Cheers, shouts of encouragement and loud clapping echoed around the Moorabbin Bowl on Thursday14th November– and that was before we even started bowling! It was a positive reaction as each bowler lifted up his or her ball and headed to the start line!!
The style and grace of yesteryear was certainly in evidence as our bowlers displayed a variety of tricks to encourage the bowling ball to the end of the laneway. Some dropped the ball from a great height, some almost went sliding down the lane as well, and some stood and used their entire body to steer it to the other end (great stuff Noela Smith!). Secrets were revealed – yes, Joan Fry and Phil McLean were League bowlers just a couple of decades ago and Gary Strahan was actually PAID to bowl five days a week when he was younger! It was Julie Walshe however who stole everyone’s thunder and quietly won the day with her second-round score of 159.
To give credit where it’s due, everyone completed the two games and were still able to walk away from the venue on their own two legs (albeit very stiffly and with hands clutching various “sore” spots).
Three things were noted – 1. There were no spare body parts lying around at the end of the games (thank you Steve McColl for that observation) 2. Leslie and Morris Cotterill have a positive reply to their daughter’s question “Is that a good game for older people to play?” 3. We had a fantastic band of supporters who for one reason or another were unable to bowl on the day, but still came to join in the fun – wonderful people!
Thank you so much to Janett for her fantastic organisation and unflagging enthusiasm – and to those of you who missed the bowling activity, Janette is looking to organise, squash, wind surfing and a parachute jump for our outings in 2025.
Michele Backholer November 2024
