BOWLING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 622, 29 August 1933, Page 6

BOWLING

general meeting SUCCESSFUL YEAR DISCLOSED IN ANNUAL REPORT BAY OF PLENTY CENTRE t , A successful past season was shown in the annual report of the Rotorua Bowling Club presented at the annual general meeting held in the club pavilion last evening. There was a good attendance,' Mr. J. McDowell retiring president, presiding. The annual report on the activities of the previous season stated inter alia : — The membership at the beginning of the season was 149 and since then 32 new members were elected, making a total of 181; of these 26 have been struek off as unfinancial; leaving 15 b on the roll. Two members Messrs. C. P. Taylor and R. Kirk, have passed away since our last annual general meeting. They were good sports, and, notwithstanding their years, keen followers of the ancient game. During the season the following i competitions were completed, resulting as follows: Club Fours, Messrs J. H. Watson, R. Paul, G. Watts, D. Herd (skip) (winners) ; Messrs N. Fletcher, J. M. Roberts, A. E. Polglase, A. Budd (skip), (runnersup) ; Champion Singles, Mr. K. Mohi; Champion Pairs, Messrs, W. A. Knaggs and T. Kelly (skip) ;Handicap Pairs, Messrs C. A. Roberts and N. Fletcher (skip) ; Handicap Singles, Mr. R. Paul. Several progressive pairs competitions were held during the holidays, catering for visitors and club members. The attendance by local players was disappointing. A few games were played for the S'aturday pairs of Nicholas Gold Bowls, the present holders being Messrs W. Rowe and W. H. Corbett. No games were play-

ea xor tne W e.anesday pairs. f or the second year in succession our club was successful in winning the Francis Cup, the team comprising Messrs. J. McDowell, A. Budd, A. Butt and H. Bertram (skip). Two tournaments were held as usual, the first opening on February 6th with 55 teams, and the second on February 20th with 26 pairs. It is gratifying to note that the number of entries in both tournaments slightly exceeded those of last year. The pleasure of the games was somewhat marred by rain. The winners of the first tournament were Messrs Pomeroy, Robinson, Hawken and R. Pilkington (skip), a team from the Hamilton Club, while the runnersup were Messrs Sutherland, Sayers, Livingstone and Robertson (skip), representing the Onehunga Club. In the second tournament, that doughty pah* Dr. Ilardie Neil and Professor Maxwell Walker (skip), from the Auckland Club again proved successful, the other finalists being Messrs Hopwood and C. E. Hardley (skip) of the West End Club. Pleasing features of the season were the numerous visits made by j Club teams to outside districts, embracing Matamata, Okoroire, Te Awamutu, Putaruru, Te Poi. and Te Puke. On several occasions the team journeyed by bus, which added to the sociability and pleasure of the outing. Always the teams were lavishly entertained. In the play, it was clearly demonstrated that the Rotorua Club was able to hold its own in any company. Return visits were made by teams from Matamata, Okoroire and Putaruru, an enjoyable afternoon's play ensuing. Other visitors were travelling teams from the South Auckland Centre, accompanied by their President, Mr. J. North. After an enjoyable morning's play, they were entertained at the Tea : Kiosk. Bay of Plenty Centre During the year, a special general meeting was held to consider the proposed f ormation of a Bay of Plenty Centre. After lengthy discussion, it was decided to support the proposal. The formation of the new centre has now been approved by

the Dominion Council. A great deal of credit for the formation of the new centre has to be given to one of our own members, Mr. W. W. P. Hall, who has worked diligently to bring the proposal to a successful issue. The rules of the Club have been revised during the year. The proposed

amendments and additions, as recommended by the sub-committee (Messrs J. McDowell, President, H. Hamilton, Vice-President, and A. Budd, Treasurer) were submitted to the special general meeting and carried. During the season, various deputations from the committee waited upon Mr. L. J. Bayfeild, District Manager of the Tourist Department, stressing the necessity for the appointment of a greenkeeper, so that moro personal attention may be given to the bowling greens. Afternoon tea has been provided on Wednesdays and Saturdays as heretofore, and has been much appreciated by the members. In conclusion, the committee wishes to place on record its thanks to Mr. L. J. Bayfeild and his staff for their co-operation during the season and

to the Tourist Department for the provision of special seats for the bowlers. Discussing the financial position of the club Mr. McDowell pointed out that at present it was largely relying on revenue derived from the annual tournaments for its existence. He felt that this was a weakness and considered that any club should be able to provide sufficient finance c'ut of its subscriptions and thought that if necessary the subscriptions of the club should be increased to make this possible. Before vacating the presidential chair, Mr. McDowell thanked the members for the support aceorded him during his term of officej particularly the members of the committee, who were an exceptionally keen and energetic body of men and had put in much hard work during the season. The work of the match committee was also deserving of great praise. In choosing* Mr. H. Hamilton for the position of president, unopposed, the club had made a vvise choice. On taking the chair the new president said that he realised he was following in the steps of .a very capable predecessor and he hoped" that he could do justice to the confidence imposed in hina. He was pleased to see that all the members of the old' committee had again been nominated. Election of Officers The election of officers resulted as follows: President, Mr. H. Hamilton; vice-presidents, Mr. E. Fowkes and M!r. A. French; secretary, Mr. J. W. Webber; treasurer, Mr- A. Butt; com-

u4l_ I mittee, Messrs J. McDowell, T. Lind1 say, T. Kelly, W. H. Corbett, R. A. Gardner, A. K. Wjlliams, W. J. Kurney, J. W. Tyson and W. A. Knaggs. Auditor, Mr. J. H. Buddle. Remuneration for both the secretary and auditor was fixed on the same scale as last year and a fee agreed upon for the treasurer. Biay of Plenty Centre The interim secretary of .the proposed Bay of Plenty Centre, Mr. W. W. P. Hall, wrote that a meeting would ihe held at Whakatane on September 23 and asking for the appointment of two delegates, to have full ; powers to consider the suggested ' rules for the formation of the centre. Mr. Hall who was present, said that since the previous meeting difficulties regarding the entry of Opotiki and Tauranga had been settled satisfactorily. He had found that before the proposal could, meet the requirements of the Dominion Asso- | ciation, each club concerned in the J formation of the proposed centre was | required to sign declarations stipulj ating their desire to enter into the j proposal. This had been done and a formal notification had been received from the Dominion body agreeing to the proposed formation of the centre. After discussing the question of a venue for th'e next meeting, Whakatane had been considered the most central point. It was necessary that delegates appointed should have full power to commit the club represented in order to secure finality in the proposal. In connection with the proposal it was necessary that the boundaries of the suggested centre should be clearly defined and he suggested that it include the counties of Whakatane, Opotiki, Rotorua, Taupo, and parts of Tauranga.

It was decided that Messrs J. McDowell and C. R. Tapper be the delegates to the Bay of Plenty Centre for the ensuing year. Sunday Play Some discussion oceurred on the advisability of appointing delegates to attend a meeting of the Waikato centre on September 6 in connection with the question of Sunday play raised by the Frankton Club. It was considered by the president that as the matter to be considered would not concern Rotorua if the proposed Bay of Plenty Centre was formed, and was merely a private "squabble" of the Frankton Club, that no good purpose would be served by the attendance of Rotorua. Mr. G. R. Tapper considered that as Rotorua had attended the previous meeting, which had been declared illegal by the Dominion Centre, it would appear that Rotorua was "sitting on the fence" in regard to the matter if delegates were not sent. It was finally decided to leave the question of attendance at the meeting to the three previous delegates. Lease of Kiosk The advisability of the leasing oi the Tea Kiosk, when the tea rooms is shifted to the Blue Bath buildings, was discussed and it was decided that the club was not in a sufficiently strong financial position to warrant transferring the lease from the present building to the Tea Kiosk. Thanks Appreciation of the services rendered to the club during the past season by Mr. E. Fowkes was expressed by Mr. A. French, who said that few recognised the amount of work done by Mjr. Fowkes for the club, partieularly in organising the past tournament during the unfortunate absence of the secretary owing to illness. 4 motion of appreciation was carried by acclamation, Mr. Fowkes suitably replying. Trophy Offered An offer to present a trophy for competition by club members was made by Mr. J. H. Buddle, his action meeting with applause from the members present.