02/08/2026
Happy centenary to us!
Today we marked our existence as a club for 100 years with a fun filled day of bowls, food and cameraderie. We had about 100 attendees, which we think is a club record.
The day began with a welcoming speech from President, Paul Shafar followed by some opening remarks from Club Captain, Mike Gould.
We then had two fun competitions with over 40 members taking part. “Circling the Jack” was won by new member, Sally Saffer and then “Hitting the Jack” was won by fellow new member (and Sally’s husband), Laurence Saffer.
After the fun came the main competition, the John Stancliffe Centenary Cup, a pairs knockout with 32 members competing. The competition was named in memory of John Stancliffe, a former president and captain of various teams, who sadly passed last year. We were delighted that his wife Irene, still a very accurate bowler, was with us to present the trophies.
We broke for a delicious tea after the first round, during which we heard three wonderfully informative, passionate and emotional speeches from:
Long standing member and former President, Keith Harbage, who outlined how the club had changed and grown during his 18 years as a member.
New member, Laurence Saffer, who described how welcome he has been made to feel in his first year at the club.
And the ever popular Etta Cohen, who explained what the club meant to her and how to her, it’s not just a club, but a community, which resonated with us all.
After tea the John Stancliffe Centenary Cup was played to its conclusion with the final seeing Tim Milner and Howard Barnett beating George Ramsden and Howard Hyams.
Finally, to mark our Centenary, Mike Gould chose St Gemma’s Hospice as the captain’s charity for the season. We presented a cheque for £2,600 which represented sponsorship monies raised from Mike’s skydive (yes, he did a skydive!), back in March. A further cheque will be sent later in the year with the proceeds of today’s raffle and with monies raised throughout the season from an extra 50p charged to members for each cup of tea and coffee.
All in all, a perfect day!
JA