestrated event logistics using naught but the notes on two sheets of paper. The format was three rounds of 10-end triples, matches that provided participants with new teammates and a new rink for each game. In testimony to the Greens Committee’s hard work, the rinks bowled well (for the most part) and those challenged by the peripheral lanes met that challenge with good cheer (again, for the most part). 
At the end of day some folks were up in points; others down. But all had enjoyed a fine day of bowling in good company and, of course, ice cream. 
WWW site migration underway
Please be patient as we rebuild the Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club WWW site in a new, fresh server space. Stay tuned for the new look. Hmmmm, come to think of it if you are reading this you can see the new look already.
Update: 8 April – the redesign and relocation of our WWW site is near complete. If you notice anything amiss please bring it to the attention of me or Dave Rockhold.
President’s Newsletter for March
A few of the items discussed during the February board meeting were:
1. There is a new mowing schedule. Jose will be mowing the green Tuesdays and Fridays from 2:30 to 4:00. Please do not arrange games which interferes with this schedule.
2. Cathy has completed the 2014 club roster and it is available for pickup at the club. Please review your contact data for accuracy and advise Cathy if there are any errors.
3. The March birthday party is scheduled for the last Sunday in March. Update: due to greens maintenance , the birthday party scheduled for March has been postponed until April 27th. There are four celebrants: Howard Mackey, Dave McMullen, Bob Schwartz and Des Simpson. The club will provide coffee and dessert. Bring your own lunch at noon to be followed immediately by bowling.
4. The board will put on one of the back tables duplicate and excess books on lawn bowling from our library. They will be left out for a short while available for free to any member who wishes to add them to their personal library. The remainder will be donated to a third party.
5. We will have a booth at the September Solano Stroll in an effort to increase membership. Although this does not happen until September 14th we will need volunteers to man the booth. Do not be surprised if you are approached to volunteer your time for this worthy endeavor.
6. On the subject of volunteering the club functions much better if all the members participate in volunteering their time to the degree possible. Again do not be surprised if a board member respectfully asks that you consider doing some project for the good of the club.
7. Opening day at Rossmoor is this Saturday, the 15th. Be sure and consult the calender in the clubhouse Cathy has prepared so you do not miss any upcoming tournements.
Opening Day 2014
The folks at Rossmoor Lawn Bowling club are hosting this year’s opening day event. They are in the process of growing a brand new green, so the action will be limited to 16 rinks on 2 greens. Thank you Rossmoor – yours truly is looking forward to the event on Saturday, March 15.
Ed Arnold Invitational Results
This year’s tournament honoring the memory of Ed Arnold of Palo Alto LBC was a full house with the maximum 16 teams. Player’s from Berkeley, Rossmoor, San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto came to participate. Each team played 3-games of 12-ends each. Players rotated positions of Lead, Vice and Skip every 4-Ends. In the end, there was a tie between Dave Hale, Penny Bayless, and Frank Maty (in the tight plead shirts, and Mary Scott, Jerry Knott, and Linda Flores. There were prizes for the top 8 finishers. Three teams of Berkeley bowlers were “in the money”: Jim Corr, Ann Gardiner, and Shawn Roney; John Hooper, Cathy Dinnean, and Wilfred Wong; and Nikki Schrager, Dave Rockhold, and Mo Sher (SFLBC).
The Meat Axe Tournament
Temperatures in the high 80’s were predicted for Palo Alto on this sunny September morn. So, rise with the sun we thought. Get there early and get the feel of the green. Well, some of us did any way. We pulled into the parking lot by the Gamble House and parked at 8:30 – a bit too early.
Gradually, the clubhouse came to life and we all enjoyed the bagels with lox and tomatoes. Fresh fruit, coffee and OJ; yum! Thank you, Bonnie, for all the hard work.
A few practice bowls gave everyone a feel for the green. It was fast so we Berkeley bowlers would have to turn down the power a little to get full control of our shots. And then, the bell tolled. Front and center, bowlers. First, the Pledge of Allegiance, then it’s time to draw a chip and report to your rink to face the challenge.
In my case, a familiar face stood ready with his team. Eleven other skips faced a similar situation. They and their teams were ready. It was on, this 56th annual match for possession of the Meat Axe. At the end of the first round of six matches, Palo Alto had won four matches to our two. Lunch!
Anxious to proceed, I started rolling a few practice bowls and the afternoon match began. But, alas, it wasn’t to be. Palo Alto repeated the morning’s performance and the day ended with them winning eight of the twelve games. So, we needed to pass the Meat Axe back to the other side once again.
Congratulations, Palo Alto; well played. See you next year on our turf. What fun!
And we take home the consolation prize.
Leisure Town-Berkeley @ Berkeley
Those fantastic folks from Vacaville came to town on July 10th intent on giving our Berkeley bowlers another lesson in humility. But we Berkeley bowlers were in the mood for a change. With four rinks going, Berkeley was up 5 games to 3 after two twelve-end games in the morning. Two additional games were planned for the afternoon, but after the first game, commute considerations for LT canceled the last game. Nonetheless, Berkeley won two of the four afternoon games and tied another to come out on top 15 game points to 9.
In the small world department, two of the LT bowlers were stationed in my home town of Salina, Kansas at Smoky Hill AFB. I was probably out cutting wheat in the shadow of the plane flown by pilot Dick Ruddy.