Defying the weather, 16 teams, including some representing the Cooper's Beach, Kaitaia Combined, and Church Road clubs turned out to contest the annual Patron's Bowls tournament alongside the members of the host club at the Far North RSA Bowling Club green on Saturday, July 9.
Drizzly rain and a very wet green delayed the start of play so the first game was run as a trivia contest with opposing teams playing against each other. The weather improved enough after 11am to start play with two games played back-to-back, then after lunch, the last game finished just before rain set in again.
When it came to prizegiving, FNRSABC president Ian Macnee thanked Moss the greenkeeper, Dawn the caterer, Kath the raffle organiser, and the conveners Pat and Adele, then announced that vice president Max Foster had asked to sponsor the event his year which patron Bruce Bird had agreed.
Before presenting the prizes, Foster spoke on how much members benefited from being part of the committee and how the club relied on the many hours of voluntary work that the committee did to ensure, the club and the tournaments it ran were successful.
Of the two teams who each won four games, Barry Allison, Trevor Smith, Nancy Page took out this year's title with four wins, 20 ends and 36 points. Runners up were Dave Riddle, Margaret Perry, Ian Panther with 4, 16, 36; third were Marty Doak, Freda May, Colin May with 3 (and a draw), 19, 46; with Ian Macnee, Val Jones, Lillian Wells finishing fourth overall with 3, 12, 17. The lucky draw of three chocolate boxes was won by the Church Road team of Shirley Young, Tessa Pont and Hisae Nagawa.
