January 2007. Vol. 3 No.1

A happy and healthy New Year to all of our members and their families.

SOCIAL EVENTS

Most of you will have noticed already that we are trying to increase and improve our

Social Events Calendar. This is partly because it is something that the Club has lacked

in the past but, also, because we need to raise substantial sums over the course of the

year to cover some vicious increases in power, water and rent/ rates charges. If we can

raise this money while enjoying ourselves, how much better is this than hiking up our

fees to prohibitive levels? So, please support our social events and give us enough

encouragement to carry on because, obviously, the organisation involves considerable

time and effort, usually from those who already devote much time and effort on behalf

of the club.

The sub-committee responsible for such events is comprised of Alan Stammers,

Granville Williamson, Trevor Kentish and Alan Simpson but if any of you would like

to organise an event or have suggestions what we might do, please contact one of the

four mentioned above.

If your response is anything like the support you showed the Quiz on 11th December,

we will have nothing to worry about. We thought 6 tables of 8 (48 people) would be all

we could hope for on the first occasion but we were delighted to find that more and more

people kept turning up until we had 67. Those who attended will testify that it was rather

snug to say the least! Oh for a clubhouse at least twice the size! However, despite the

inability to move very much, everyone remained distinctly good natured and we received

many kind remarks at the end. Some members donated raffle prizes, which helped us to

achieve a worthwhile profit of £102, so thank you all.

As a result of our experiences on that night, we feel it would be sensible to limit the

numbers to 7 tables of 8. We were also told by many people that we should charge more,

so we are making a small increase and will include jugs of tea or coffee, which will

provide refills and will avoid too many rounds of money collection.

If we find that far too many people would like to attend, we can always run the event

again another night, as long as the first participants are willing toswear an oath of

silence about the questions! In order to plan ahead, if you would like to attend the next

Quiz on Jan. 15th at 7.30 p.m., please will you ring Alan Stammers on 01268-780800 to

book a table of 8, or to say that you would like to put on a table to make up the number,

as many did last time. You can also email me at alan.stammers@blueyonder.co.uk .

There will also be quizzes on Mondays, Feb 19th, March 19th, & April 16th and,

hopefully, throughout the season. Please book your places now, as we expect to be

over- subscribed.

RAFFLE PRIZES

If, after Christmas and New Year celebrations you find that your New Year

Resolutions will not allow you to eat all those boxes of chocolates or biscuits, or that

Alcoholics Anonymous or your wife makes you promise to give up drink, so that you

have bottles of wine or spirits that you wish to remove from temptation, we would be

most happy to receive them to supplement our funds in raffles. Any unwanted gifts

would also be welcome as long as they are new and not from Ann Summers. If you

should just have a burning desire to donate something, please do not suppress the urge,

do it now while the spirit of Christmas is still affecting your generosity gene. Many

thanks in advance and to those who help us regularly in this way.

WALKS

We have organised three successful walks so far, each of which has been followed

by a pleasant pub meal. Not only have we enjoyed the fresh air, the challenge and the

countryside, but there develops a happy and humorous comradeship throughout each

walk, and that’s even before we have had a drink! Our numbers have been between 12

and 16 and we walk about 4 miles at a rambling pace. If you would like to join us on

the next one, it is on Tuesday morning, 9th Jan but please let Alan Stammers know

so that we can forewarn the pub about numbers. Other walks will take place on

Tuesdays Feb 13th, March 13th and April 10th. Again, if there is support, we will

carry on through the season at times when there are no matches planned.

WHIST

The Trustees have been running Whist Drives every second Friday of the month

and would welcome anyone who would like to join them. It does not matter if you

have never played before as they will be happy to teach you. Contact Bob Chiverrell

for further details.

BEETLE DRIVE

There will be a Beetle Drive on Thursday 25th January at 7.30p.m in the Clubhouse.

If you have never played before, they are great fun and demand no skill whatsoever.

Just come along and enjoy yourself. Again, Please contact Alan Stammers if you would

like to come, as we have limited space.

WELFARE NEWS

We are very sad to learn that David Beevis is so unwell that he cannot continue to

bowl and, therefore, will not be joining us again next season. He has been an active

member in the past and his jovial, friendly personality will be sadly missed. It goes

without saying that we hope his condition improves and that our thoughts are with him.

INDOOR BOWLING

While many of our members have, understandably, chosen to continue to bowl

at Jacks or at Essex County, it has been very pleasant to go down to Rayleigh Indoor

Bowls Club at the Rawreth Lane Leisure Centre and to know that one will see several

of our outdoor members there, especially in the roll up sessions on Wednesday at

10 a.m. It has also been a great way of keeping in contact with members during the

Winter months. Leagues are being rearranged in the New Year to accommodate

more people, so if you wish to join us, contact Alan Stammers or Granville Williamson

or the Centre directly, and we will be delighted to increase the numbers of our already

overwhelming majority in the Club. Incidently, welcome to David Goldhawk who has

joined both this and the Outdoor Club and who, already looks like a good prospect.

E-MAILS

Several of these letters have been sent by email to those who have supplied me with

their email addresses. This saves time and a lot of postage. To send 110 of these by

post, plus some to the Ladies costs £30+ a time. Printing it costs even more. Please help

by supplying me with your e-mail address and ensure, if you change it, that you let me

know. It will also allow me to send messages and answer questions and would allow you

to pass comments, suggestions and even articles for this newsletter on to me and,

generally, would be another useful line of communication for all.

www.rayleighbowlsclub.co.uk

John Nunn continues to work hard at updating the Club website and will be putting

this Green Scene on the site for all to see. Here again, if members use

the site we could save a lot of money on paper, printing and postage. Thanks, as usual to

John for his hard work. You can contact him, as the Webmaster, via the site and I know

he would welcome your comments or suggestions.

COMPUTER LESSONS

Jim Austin from SEETEC, who organised the Taster course for the first twelve

Members, has said that he will start the 10 week course in January. I will let you know

as soon as I hear any news but he was suggesting Tuesday mornings as a likely time.

Hopefully that will be convenient for you.

WORK PARTIES

The tradition of work parties during the Closed Season has withered a little, mainly

due to the numbers of new members who were unaware that they took place and

because so much effort was put into setting up the new building last season that little

time was left to work outdoors. Our Green Keeping team, of course, works right through

the year and does a splendid job but many other tasks need addressing well before

the last week before the Season starts. If you could spare an hour or even two on any

Tuesday or Thursday morning between 10 a.m. and Noon, please come along and help

to achieve some of the projects listed below.

( This next paragraph should be read while, simultaneously humming “Land of

Hope and Glory”, rising to a dramatic crescendo!)

As usual, the pay is meagre, free tea/coffee and biscuits, but think of the benefits

– some moderate exercise to uphold the New Year Resolutions, fresh air, good companionship and the abiding knowledge that you have achieved something that

will benefit your fellow members. Doesn’t that make you proud to be British?

Seriously, here are some of the jobs that need doing:-

Leaf collection paper picking fence mending

Slab laying Erecting the new flag pole

Building steps down from the new gate leading to the front of the Pavilion.

Clearing a space for, and erecting a small shed for Uncle Ernie Clarke.

Trimming back some bushes.

If you would like to volunteer a little time to achieve these objectives, please contact

Alan Stammers or Bob Chiverrell, who will be glad to guide you. Any day or time

would be fine but it seemed logical to meet as a group at specified times. You will need

to enter via the Bull Lane entrance and use the key safe as usual.

RETIRING OFFICERS AND NEW MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Although we have thanked them at The Autumn General Meeting, not everyone was

present, so may we formally thank Brian Tomassi, who has been our Secretary for

some years, for his hard work, which often goes unnoticed but is so important to the

smooth running of the Club.

Thanks are also due to Ron Pratten, who has held many positions on the Committee

and has, for many years organised the Men’s Festival. Trevor Kentish has agreed to

undertake this arduous task but Ron will offer help and advice where needed. Here

we must also say how good it is to see Ron recovering well from his recent heart

operation. (And, before Dave Barnes says anything – yes, they did find one!

Although it was a mottled claret and blue I understand!)

In a Cabinet reshuffle, Murray White becomes our new Match Secretary, replacing

Derek Helson, who has done a magnificent job for three or four years, so many thanks

to him, although we won’t be losing him as he has assumed the role of Secretary. Also

joining Murray as the newest members of the Committee, is Alan Simpson. They take

up their new positions from January 1st, so welcome and thanks to them both.

THANKS

We have to thank two of our members for very generous donations to the Club.

When we have erected our new flag pole, Derek Shephard has offered to donate

either the pole or a new flag, for which we thank him most heartily.

Trevor Hodge has donated a free-standing clock, which is on a sturdy base so

that it can be put outside on Match days and brought in at other times to avoid the

damage which might occur if it was placed on the outside wall permanently. Again,

we offer our grateful thanks to Trevor for such a thoughtful donation.

THE LAST WORD

An old member of the bowls club was missing his partner, Charlie, badly since he

had died the previous season, so he went to consult a medium. He was reassured to

hear from his old mate and asked if he was happy up there.

Charlie said, “Well, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that we

can play bowls all day, every day.”

“And what’s the bad news then? said Bert.

“The bad news is that you’re playing skip on Friday!” came the reply.