Sven Eric Walden, a Life Member of BLBC passed away in March. Eric was a very active member who helped with maintenance, served as greenskeeper, emcee of the club’s monthly birthday events, and was quick with a joke. Our condolences to his family.

2012’s First Tournament

After a few weeks of rain, it was a welcome relief to see the sun shining on Saturday morning. There wasn’t even that much dew, the air was crisp and I knew we would have a great day. The whole green was in use as fourteen bowlers signed up for the annual four bowl singles tournament. The green itself is in very good shape thanks to the efforts of our greenskeeper and those club members who occasionally volunteer to help with the weeding, sanding, etc.

You can’t say lawn bowling isn’t for all ages as the spread was from mid twenties to late eighties. Everyone who bowled played in the first two games which were to 15 points with a 12-end limit (for time’s sake). After the morning session, five players had won both of their morning matches so it came down to points differential to see who would bowl in the semi- final round. So after lunch, four bowlers stepped on the mat; Shawn Roney, Erwin Vista, Jim Corr, and Howard Mackey. These two games were also in the short format and the winners emerged – Erwin Vista and Howard Mackey.

Erwin is a fairly new member of the club while Howard has been around long enough to have been greenskeeper, president, janitor, etc. So it was experience vs. youth in the final game to 21 points. In the end, Howard Mackey was the winner. This ever-young 86 year-old former teacher is seen third from right in the photo below displaying one of his always present smiles. Congratulations Howard. By the way, the other players shown are Jim Corr (L), Erwin Vista, Howard, and Shawn Roney. Shawn, by the way, is a novice – he has been bowling for less than two years!

Here’s to a fantastic season. Oh, and thanks to Barbara Mackey and Geoff Chandler for serving as Markers.

Today was beautiful in Berkeley. We managed to get two pairs games in the morning and a triples game in the afternoon. Some worker bees – namely Ann Gardiner – helped weed the ditch while the paint elves snuck in to touch up the ladie’s restroom.

The green is looking good; but it needs bowlers! The east half has been resting for a few weeks. Our greenskeeper is bringing some low spots up to level to improve the surface.

In the next few weeks, we hope to verticut the green to further improve the surface.

And, remember, OPENING DAY IS ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY. Bleach those whites and start doing pullups to build your stamina.

Come on down and bowl! Bring friends!

Berkeley LBC lost two old friends in 2011; Richard Wheeler and Charlie Black. Richard or “Padre” as we sometimes called him was a member here and at Palo Alto LBC. Charlie was a long time lawn bowler with a booming voice and a keen eye. We’ll miss them both!

The 2012 season schedule for the is now available by following this link.

2012_Schedule

We encourage new bowlers to play in tournaments. There are lots of great bowlers out there and it’s always fun to try a new venue. Opening Day is just around the corner!!!

Laura Lewis and Andrew Stapleton topped a strong field of bowlers to take the BLBC 2011 Club Pairs title. Eight teams composed of skips (pre-selected by Tournament Director, Gary Knox) and leads (randomly drawn by each skip in turn) competed on Saturday October 15. Three teams won both their morning games (Jim Corr/Gary Knox, Dave Rockhold/Shawn Roney, and Lewis/Stapleton) and were joined by the best placed one game winners (Howard Mackey/Phil Grattan) in the semifinals. The pairs of Lewis/Stapleton and Corr/Knox advanced to and fought a keenly-contested final. With Laura and Andy commanding a substantial 4-point lead going into the last end, Jim added an element of suspense by “burning” the end with his last bowl, forcing the end to be replayed. However, Laura and Andy held on to win with a final score of 13-8. Congratulations to both!

After the game, we fired up the BarBQ and kicked back over a meal. It seems like a fitting end to the 2011 club tournament season. Special thanks to Gary Knox for all his careful planning and extra effort to set up the rinks, prepare score cards, and keep us under control. Good job, Gary!

Thanks, too, to novices Ann Gardiner and Shawn Roney who played in today’s tournament. They were a welcome addition to the event.

So, everyone get out there and practice! The 2012 season isn’t far off. Closing day is Saturday, Oct. 22 at San Francisco LBC.

Pairs at Berkeley will be on October 15. Let’s have a good turn out! Sign up in the clubhouse or email [email protected]

Closing Day (already?) is on October 22. A signup sheet is available in the clubhouse. These are always good events with this year’s being held at San Francisco LBC. No pressure, just a chance to bowl with some of the divisions best – and nicest – bowlers.

Wow, did we get a lot of work done! Howard Mackey a.k.a. Bulldog, attacked the blackberry bushes that have sprouted in the surround. With a little help from Dave Rockhold, we filled the whole dumpster! Ann Gardiner managed to weed about half of the ditch while Alan Kaplan did a bang-up job of cleaning the clubhouse floor. Good job all, and thanks!

We also managed a very short pairs game with Shawn Roney filling out the lineup. Ann and Shawn are two novices to keep an eye on. Both have superb form!

With only three staying for pizza, we decided to call it a night (year) and shut the door on the 2011 pizza night season. Nothing says we can’t organize some other type of evening event though!

Our heat wave gave way to more typical Berkeley weather so we were able to enjoy the cool fall morning today as twelve members competed for the annual Two Bowl Singles title.

After the morning rounds, four bowlers – John Spiers, Dave Rockhold, Gary Knox, and Phil Grattan – competed in semi-final and final matches. In the final match, Phil scored the winning point on the final end – even though it was Dave’s birthday. Congratulations, Phil.

Thanks to Gary Knox for all the planning, scoring and rink setup. Thanks, too, to Linnea Gershenberg and my wife Barbara for the “surprise” birthday lunch complete with awesome birthday cake.

Today was our monthly birthday celebration. This one, though, was special! Not only did we have the chance to honor one of our own, Ted Crum, with Life Membership, we celebrated the return of the Meat Axe trophy. Ted was 90 years young this month. We also celebrated the birthdays of Gerard Lazo and Jerry Leech. President Geoff Chandler event provided a bit of bubbly (Prosecco, that is) to make the event more festive. Thanks to all who brought food and to Barbara and Howard Mackey for all the decorations. Photos of today’s event can be seen on Picasa (click here)