Last Saturday, the good folks from Leisure Town LBC (near Vacaville) made the trip from the sweltering heat of the central valley to the slightly cooler-than-average Berkeley LBC for what we call a “home-on-home” match. These are friendly matches between old friends with a few new friends thrown in for excitement. This year, Berkeley brought some new members into the fray. In the morning, it looked really good for Berkeley as we won two of the three games. After lunch, things got a little dicey, though… In the end, it was a nine-nine tie based on winning points. So, you settle these things with a duel; drawn bowls at twenty paces (Not!). You settle these things by using what we call “plus points”. These points come from the difference between the winning and losing team’s score. As it turns out, Berkeley won the match by a few points but we all won by having a great day on the green. We rewarded ourselves and the losers with good, old-fashioned Drumsticks ice cream. We even had a few newcomers try the game out during the tournament.

We will have another competitive event on the weekend of July 16. This one is a club singles event pitting member against member in the 4-bowl version of the singles game. The tournament may run into Sunday if enough players sign up.

Last week, a reporter from the Berkeley Patch eNewspaper visited the club to film a video about lawn bowling. Senior Coach (and chief cook and bottle washer) Ted Crum explains the game. You have to see the video to understand that line…..check it out on the links page.

This Saturday will be a tournament day at BLBC. Bowlers from the Leisure Town LBC will visit Berkeley for an all day contest.

On Thursday, 6-16, we will be starting our summer work/bowl/pizza night. If you can come for all or just some of the event, please do. At 3 p.m., there will be a work party to clean the ditches, tidy up, trim ivy, etc. At 5 p.m., the bowling begins. Then, at around 7 the pizza arrives and we eat! ($5 donation for the pizza, please).

We had a great time tonight. The draw game started at 5 and ran until about 6:30. After that, we fired up the Barbee and had a potluck dinner. It wasn’t a large turnout, but it proves it can be done.

It was a cold and stormy morning, but the bowling went on as planned last Saturday. With five teams, we planned four 8-end games with each team receiving one bye during the day. The winning team – Nikki Schrager, Gary Knox, and Jason Chien – didn’t have to play the final game because it wasn’t possible for them to lose. Therefore, the last game was cancelled and we all went inside to warm up.

What if you threw a party and then someone with a birthday showed up? Well, it happened last Saturday. Erwin Vista (Mr. Vista to his friends and students) was celebrating his birthday and invited a bunch of his friends. We had coaches, put every single set of loaner bowls into use, enjoyed the fresh, homemade cookies provided by Gary Knox and just plain had an enjoyable day. We even managed to squeeze in a triples game that came down to the last end to decide the winner.

One guest enjoys curling on the ice in Oakland…check out our “curling without the ice” video elsewhere on this site.

Forty-two bowlers from around the bay area converged on the Berkeley green on Saturday, April 9, for the annual Berkeley Jamboree. This event, organized and hosted by Howard and Barbara Mackey is an early-season tradition in the PIMD. The format is simple – yet complicated. Each bowler bowls three games with randomly drawn teammates. Using a time-tested formula, the tournament director tallies points for the day. Fifteen of the 42 bowlers received cash prizes.

This year, Lennon Hamilton (BLBC) was bowling lead and accumulated the most points. Ellie Lewis of the San Francisco LBC was also bowling lead and came in second. Lennon and Ellie pose in the winner’s circle in the first photo.

The assembled bowlers are shown in the second photo. Howard Mackey, Tournament Director and master tally keeper is shown at work in the third photo.