LOYAL CORE: Gate Pa Bowling Club life members and longest serving. Left to right, Bruce Anderson, Spencer Bieleski, Peter Smale, Bob Swale, June Morrow, Brian Hubert, Mary Smale, and Mavis Clarke.
LOYAL CORE: Gate Pa Bowling Club life members and longest serving. Left to right, Bruce Anderson, Spencer Bieleski, Peter Smale, Bob Swale, June Morrow, Brian Hubert, Mary Smale, and Mavis Clarke.
In 1953 a Pukekohe beekeeper named Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Mt Everest for the first time in history, four days before the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
That same year the first bowl was rolled across the immaculate greens at Gate Pa Bowling Club by Tauranga MP George Walsh to begin 64 years of top class bowls on the site.
But sadly Gate Pa Bowling Club has hosted its last tournament.
The reality of a rapidly decreasing membership has dealt the fatal blow to the club.
Next month the final annual meeting and prizegiving will be held in the comfy clubhouse across Cameron Rd from the site of the Battle of Gate Pa.
There will be a few last drinks, a few tears and as usual plenty of laughs as the hard core group of bowlers, social members and long-time volunteers say their final farewells to a Tauranga sporting institution.
"It is just a sign of the times," Spencer Bieleski said, as he reflected on his time at the club that began in 1978.
"We used to all help out with working bees. When we were doing the fence out the back here I felt a bit of a clip when I put the spade in and it was a piece of shrapnel from a six-inch mortar from the Battle of Gate Pa."
He is the second longest standing club member after Bruce Anderson, who was there right from the beginning in 1953.
"What helped considerably was the club had a unique 24-hour liquor license and was the only one in town that had this. You always knew when you came here it was a resting place," Bruce said laughing.
A decade or two back there were four vibrant bowling clubs along Cameron Rd - Gate Pa, Tauranga RSA, Tauranga South and Tauranga based at the Domain.
Now just Tauranga South and Tauranga remain from the impact of the massive increase in retirement villages in the Western Bay.
LONG SERVING: Gate Pa's longest serving members Spencer Bieleski (1978), left, and Bruce Anderson (1953). PHOTO: ANDREW WARNER
Peter and Mary Smale have been fulltime bowlers and club officials since around 1982.
It is very straightforward to them what has brought their club down.
"There are more bowling greens in retirement villages now than there are in bowling clubs," Peter said.
"There are as many as 500 to 600 people in retirement villages that are playing bowls fulltime but to me they don't contribute anything to the sport. They play among themselves inter-village but not against clubs as they are not affiliated."
Mary says figures out of Bowls NZ reveal that there were nearly 12,000 people playing bowls out of retirement villages (nationwide).
"I just think it is sad. Our members have just got older and given up bowls and a lot of them have gone to retirement villages which has made a big difference to the bowls clubs," she said.
He worked closely with Andrew Ferguson of Tauranga Boys' College to bring through some outstanding young talent and that continues today.
But they will not be playing at Gate Pa again. No one will be.
The club leased the land under the control of the Gate Pa Domain Board, later to be taken over by Tauranga City Council.
So what will become of the prime land now it is no longer used for bowls?
It is too early to say.
"Gate Pa Bowling Club let us know they wanted to end their lease, and we're in the early stages of working through how we might use the land. We haven't entered into any discussions with external parties," Mark Smith, Tauranga City Council's Parks and Recreation manager said.
