August 2019 Newsletter
Click here to view the PDF version with pictures.
This Newsletter is dedicated to our dear friend and mentor to many bowlers…
Lawrie Rocher
1931 – 2019
Barry Munton has kindly provided us with some brief memories of Lawrie…
Lawrie Rocher – passed away Friday, 9th August 2019. He was a big man with a big heart who was always busy – growing his own fruit and vegetables and supplying them bottled to the Bentleigh Bowling Club. He was responsible for the Club lemon tree and for many years the maintenance of the abundance of roses growing around the greens.
Lawrie attended most interstate Tatts carnivals with his beloved wife Fern who got on well with my wife Val. Also, recently the Master Builders competitions. He was a great competitor and a very good friend. In Canberra he was playing skip on the last end of the game – Lawrie nil, others well ahead when he sent a rocket down, smashed the head and finished with one shot. Our team erupted with cheers and laughter.
The last couple of years he had some wonderful trips with his family to Adelaide, China, Tasmania. He could not be stopped – go go go! He was so happy. Lawrie is now at peace with his beloved Fern.
I recently read a quote from a sporting coach that fits Lawrie:-
- Rule 1 – Be a nice person.
- Rule 2 – Respect people and be respected.
- Rule 3 – Have fun.
- Rule 4 – If you can play bowls, it is a bonus.
Barry Munton
Lawrie’s Memorial Service will be held at Blair Chapel, Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Friday 16 August at 1:45pm.
News for all from around the Club…
Welcome New Members
I’m absolutely delighted to welcome 6 new members to our GREAT Club.
- Rob “Turtle” Twigger (Full Member)
- Michael Wilson (Social Playing Member)
- Chris Ritchie (Social Playing Member)
- Nicola Carter (Full Member)
- Ethan Carter (Full Member)
- Tony Fox (Social Non-Playing Member)
I hope you all have a great time at the Club and we look forward to seeing you on the greens and in the bar…
Important Announcement
Imagine my best Mayor Quimby impersonation and read on….
Greetings bowlers and lady bowlers. From this day forth – we shall call ourselves THE BENTLEIGH BEARS.
We’re going to have a little fun with this one and see if it sticks after a while. There’s quite a lot we can do with the identity:
- Introduce our Club mascot – Grizzly Higgins
- We already have two bears in the Club – Bundy Bear and Cooky Bear
- A bear look-a-like in Mark Maclean ?
- We can run BEARfoot Bowls
- I welcome your ideas….
We’ll get some proper graphics working around this one and you can watch it evolve as we build the mighty Bears theme.
Don’t be shy and join in to see if we can make some fun around this and build a new, more modern Club identity.
Our Strategic Plan
We have developed a Strategic Plan which sets out our goals for the Club over the next few years across several key dimensions.
Key parts of the plan are our Mission, Vision and Values and I ask everyone to check those out at least. They describe very simply what we want the Club to be and what is expected of us all as members and as a Club overall.
The Strategic Plan has been uploaded to our Club website in the About Us section. Here’s a direct link to make it easier:
We’re already starting to make some progress outlined in the Strategic Plan and I look forward to everyone participating where they can…
- Appointment of our new Club Coach – Jordan “Bomber” Blair-Bremner.
- Building Community relationships through offering our facilities to local RSL Veterans and Marriot Support Services.
- Exploring new sponsorship opportunities and reviewing our offer to Club Sponsors.
- Rejigging our accounting processes to specifically provide for capital improvements.
- Social Events planned throughout the year.
- Early planning is underway for a new, vibrant Barefoot Bowls season in 2019/20 kicking off with a Spring Barefoot Bowls Carnival on Friday 1 November (coinciding with the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, and of course
- The Club renovations projects.
Join with us to bring our Strategic Plan to life! Participation is key…
Texas Hold’em Poker Night – Thursday 22 August
Your Social Committee have organised what should be a great fun event on Thursday 22nd August after the raffles. There will be a Buy-in of just $10 per player so the cost to participate is bugga-all with winner taking all!
You can’t miss the entry form in the main hall – it’s the biggest and fanciest entry form we’ve ever had – well done Layla!
Working Bee – Sunday 25 August
You can always smell a new bowls season coming along when it’s Working Bee time!
Alan Walker and Crumpy have a big list of chores that need doing around the place to make it safer and more presentable. There’ll be jobs for all – boys and girls and everyone from Tradies to Office Workers and everything in between.
After the work is done, enjoy a beer and a sausage sizzle with your mates.
Chores start from 9:00am!
Club Renovations Underway
The refurbishment of the male toilets has now been completed and have they come up an absolute treat. (Don’t worry ladies, we will get to the other end of the building once we complete the desperately needed expansion of the bar area!)
The next stage of the project will be to relocate the office and all the miscellaneous “stuff” in the store room and then get on with taking down the walls separating those rooms from the bar area.
Special thanks to Terry Lack and the team at the Bayside Companion Dog School for donating a huge $2,000 to this project! This will be a big assist!
Thanks also to our friends at the Bentleigh RSL who donated furniture for the new bar area – might not be perfect but it will tide us over for a few years.
Please continue to be patient as we work through these renovations and be sure not to get in the way of any demolition and construction works.
St Leonard’s Trip Away – Saturday 31 August
We’re looking to take a team of around 20 people to St Leonard’s Bowls Club (on the Bellarine Peninsula) to wrestle Graham the Seagull Trophy out of Barry Culph’s hands and back to Bentleigh.
Most of us will head down late Friday morning so we can do some solid “training” in the afternoon and will return on Sunday (tip -stop off at Portarlington for a bag of fresh mussels!)
“The House” has been booked and can sleep around 18 people in very shared accommodation. If that’s not your cup of tea, you can book a comfy room in the pub across the road from The House. Book online at:
https://www.stleonardshotel.com.au/rooms.html
If you’re going, please add your name to the entry sheet, including whether you will be staying at The House.
Any questions? See Tony Heath
2019/2020 Season Key Dates
We have the key dates for next season which should help you plan holidays etc around your bowls commitments. The major highlights are NO DOUBLE HEADERS and a longer mid-season break.
Please note the correction to our date for the Club Xmas Party!!
Saturday Pennant
7/9/2019 11:00am Opening of the Greens & 1:00pm Practice Game
14 & 21/9/2019 2 x Practice Games
27/9/2019 Peter Burnett Memorial Challenge vs Hampton RSL at Hampton RSL
28/9/2019 AFL Grand Final – no formal games
5/10/2019 First Saturday Pennant Game
16/11/2019 Heathy’s Handicap Pairs (Pennant Bye round for Vic Open)
14/12/2019 Xmas Party
21/12/2019 Last game before mid-season break
11/1/2020 Century 21 Tournament
18/1/2020 Fun Bowls Day – maybe a Skins Tourno or Medley event
25/1/2020 First round after mid-season break
7/3/2020 Round 18 – last home-and-away game
14&15/3/2020 Section Finals weekend
Tuesday Midweek Pennant
17 & 24/9/2019 2 x Practice Games
1/10/2019 First Tuesday Pennant Game
5/11/2019 No Pennant – some horse race is on apparently
19/11/2019 Bye round for Vic Open
17/12/2019 Last game before mid-season break and breakup party
21/1/2020 First round after mid-season break
10/3/2020 Round 18 – last home-and-away game and breakup party
17 & 19/3/2020 Section Finals
Pennant “Unavailable List” is ready for use…
Please make life easier for all the Selectors by notifying them when you are unavailable for Saturday Pennant. The Unavailable List is located in the corner just to the left of the Selection Board.
Practice Games are scheduled for the 7th, 14th and 21st September so please use the Unavailable List. The more notice you give Selectors the better!
Opening of the Greens – Saturday 7th September
The Opening Ceremony will be held earlier than usual at 11:00am followed by a light lunch. Somerville Bowling Club will be bringing a couple of sides up for a Practice Match at 1:00pm. Intraclub Practice Matches will be arranged for those not playing Somerville.
Members and our guests from Somerville are encouraged to stick around post-game for some live entertainment!
Thanks to our Social Committee for making this special day in our calendar extra special.
Bowlers Arm Coaching Clinic
If you’ve just taken up with a Bowlers Arm or need a little help to improve your technique, there is a Coaching Clinic coming up at the Ringwood Bowling Club on Sunday 25 August.
CLICK HERE to download the flyer.
Peter Burnett Memorial Challenge – Grand Final Eve
This is a friendly match between Bentleigh and the Hampton RSL. It’s always a great day with our friends at the RSL and many laughs are usually had.
Entry form is now up in the Club rooms.