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.
Sixteen souls gathered on the green on the morning of June 21 to participate in the annual pairs tournament. The format again this year was a ranked draw wherein bowlers chose their position and the random draw was then held to permanently pair bowlers for the day.
After three twelve end games, two teams had won all three games. Those two, skip Phil Grattan with lead Harry Gans and skip Frankie Napoli with lead Wilfred Wong, met in a single-game final on the 23rd.
The game started at 2:30 in a light mist. The teams decided to play 14 ends which they all agreed had been Gary’s revised plan (rather than 18). Frankie and Wilford wore whites. Phil and Harry opted to be more casual. Perhaps the green appreciated the nod to tradition. Team Frankie and Wilfred won the game, 15 to 11. All four players made some great shots. John Hooper and Ann Gardiner showed up to watch the game, so there was a crowd of two in the cheering section.
Another stellar day of bowling at BLBC! Fourteen bowlers showed up all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on Saturday for the annual in-house singles tournament. This year’s format was fairly simple, everyone bowled three games to 15 points. When the dust settled, four bowlers had accumulated the best record for the day. Ann Gardiner, Shawn Roney, Howard Mackey, and Jim Corr, were ‘in it to win it’.
The four decided to finish their semi final matches on the same day even though they had to option of scheduling it another day. I suppose busy lives trumped feeling tired from a long day of bowls.
After the two semi final 18-point matches, Jim Corr and Shawn Roney advanced to the 21 point final game which was played on May 22nd. The game lasted nearly two hours. Jim Corr was off to a slow start, but steadily gained on Shawn. In the 27th end with the sun just about to set, Jim scored the winning point; 21 to 18 being the final score. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the tournament.
John Luster and Shawn Roney won the Men’s Pairs, Cathy Dinnean and Ann Gardiner placed third in the Women’s Pairs, and Nikki Schrager and Phil Grattan placed fourth (in the money) in the Mixed Pairs. In addition, Cathy, and Ann, along with Sarah Allday placed fifth in the Women’s Triples – a notable achievement given that two of them are still novices.
The Board of the BLBC voted unanimously earlier this month to revive the Club’s Distinguished Service Award to honor Howard and Barbara Mackey, husband and wife team who have given twenty years of commitment to the Club in a wide range of activities. Barbara, who passed away last December, had served on the Board of the Club in various capacities over the years, had achieved national umpire status, and was an assiduous “social secretary,” working regularly to decorate the clubhouse and lay on a welcoming spread for many tournaments and club social activities. She was also an informal coach to new bowlers, especially, but by no means exclusively, to new women bowlers. Howard has served as President, has been greenskeeper, remains Inter-club Tournament Director organizing popular events like the Berkeley Jamboree and other tournaments on the PIMD calendar, and is one of the Club’s representatives on the PIMD Committee. He is also currently the Club’s Singles Champion! Club President Jim Corr presented the award to Howard at the PIMD Mixed Pairs Tournament held at the Club on May 10, 2013.
From all of us at Berkeley Lawn Bowling, a giant THANK YOU!
What a fantastic day for the Berkeley Jamboree! Bowlers came to Berkeley last Saturday from lawn bowling clubs all over the bay area plus a sizable contingent from Leisure Town LBC. The Jamboree was organized by Howard Mackey with help from Susan Jamart, Cathy Dinnean, and Ann Gardiner. This is a unique tournament in that every attempt is made to see that each player plays with different team mates for each game.
Cash prizes are given to the individual bowler with the greatest number of points. This year, a lead from Leisure Town, Johanna Smith, took top honors. Everyone is a winner at the Jamboree – good bowling, lots of fun, and ice cream for everyone.
Berkeley LBC would like to thank those who attended. We would also like to extend a special note of thanks to Cris Benton who took a special series of aerial photographs from a 35 foot carbon fiber pole. The series offers a special view of the event. Please check out Cris’ slide show or Flicker set.
Cris is a brand new member of BLBC who is taking to the game like a duck to water. Welcome, Cris, and thank you for the wonderful pictures.
Tiffany Burnoski, daughter of long-time member Tom, was killed in a tragic accident recently. Our heartfelt sympathy to the Burnoski family. Service for Tiffany will be on Tuesday, April 16th, 11:00 am at the Shiloh Church, 3295 School St., Oakland, CA (http://www.shilohchurch.com/ ).
The 2013 PIMD Men’s Championship Singles was held April 6-7 at the San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club in Golden Gate Park and a number of Berkeley bowlers acquitted themselves well. With a field of 24 bowlers, from across Northern California, competition was strong. Jim Corr came third in the Championship Flight, losing out to Jon Yee (overall winner) and John Hickson (Runner Up), both of Palo Alto LBC. Phil Grattan won the D Flight, and Sean Roney reached the Championship Flight, composed of the top eight bowlers after the first day’s round of games. A copy of the full results from Day 2 can be found here.
Whether you are from one of the Bay Area’s many fine lawn bowling clubs, one of Berkeley’s many temporary residents, or a footloose world traveler you are most welcome to bowl with us. Our fees are quite modest. Just check in with someone at the club.
The club holds draw games every Wednesday and Friday. We ask that you arrive by 10:45 AM for 11:00 AM start times. On weekends, there are frequently club members on the green during lessons so please drop by and join us.
In this space, we hope to provide information to keep club members informed about upcoming events, parties, and tournaments plus information about the condition of the green or new member photos. Members are encouraged to check in here to get the latest news.
We promote the game of lawn bowling for the enjoyment of new and experienced players alike.
