The Parksville Lawn Bowling Club wrapped up its outdoor season on Sunday, September 24th with a lovely meal, and lively banter courtesy of our m.c., Mick Banks. The club handed out the hardware (bag tags and trophies) in a number of categories for all the different events, tournaments and leagues that were run this year. The following is a summary of what happened with our players on home turf and at different clubs throughout the North Island.
Bowlympics, sponsored by RBC on May 22. Gold medal winners were Peter Scott, David Van Rooyen
, Robbie Thomas and Pam Pratt. The Silver medalists were Andy Burton, Avril Adamson, Bob Merrell and Pam Smith. Bronze was earned by Ken Olenick, Bros Brosnikoff, Pam Oldfield and Paul McGrath.
Club Mixed Triples sponsored by Cutting Edge Trophies, July 5th. Rick Dolley, Athol Trickett and Robbie Thomas.
Jack & Jill July 19 & 20: Aase McMullin and Keith Terlson
Ferguson Exteriors Open Men’s and Women’s Triples July 29 & 30th: Mike Kelly, Bill Burgess, Don Urquhart and Diane Cruickshank, Kathleen Motley, Fay St. Marie.
Thrifty Foods Mix
ed Pairs August 12: Carol and Ken Bucyk
Norma Antrim Club Ladies Novice Singles August 5 & 6: Pam Oldfield
Club Ladies Intermediate Singles August 5 & 6: Jo-Anne Merrell
Computec Engraving Club Men’s Novice Singles August 5 & 6: Bob Ashton
Club Intermediate Men’s Singles August 5 & 6: Bob Merrell (bag tag)
PS Pharmasave Club Men’s and Women’s Singles August 12 & 13: Peter Scott and Carol Bucyk
Bob and Betty Benton Trophy Pairs: Bill Burgess and Roberta Stets
Cut Throat Seasons A & B: Mike Kelly and Bob Ashton
Battle of the Sexes September 20 & 21. The coveted Salmon Can Trophy went to the men this year. Andrew Adamson & Bob Merrell accepted the Gloria Wilcox Men’s Triples Trophy on behalf of their winning team. Trevor Motley and Murray Sinclair were unable to attend.
Andrew Adamson and Bob Merrell holding the Gloria Wilcox Men’s Triples trophy. They were part of the winning team with Trevor Motley and Murray Sinclair.A happy winner, Bill Burgess! Roberta was unable to attend.Joey and Bob – Another winning evening!
Pam Oldfield, Novice Women’s Single Winner
Peter Scott with his Men’s Singles trophy.Carol and Ken Bucyk with their trophy, District Pairs which was won in Port Alberni Sept 17.The Bobs are wearing their medals from the District Novice and Intermediate tournaments.Carol Bucyk and the trophy almost as big as her. She won the Club Women’s Singles for 2023.Winners of District medals from left to right: Ken and Carol Bucyk – District Pairs. Jo-Anne Merrell Intermediate Singles. Bob Ashton, Novice Singles (men). Pam Oldfield Novice Singles Women) Bob Merrell Intermediate Singles.
Twisted Triples: Chris and Martin Fereday with Janet Harding
Scotch Pairs: Kathleen Motley & Trevor Motley
District Medals: Men’s Novice Singles: Bob Ashton. Men’s Intermediate Singles: Bob Merrell
District Pairs: Ken and Carol Bucyk
Thanks to all who made the wrap up dinner such a lovely evening; Chuck for his photos, Lynn, Vicky and all the kitchen people who created a very scrumptious meal and floral arrangements for the table, Mick as m.c., our bartenders, the club members who came out for the evening and all who have played throughout the year, the groundskeepers…you were outstanding in creating an absolutely beautiful green for 2023, and all of our sponsors. I look forward to seeing you on the green in 2024.
The battle was on the green September 20th and 21st with a number of teams vying for the coveted Gloria Wilcox trophy. The greens were once again in superb condition and the weather was not an issue at all as the men and women got down to business. On the women’s side, the winning team was that of Joey Merrell, Robbie Thomas and Diana Olenick/Beverly Benson. Second went to Sandi Mitchell, Karen Perrin and Beverly Benson. Third place was earned by the team of Kathleen Motley, Cheryl Baker and Terry Chapell.
One the men’s side, Trevor Motley, Bob Merrell and Andrew Adamson/Murray Sinclair took first place. The team of Peter Scott, Chuck Benson and Don Bouchard/Andy Burton earned second. Don Urquhart, Dave Perry and George Wallis took home third place.
The men won the “Battle of the Sexes” for 2023. Great play on both sides. Thanks everyone for taking part in the final event of the season.
The guys are all smiles as they celebrate being winners of this year’s Battle of the Sexes.
Here’s Birthday Boy Olav S. hoisting a cupcake on the occasion of his 93rd birthday. Happy, happy birthday, Olav!!Congrats to Robbie, Joey, Diana & Beverly Benson.Andrew, Trevor, Bob and Murray smile for the camera.
Chris and Martin Fereday capturing the Silver Medal in the tournament.
Port Alberni played host to the final big tournament of the year this past weekend (Sept. 16 & 17), and three of the top four teams came out of our club. Winning the North Vancouver Island & Powell River District Pairs Championship was the team of Carol and Ken Bucyk. They defeated the team of Chris and Martin Fereday in a nail biter which was determined on the final bowl of the last end of the game. In the end, the Bucyk team won 15-13, and took home gold medals and the District trophy. Chris and Martin Fereday took home the silver medal for the second place finish. In third was the father daughter team of Eric and Luci Ewen of Qualicum Beach. Merry Danarti and Bob Allaby, who were last year’s defending champions, finished in fourth.
Many thanks go out to the Port Alberni club for their efforts this year. The greens were superb, the kitchen staff and all the behind the scenes folks made it a very positive experience. Thanks to Dean Penny, the District Games Chair for his work this year, as to all the games people in all the clubs who worked so hard to make these games happen. Thanks also to those who came out to watch, and to those who came to play. Happy “off-season” to all and enjoy a much needed break.
Carol Bucyk
Carol and Ken with their gold medals and their North Vancouver Island and Powell River Mixed Pairs trophy. Note: the trophy and Carol are almost the same size!!
What a day for a great lawn bowling challenge! Tuesday, September 12th saw the Cowichan Lawn Bowling Club up for a visit and a two game mini-tournament. Even though the rain came down at times, it didn’t dampen the spirits of the players from both teams. There were lots of laughs and some superb shot making as well. In the end, and after a very long four year drought, Parksville was able to bring home the trophy. It went right down to the wire points-wise. There were two 10 end games played and amazingly with wins, losses and tie scores the two clubs were tied at 32. It came down to shot differential with Cowichan having 145 shots for, while Parksville earned 150. With that +5 differential, Parksville won the challenge.
A very big thank you goes out to all who participated from both teams and to those at the our club who made it all happen, both inside and on the green. Thanks to Chuck Benson for the great photo of both teams on our deck. See you all next year.
Carol Bucyk
The Parksville and Cowichan Lawn Bowling Clubs together on our deck, celebrating the game, sportsmanship and great memories.
The Men’s and Women’s Novice and Intermediates Tournament winners were decided in Parksville on Saturday, September 8th, with Parksville and Nanaimo players earning the honours. It was a clean sweep for Parksville with Bob Ashton winning the Novice Men’s and Bob Merrell winning the Men’s Intermediate division. On the women’s side, again, it was a clean sweep, but this time it was for Nanaimo with Diana Anderson taking novice honours and Lezlie Howe winning the Intermediate section. Dean Penny, District Games Chair presented the awards to all four winners. The Parksville Club would like to thank all those who took part in the event and to those behind the scenes who made it all possible. Thanks to our club photographer, Chuck Benson, for his great photos of the tournament winners.
Bob Ashton is all smiles after winning the Novice Trophy for 2023. Other winners shown are Lezlie Howe and Diana Anderson of Nanimo and Bob Merrell of Parksville
It started out a bit rainy and soggy for the start of the Berwick (a.k.a. George Gibson) Open Triples Tournament held Sept. 6th and 7th at our club. However, the sun soon broke through and we were able to run a great tournament on almost ideal conditions. The green was superb and made bowling a real treat for members visiting our club. There were two flights to this event. It’s a healthy sign for the sport which took a real hit during the pandemic.
In the early draw, the winning team was made up of the Ewen family: Erik, Suzanne and Luci of Qualicum Beach. Second was Rick Quibell, Mary Mulligan and Joe Randazzo of Nanaimo. Third went to another Nanaimo team of Vern Hagstrom, Linda Cooper and Keith McMann. Fourth place was earned by Jake and Elaine Van Kooten and Ben Vermeer of Port Alberni.
The late draw first place winners was the team of Vern Greenhill, Henri Saucier and Sandy Tonnellier. Second was the Qualicum team of Mike Ward, Helen Roberts and John Eyre. Third went to Parksville’s Chris and Martin Fereday with Peter Scott. The team of Randy Noble, Frances Tester and Brian Schule also from Nanaimo came in at fourth place.
The Ewen team of Luci, Erik and Suzanne were the overall winners and will have their names engraved on the trophy for this year.
Many, many thanks go out to the following people who made this all possible. Vicky and her kitchen crew who made sure that we didn’t go hungry, our bartenders who made sure that we didn’t go thirsty. A big thank you also goes out to our greens-keepers, plus Mick and Athol for ironing the green, our games team for all the work involved in getting things up and running numbers-wise, umpires (Rod Tester and Joyce Mitchell), the spectators who came out and watched, Sandi Mitchell for doing all that she does in these events and Berwick and its representative Corrina who donated lovely gift baskets and other assorted goodies for the tournament. Last, but not least, we cannot forget Chuck Benson for all his great shots of the games, the players and all the other pictures he’s taken for us this year. Thank you, Chuck!
Carol Bucyk
Another feast being prepared by Vicky and her crewPeter Scott, Chris and Martin Fereday from Parksville.
Port Alberni was home to some great lawn bowling on superb greens this past weekend (September 2 & 3). The weather cooperated as well, although Saturday was challenging because of the heat. In the end, the five game series came down to two winners. On the women’s side, it was Robin Forrest of Port Alberni who took first and earned the title as District champion. April Gilchrist of Courtenay came second, and our own Chris Fereday took third. On the men’s side, it was Vern Hagstrom of Nanaimo winning the crown, while our own Rick Dolley came second, beating out the third place finisher, Peter Scott, also of Parksville. Thanks to all who came out to play, and those who came out to watch.
Just a reminder that the District Pairs finals will be coming up in two weeks time (September 16 & 17)and also in Port Alberni. The highway is now fully open, so we look forward to seeing you out there. Ken and Carol Bucyk as well as Chris and Martin Fereday will be representing our home club of Parksville.
Chuck Benson, our ace photographer, was out the other day and captured this great picture of what initially was though to be James Bond tumbling down to earth in a parachute, However, upon further investigation, it was clarified that
007 Gooding on his BIG birthday!!!
our sometimes bar tender, ex-British naval fellow and generally all round good guy Tex Gooding was parachuting to earth to celebrate his 80th birthday. Apparently it was a little bit more than 80, but COVID seemed to mess up the math a bit. All in all, Tex…a pretty cool way to celebrate your special day.
Hard to believe that leagues have wrapped up for the season and September is just around the corner. We’ve had all kinds of play on our lovely green and some really great opportunities to meet and play with novices, tenderfoot and experienced players alike. Here’s a summary of what wrapped up this past week. In Cut Throat, Bob Ashton came up on top. In Twisted Triples, it was Chris and Martin Fereday along with Janet Harding who came out as winners, and in Scotch Pairs, it was Trevor and Kathleen Motley reigning supreme on the green. A big thank you goes out to all who came out and played, and a really big thank you to the novices and tenderfoot players who made a point of coming out and playing. We hope that everyone had fun, learned a bit more about the game and enjoyed what it has to offer as a sport for life.
August 26 and 27th were two very busy days for the Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club with many of our own club members coming out as winners. First place went to the dynamic duo of Vern Hagstrom and Linda Cooper, while our own Rick Dolley and Merry Danarti came in a close second. Courtenay’s Dean Penny teamed up with our Roberta Stets for a third place finish. Parksville’s Ken and Carol Bucyk earned a fourth place finish and rounding out fifth was another Courtenay team of Peter Harding and Heather Divine.
Because it was Nanaimo’s 100th anniversary, the tournament sponsor, Martin Velsen, of Martin Velsen Real Estate had many wonderful surprise and gifts to hand out such as gift certificates, bottles of wine, a couple of one hundred dollar bills and even a Nespresso coffee maker. We’re appreciative of Martin’s generosity and thank him for his continued support of lawn bowling and the Nanaimo club.
Many thanks to Chuck Benson who took these photos of Ken and Carol, as well as that of Geoff and Anne Holland.
The Ewen team of Luci, Erik and Suzanne were the overall winners and will have their names engraved on the trophy for this year.
