Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club

Happy New Year

12/31/2022

I thought I would do a quick new year news item, primarily to bring people up to date on the tree that fell on the greens during the Christmas storm. There is a slideshow below taken on Christmas Day Which shows what happened.

Specialist contractors were brought in by the Town of Cobourg to remove the tree on December 29th. Here is a report from Terry Dyche.

"The bulk of the tree has been removed but there are still large branches and a very large amount of smaller pieces scattered all over the green. The root base and the base of the trunk still remain but they are in the park area so we are not concerned. Overall I did not see any major damage to the green apart from a couple of places where tree branches have punched holes in the green and several places where you can see a shallow trough where the large branches came to rest.

The fence is badly damaged where the tree and its branches fell on it and will need repair/replacement. I have meanwhile put caution tape along the damaged fence line.

The ditch boards look as if they might have survived but this needs to be confirmed once the rest of the branches etc are removed and the snow and ice covering them melted. The only damage I can see currently is the back board has been pushed forward toward the green about two inches over a length of about fifteen feet.

The main part of the tree took out the sprinkler head and totally smashed it."

The EC will discuss how to follow up on the damage to the fence etc at their next meeting.

The photos in the slideshow below were taken on New Year's Eve.

Club YouTube channel

I have updated the club YouTube channel to include a playlist of videos which I produced during lock down and posted to my own channel at the time. These cover the years from 2013. If you are interested check them out at
https://www.youtube.com/@cobourglawnbowlingnews1402
On the subject of videos, our channel proved quite popular this year. Here are the top videos and views:

Ontario mixed pairs 1,076 views
CLBC Promotional video 682 views
2022 Season Review 266 views

The CSMBA short mat championships video has had 339 views.

2023 Open Tournaments

I have included the Cobourg 2023 open tournament schedule on here. Also a downl0adable file of all District 14 open tournaments. Click the appropriatee button.

2023 Cobourg open tournaments

2023 D14 Open Tournaments

And Finally - if you want to watch some first class indoor bowling, the world championships start on January 6th. You can watch all the games live or recorded on at
https://www.youtube.com/@WorldBowlsTour

That's it from me. Happy New Year and enjoy the rest of the winter.

Bill Arthur

CSMBA Championships - Fours

11/26/2022

The final event of the championship week here in Cobourg on Friday was the fours and full details are below.

But first an update on the triples. You can watch the last few ends of the final on YouTube at https://youtu.be/rh5m7FJ5ChY

This is an unedited version so apologies for the production.

Now to the Fours. Eight teams competed in two groups of four. Winner of Group A played second in Group B and winner of Group B played second in Group A.

The results of the standings after the group stage and the results of the semi finals and finals are below.

Winners - David Lleweelyn, Fred Wallbank, Steve McKerihen, Martin Foxhall

Silver - Don Rush, Travis Anderson, Marion Brunton, Penny Heneke

Bronze - David Anderson, Ian MacPherson, Eliane Houtby, Laura Seed

CSMBA Triples

11/24/2022

Quite the day in the CSMBA national triples championships. Some great games culminating in what is probably the best game seen at the championships since they started. The gold award went to Fred Wallbank, Martin Foxhall and David Llwellyn. They beat Travis Anderson, Marion Brunton and Penny Heneke in an extra end. Anderson came back from 2-8 after 9 ends to tie the game with a score of four in the 12th end, before losing in an extra end to a wonderful championship winning bowl from Fred Wallbank. Sheila Rogers, Fred Gundel and Pat Binnie beat Elaine Houtby, Laura MacPherson and Ian MacPherson to take bronze.

Awards were presented by CSMBA VP, Elaine Houtby

Photos and all the results are below.

Fred Wallbank, Martin Foxhall & David Llwellyn - Gold

Penny Heneke, Travis Anderson & Marion Brunton - Silver

Pat Binnie, Fred Gundel & Sheila Rogers - Bronze

CSMBA Triples

11/23/2022

Round 1 Scores

Round Robin and elimination games will be played on Thursday November 24th

CSMBA Pairs

11/23/2022

Gold - David Llewellyn & Martin Foxhall

Silver - Penny Henke & Marion Brunton

Bronze - Patrick Cote & Fred Wallbank

Awards were presented by CSMBA Director Bill Arthur

CSMBA singles short mat championships

11/22/2022

Singles were completed on Tuesday Nov 11:
Gold - Martin Foxhall
Silver -Travis Anderson
Bronze - David Llwellyn

Pairs round robin (3 groups of 6) are underway. Just a few round 4 games to be completed. On Wednesday the round robin will be completed with round 5. That will be followed by quarter finals, semi finals and medal rounds.

Results to date and standings are shown below. Top 8 teams will qualify for quarter finals.

News Catch-Up

9/26/2022

Canadian Mixed Pairs
Baylee van Steijn and Jake Masterson (Peterborough) competed in the Canadian mixed pairs championships in Windsor between September 15-18. Having won silver in the Ontario championships they were competing as the Ontario B team. They did not quite make it into the top two positions but claimed the bronze medal by comprehensively beating the Ontario A team.

Ontario Triples
On September 3-4th Al Purcell, Bill Arthur and Berkeley Emmons (Pickering) were the District 14 representatives in the Ontario triples championships. After a flawless first day they topped their round robin group and qualified for the quarter finals on day 2. Despite being behind in both quarter and semi finals they staged comebacks to qualify for the final. Their luck deserted them in that game and they had to be satisfied with the silver medal.

Monday Night League - A report from Carol Dewey

The Monday Night League wrapped up the 2022 season on September 19th with a game of 4,3,2,1 followed by refreshments and awards. Members present were randomly divided into teams of three or four for the first four ends then regrouped for the second and third rounds based on their finishing position in the preceding round. There was some serious competition and lots of social interacion. While the results of the activity were tabulated, members enjoyed some refreshments on the deck. Prizes were awarded based on points generated during the season and the final event. Sheri Perkins topped the league followed by John Hawryszko, Bob Bates, Dianne Hawryszko, Jan Skillen, John Saunders, Mike Hendren and Mary Salter. There were eight draw prizes also given out. In addition to the prizes and draws, the MNL donated one hundred dollars to the club. Thanks everyone for a fun time. Looking forward to 2023!

Bowlers in Bloom
This was our last club tournament of the season and there was a great turn-out for it. We played three different games. The first was normal jitney rules but each team had two power play ends where they could double the score. In game 2 the jack could be placed anywhere over the hog line as long as it was in the rink boundary and there was a time limit of 75 minutes on the game. In the third game there were extra points for touchers and the lead with the closest bowl to the jack. Some teams soon worked out that it didn’t matter whther or not you won the end as you could score more points with touchers and lead bowls. Congratulations to the winning team of Tom Bevan, Louisa Arthur and Christine Thickson. Donna Longman substituted for Christine in game 2.

Click for photos

Other tournament news
Peter Stuart- Sheppard and Bill McCollam (Stoufville) were the winners of the Willowdale open novice pairs. The ladies team of Dianne Hawryszko, Nan Hendren and Kathleen Shirley were the winners of the ladies triples at Whitby. Congratulations to all of them

Tournament Round Up

9/7/2022

Bruton Fall Classic

On August 27th Bill Arthur, Carl Ferguson and Bob Bates were at Cosburn Park to defend their title as winners of the Bruton Fall Classic. They fell just short this time. Afer winning their first two games they were beaten by Peter Stuart-Sheppard who was playing with Bill McCollam (Stoufville) and Lynn Frost. (Cosburn Park) . There was a bounty on their heads as the previous winners and they had to present their conquerors with bottles of wine (provided by the sponsors, thankfully ,says Bill! )

Youth Tournament

A report from Carol Dewey. On Saturday, August 27th we hosted a youth tournament attended by players from Cobourg, Oakville, Belleville, Oshawa and Lindsay. The tournament was sponsored by MVP Sports. The U18s played three games of 4321 and the U21s played one game of 4321 and a ten end game of Phoenix bowls involving switching partners. Their third game, created by drawmaster Ben Van Steijn, had them bowling backwards. Rumour has it Baylee was still on the jack. There was much appreciaton expressed by the parents from the other clubs for Cobourg hostng this event for young bowlers. Everyone went home with a prize so there were lots of smiling faces. Photos of the event can be found on the CLBC Facebook page.

Ontario Senior Triples
These championships were held on August 30-31st and we had representatives in the ladies and men’s events. Mary Salter, Carol Dewey and Mary Thibault were at Midland. A note from the team. “As you can see from our results on the OLBA website, we lost to the gold medal winners by one (tied going into the last end but couldn’t pull it off) and lost to the bronze medal winners by one point. We did “pull up our socks” the second day and played much better - in spite of the wind!

The men’s team of Bill Arthur, Bob Bates and John MacKenzie (Oshawa) were playing at the Muskoka club . Whereas the ladies’ championship was a round robin the men’s was double knockout with 14 teams competing. Afer an opening win against the team that would eventually win silver, they followed it up with another win. The winner of their third game would qualify for the gold medal game. They lost by one point! Their opponents would go on to win gold. Unfortunately they lost their first game on day 2 which in this format meant they were out. So close but so far.

Labour Day Mixed Pairs 242 Open Tournament
The tournament was sponsored by Brenda Kloostra Royal Lepage. Brenda has been the sponsor of this tournament for many years now and we were delighted to welcome her at the club to present the prizes.

It was a cool day but there was some hot bowling with 14 teams competing. The winners, with 3 wins and 45 points were George Boersma and Suzie Palmer (Belleville). In second place were Rhys and Tracey Warren (Lindsay) with 3 wins and 40 points. The best of the 2 game winners were both from Cobourg. In third place were Carl Ferguson and Nan Hendren (41 points) and Bob Bates and Pat Bylok were fourth (38 points). The prize for the last game high went to Rick Barnard and Syd Godin (Campbellford). Thanks to all the players for a splendid day.

Click here for photos

District 14 Novice Singles Playdown

The club had a strong presence in the playdown at Bobcaygeon with 4 of the 8 men and 3 of the 6 ladies. Peter Stuart-Sheppard won the men's playdown and qualified for the Ontario novice singles at Belleville on September 17th and 18th. Peter won all three of his group matches to qualify for the elimination rounds. Good luck to him in Belleville.

None of our ladies qualified but there was some excellent bowling from them and the experience will serve them well for the future.

Reports from the novice combo fours

9/2/2022

A while ago Bill Arthur approached me and asked if I would like to play in a new tournament for novices called Novice Combo Fours. There would be four novice members to a team, two men and two women. The first step was to play at the Oshawa club in a district fourteen playoff with other teams from our district. The winning team from Oshawa would then go to Woodstock to play in the provincial level.

I thought that given my one year of lawn bowling this would be a great opportunity to gain some experience and meet other bowlers from other clubs and so I agreed to be part of the team. The other three members who wanted the same experience and joined the team were Sheri and Brent Perkins and Gail Cunningham. We were all set to take on the world.
Over the next few weeks we found out that not only were we the only team from Cobourg, but we were the only team entered from our district. This meant that we were going straight to the provincial level playoffs in Woodstock!

It now dawned on us as the date for Woodstock drew near that we had not played together as a team, let alone played the combo fours and Aussie pairs bowling formats that was required for Woodstock. Bill quickly assembled a team from our club to play against us in the combo fours and Aussie pairs format that would provide us some experience to play as a team. We also tried to play together as a team again before going to Woodstock but the weather and peoples schedules did not allow for it.

Soon, time flew by and next thing you know we are setting off for Woodstock for the weekend. I drove on ahead as I had some friends to meet (I used to live just south of Woodstock) leaving just after 11am on the Friday. After a quiet run all the way to Milton, things soon turned bad. The bowling gods had heard we were going to Woodstock and were trying to prevent us getting there! On the 401 at the turnoff to Kitchener there was a really bad accident that blocked the whole road and the only things moving were the police. After sitting in the car for nearly two hours I managed to get my car over to the inside lane thanks to two truck drivers who with lots of gesticulating and shouting gave me room to manoeuvre out so I could take the ramp to Kitchener.

Heading north to Kitchener I saw the signs for highway 7 west and Stratford and knew this would get me going in the right direction. Sixteen kilometres later and time to head south again. I soon picked up the 401 again which was now clear and moving well to Woodstock. Five minutes out from Woodstock and the 401 is again blocked with a bad accident. I can't believe how much trouble we are having trying to get to Woodstock! I took the industrial exit for Woodstock and ten minutes later I arrived at our hotel. Fortunately Sheri, Brent and Gail had a better run as they left later but that included a return trip to Cobourg after Brent realized he had forgotten his shoes!

At four o'clock we headed over to the Woodstock Bowling Club for a practice session. This was the first time we saw the larger greens. Their two greens are both about ten feet longer than our greens which was to really challenge us on Saturday and Sunday. We practised for about an hour and then headed into town for something to eat.

Up very early Saturday for a quick breakfast before getting to the club for the opening ceremony. We all marched as teams into the club and onto the greens following a Scottish bagpiper. There were fourteen teams from all across Ontario.

After a quick rest it was time to perform. Our first game was the combo fours and it soon became very evident that we were playing a very experienced team. Every time we were anywhere near the jack they quickly knocked our bowls out no matter how hard we tried. It was quite an experience to play against a team of their calibre which we of course lost.
After the combo fours we then played the men's and women's pairs games. Again we found ourselves playing against very experienced players and lost both games. We worked hard to keep the frustrations at bay and kept giving it our best and determined to have some fun. After a quick lunch we were back to playing another combo fours. Again, an experienced team who challenged us but with our best efforts we still ended up losing.

It was about now that I realized why I couldn't put the bowl where I wanted but kept ending up curling early and missing the spot I was aiming for. In our next set of pairs games, Brent was bowling towards me and I thought he was going far too wide and would miss where we wanted the bowl. Lo and behold his bowl curled in nicely and ended up up right by the jack. Now I realized that with the added distance of their greens, my usual sight lines I used to judge my release of the bowl were way too narrow. I widened my line and put the bowl right where I intended. From there on in we had a much better game and only just lost the men's pairs game by a point. The women, having learned the same problem had a better game also and managed to win their pairs game. Things are looking up.

So the net result from Saturday was we managed to win one out of six games. We were , now in a much better frame of mind and ready to face Sunday. We played the same format on Sunday in that we played two combo fours games and two sets of pairs games. We did manage to win both of our combo fours games but only just lost both of our sets of pairs games.

So overall we didn't come away with any medals having won three out of a total of twelve games but we had a lot of fun and enjoyed the experience of playing on different greens and meeting some great bowlers. Everyone was very friendly, even the umpires, and we all look forward to taking on the challenge for 2023!

If you are a novice bowler I urge you to get involved next season and join any of the tournaments both at the club and district levels as it is very rewarding and very helpful to your game.
Terry Dyche

I want to share my experience of the Woodstock tournament. I have to say no matter how much practice we had before tournament nothing can prepare you for the experience you will have that weekend. Besides the long and busy highway the arrival at the club on Friday was surreal, the other teams were also practicing, some had coaches with them and setting up training activities for them others were like us trying to figure the greens out. The greens were fast and well maintained and longer then we were use to. Finding the line speed was not easy. I was like "omg what have we got yourselves into".

Saturday morning was early start we were excited to play. The parade with the piper was amazing the speeches were all the same we wanted to get going. The national anthem made it feel so much more important and we all got pins and banner which made us proud. We wanted to show other teams Cobourg was here to play.

Finally first game. We started ok and gave up just one in the first end. From there it was all down hill. We couldn't find the line and we were over shooting, nerves kicked doubt set in, we are playing a very good team. The pairs wasn't much different both the men and us lose badly. The plus side was we never got skunked. The afternoon still not the best but the games were better. We were getting better playing our game when we got the lead. We liked long jacks, other teams didn't. We were growing as a team . Last game of the day pairs again. The men did so much better and kept it closer then the rest of the day. The ladies, we somehow controlled the game. We kept long jacks from the first and we started to find the line. We won by 3. Sheri and I were excited, felt the long day was over but going out on a win picked the whole team up.

Sunday morning we started great in the fours and we won our first game, we found the line speed and we played well as team supporting each other. We relaxed and had some fun with the other team. The pairs we didn't win but we were so much better then Saturday, closer and we played well. The men lost but again not by much. Next fours game we won again. It was a close and very good game, both teams were matched well. We came out on top again. Team work was great we helped each other out Sheri did amazing and hit a her shots. Terry skipped great all weekend, he won few ends on last shot. Brent he was great always in the count. Me I placed the jack deep and placed my bowls in good places but never really got on role the team worked well together. The final pais games were much the same. Close but no win.

The experience working with the other players and learning together was my highlight of the tournament. The Woodstock club did a great job putting this tournament on. Great food and people. Congrats to all the winners and everyone involved. We didn't come last and we grow in experience. Novice players should try at least one tournament out of club to experience what goes on and meet new people and experience new greens.

Gail Cunningham

Your Weekly Catch-Up

8/28/2022

Club Novice Tournament - August 26th

Thank you to Pharmacy 101 for sponsoring our club novice tournament today, and what a tournament it was. It was great to see so many first year bowlers enjoying their first taste of tournament play. Lots of fun and laughter and some excellent bowling as well. A huge congratulations to all the bowlers. Lots of great potential amongst them.

The teams played 3x8 end games. The winning team was Dale McMillan, Al Bell and Roy Martin with 3 wins and 29+2 points. Second was the team of Tom Bevan, Dave Thickson and Nancy Kirby with 2 wins and 24 points. Third was Anne Leahey, Curtis Stender and Vernon Moore with 2 wins and 18 points. The one game high prize was won by John Ledgerwood, Christine Thickson and Charles Funnell.

Ontario Trillium Foundation Recognition Event

Just before the start of the novice tournament we held a short ceremony to recognise what the club has achieved through the OTF Resilent Communities Grant. We welcomed special guests MPP David Piccini and Town of Cobourg Mayor, John Henderson. Below is a short slide show of the event and the text of the media release is after that.

MEDIA RELEASE August 26, 2022

$16,800 OTF Grant Makes an Impact at Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club

Cobourg, ON: On Friday, local MPP David Piccini met with the team at the Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club to hear how a $16,800 Resilient Communities Fund grant it received in the spring from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) has made a difference. The three-month grant, designed to help non-profits rebuild and recover from the impacts of the pandemic, was used to mount a multi-faceted publicity and recruitment campaign to attract more people to the sport of lawn bowling.
“Since 1907, the Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club has brought our community together; ensuring seniors in Cobourg remain social, active, and engaged,” said David Piccini, MPP for Northumberland-Peterborough South. “When we announced this funding in the middle of the winter, it was clear how much the Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club meant to its members. It’s fantastic to see that this OTF funding was used so well, keeping our community vibrant and healthy, and growing the Club’s membership.”
Club membership had declined from 114 members in 2019 to just 58 by May, 2022. Thanks to the OTF grant, the Club was able mount an effective advertising drive for new members on radio, in print publications and by sending flyers to households throughout Cobourg, Port Hope and Grafton. Respondents were offered three free lessons with one of the Club’s coaches as well. As a result, the Club now has 140 members!
"The impact of this Ontario Trillium Foundation grant cannot be overstated,” said Carol Dewey, President of the Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club. “The grant has allowed us to achieve recruitment levels even greater than our most optimistic goals outlined in our original grant proposal. An advertising campaign, such as the one the club mounted was beyond the club’s normal financial means. It is only through the grant that the club has been able to recover from the pandemic and bring the benefits of lawn bowling to more members of the community.”
For more information about the Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club and how you can get involved, please visit: www.cobourglawnbowling.ca
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario. As an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, last year, OTF invested nearly $209M into 2,042 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund. Since 2020, OTF has supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Visit otf.ca to learn more.
-30-
Contact for Media Inquiries:
Bill Arthur, Director
Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club
289-829-0182 billcarthur@gmail.com
www.cobourglawnbowlingclub.ca

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Happy New Year

CSMBA Championships - Fours

CSMBA Triples

CSMBA Triples

CSMBA Pairs

CSMBA singles short mat championships

News Catch-Up

Tournament Round Up

Reports from the novice combo fours

Your Weekly Catch-Up

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