Our  club held its annual  Gloria Wilcox Tournament this past week (September 17 & 18th) , under mostly sunny skies  and fairly fast greens.  Both the men’s and women’s teams were drawn randomly by the skips before the first morning’s draw.  This was a great way to “mix things up,” and have different people playing together, some  for the first time this year.

Over the course of the two days,  there was some incredible shot making on the green, by both the men’s and women’s teams.  In the end, It was the Rick Dolley,  Kent Card and Allan Watson  team which took home the hardware for the tournament for this year.  Coming in a very close second was the  team of Bob Ashton, Terry Nicholls and George Wallis.

Over on the women’s side, it was the team lead by Karen Perrin with Gerda Veld as vice and Linda Burgess as lead,  narrowly beating out  skip Carol Bucyk , Betty Nordick and Charlotte Squires  for the honours and first place for the Gloria Wilcox for 2025.

The top three teams from the men’s and women’s sides then met on the green to play for the coveted Salmon Can Trophy.  It was  Team Perrin up against Team Dolley on Green #1, Team Holland against Team Scott on #2 and Team Ashton against Team Bucyk on #3.  The scoring was done over 5 ends with the  total score determining  the winner.  In the end, the men reigned victorious with a margin of 17-6 for the final score.

Thanks to the kitchen and bar crew who  kept us fed and hydrated.  A gracious thanks goes out to the grounds crew, set up people, games committee, Joey Merrell, Chuck Benson who took over 200 photos for this year’s event, people who came out to watch the games and who cheered us all on from the gallery during the Battle of the Sexes.  In all this, we can’t forget to say thanks to the players who came out and were a part of this yearly event.  If I have missed anyone, my apologies.

Carol Bucyk

The District Pairs Competition was held at our club  this past weekend.   The district clubs had sent their winners to Parksville to see who would reign supreme for 2025.  This year the winners were Vern Greenhill and Leone King from Courtenay who took gold for their efforts.  Silver was earned by our own Merry Danarti and Bob Allaby.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support the teams this year.  Also we want to thank the Parksville kitchen crew, bartenders, greens keepers, set up crew, games committee, umpires , photographer (Chuck) and everyone else who was involved in this year’s competition.

Carol Bucyk

Congratulations to April Sloan and Debbie Taylor who earned a silver for the Women’s Pairs this past week in Nanaimo during the B.C. Seniors Games.  On the men’s side, it was our own Bob Ashton and Christian Massey  who also earned a silver for their efforts.

Carol Bucyk

A fun, social day was had by all that attended the annual Parksville/Cowichan Bay Challenge on September 9.  First, there was the 10 end challenge in the morning which was played under cloudy skies.  In the afternoon, the skies cleared and made way for a sunny   12 end game.   Parksville came out the winner for this year’s event, having won last year’s  as well.

The Parksville teams ended u winning 9 games for a total of 27 points while Cowichan Bay Lawn Bowling Club took 7 games and earned 21 points.

This yearly event began back in 2008 between the two clubs, and  is much anticipated every September.  A very big thank you to all who took part in the event, and once again, thanks to Chuck Benson for his great photos.

Trevor Motley/Carol Bucyk

Nanaimo played host to the District Singles Tournament on September 6th and 7th.  Some of the shot making over the two days was unbelievable and  both the men and women demonstrated  some  really great lawn bowling strategies.

In the end, it was Irene Toulouse of Nanaimo who earned Women’s District Singles Championship, while on the men’s side it was our own Rick Dolley who was victorious.

Many thanks go out to the host club, kitchen and bar crew, games committee, players and spectators, umpires, set up crew, markers,  and everyone else who put this event together.  Also, a very big thank you to Dean Penny who made everything work like clock work.

Carol Bucyk

The George Gibson/Berwick Retirement Concepts tournament was held under sunny, but somewhat smoky skies September 3rd and 4th.  We had two full flights with teams coming from around the zone, taking part in this popular event.

The winners for the tournament were our own Sandi Mitchell, Merry Danarti and Bob Allaby.  Keith Terlsen, Don Terlsen and Brenda Terlsen came in second and first in their flight.    Carol Bucyk, Ken Bucyk and Rick Dolley of Parksville earned 3rd overall and second in their flight. The Nanaimo team headed by Dennis Dezell came in fourth.  Rounding out fifth position was the Parksville team of Chris and Martin Fereday with Peter Scott and in sixth place, it was Roberta Stets, Jeanette Ferguson and Colin Frame.

We would like to thank Berwick for their very generous support of this tournament, plus the goodies that they had available to us.  Their tent came in very hand both days as well.  A big shout out goes to Lynn and her kitchen crew who were so busy getting out the tasty desserts and coffee for us.  Also, thanks to the bar staff who kept us happily hydrated.    Thanks to Chuck for the pictures, the grounds keepers who once again made our green very playable.  Thanks to the set up crew and the games committee who were so efficient in  getting the scores calculated so quickly.  We can’t forget the spectators who came out to watch on both days and to the players who made this such a memorable event.

Carol Bucyk

More sunny skies greeted our novices and intermediate players as they headed out on the green this past weekend on Nanaimo.

The Novice Men’s winner was Ray Chenier of Qualicum with David Hughes of Nanaimo coming in second.  The Intermediate Men’s  came down to Tony Morris of Qualicum defeating Grady Wood of Nanaimo.

On the  Novice side for the women,  it was Colleen Leslie  of Nanimo over Parksville’s Darlene Pentland.  The Women’s Intermediate title was earned by Qualicum’s Shelley Howieson defeating Cindy Greenhill of Courtnay.

Once again, a very big round of thanks go out to everyone involved in making this event happen:  kitchen crew, greenskeepers, participants, gallery, games committee and all the others who made this such a great afternoon for lawn bowling in our district.  To our novice and intermediate players, well done in your efforts at this event.

Carol Bucyk

This year’s Jack and Jill Tournament was a mid-week affair which saw two complete flights taking part.  Our club also had a number of novices and intermediate players which was great to see as well.

The overall winners of the event this year were Aase McMullin and Bob Merrell.  They will get their names inscribed on the trophy for 2025.  Robbie Thomas and Bill Burgess came in second.  Chris Fereday and David Perry earned third.  Rounding out fourth place was Betty Nordick and Peter Scott.

As always, there are so many people to thank for making this event so successful.  The kitchen and bar crew kept us fed and watered.  Thanks to those who sold tickets for the draws.  The grounds keepers and set up crews were awesome in getting the greens ready for this event.  Once again, our games committee kept on top of things with their knowledge of computer skills, especially data entry.  Thanks to Don U. for his expertise in that area.  Once again, our cub reporter, Chuck Benson, came through with some great photos of the event.  Last but not least, a very big  thank you to all who came out to watch and  to those who participated.  It was wonderful seeing you all at our club.  Final mention should be made to some of the shirts that were worn out there over the two days.  So much variety and colour just added to the event.  Well done, Parksville.

Carol Bucyk

Scorching temperatures and incredibly fast greens were the order of the day in Nanaimo  for this past weekend’s tournament.   This very popular mixed pairs event drew players from up and down the zone.  As stated, the speed of the green for this tournament as incredible and made for some challenging shot making.

In the end, it was our own Merry Danarti and Rick Dolley who took the honours for the event.  They went a perfect 4-0 , with 38 ends and a 38 shot differential.   Their names will be on the trophy for 2025.   Nanaimo’s Vern Hagstrom  and Linda Cooper came second, also with a 4-0 record but with 36 ends and a 33 shot differential.  Our  own Chris and Martin Fereday took third place with 10 points, 33 ends and a 25 shot differential.

A very big thank you goes out to the  sponsor for this event, Martin Velsen, of Martin Velsen Realty Nanaimo,  who  presented both  the trophy and cash prize to Rick and Merry.  Martin has been a strong and generous supporter of this event for a number of years now, and each year, he has  also brought a number of gift prizes as give-aways to many lucky people playing in this event.   Bottles of wine, prosseco, gift cards etc., were just some of the prizes donated by him.

A big thank you  also goes out to the kitchen crew,  grounds keepers, bar staff, umpires, games committee, the gallery and the players who gave it their all during this event.

The annual Men’s and Women’s Singles Tournament concluded on Sunday afternoon, August 17th.     The tournament began on Tuesday, August 12th but the  intense  smoke from the Mount Underwood and Wesley Ridge fires put a halt to the matches.  On Friday, our air quality was such that games were postponed  until conditions became  safer for all.   Play resumed on Sunday with the semifinals and finals happening  and much improved weather conditions.

As for the tournament,   it was Brian Bennett prevailing over Rick Dolley to win the title of Club Men’s Singles Champion for 2025.  It was a very hard fought game with some great play making involved.   On the women’s side, it was Carol Bucyk taking on Anne Holland for the title.  It was another hard fought game, with Bucyk reaching the 18 points first  and becoming the Club Women’s Singles Champion for 2025.

A very big thank you goes out to everyone involved in this event:  the kitchen and bar crew,  games committee, markers, grounds crew, umpires, our resident photographer, Chuck,   Sandi , who was busy filling in wherever and whenever needed, the gallery who came out to watch on Sunday afternoon, the players  and everyone else who made this event so successful.

Carol Bucyk