October 2007. Vol. 3 No.3

THE SEASON

Despite the fact that the outdoor season has been one of the wettest in living memory, (not allowing for Altzheimers!) it has, nevertheless, has been a very successful one with individual and team entries getting into Quarter and Semi Finals in several County, Southend and Basildon competitions. Here mention must be made of Dennis Mold whose multiple entries and swashbuckling attitude resulted in some remarkable successes for his teams. All this from a member who moved to Great Totham over a year ago and who travels a prodigious number of miles for the privilege of playing for Rayleigh B.C. A lesson for us all! Well done Dennis.

We narrowly missed lifting the Top Gear trophy,( see later paragraph.) whereas, in recent years we have been bottom, so a tremendous improvement has been shown there and we are looking forward to trying to break the monopoly established by Hockley over the last few years.

We came 5th in the Basildon League and we know we can do better because valuable points were lost on two occasions when players did not turn up. This affects results considerably because, in a Triples League, that rink is cancelled, the players have had a wasted journey, we lose 2 points before we start and, inevitably lose an extra one

awarded for the overall total. Please remember to let us know if you are unable to play at any time.

Again in Group 6 both teams narrowly missed promotion, losing valuable ground in the last couple of vital matches. In the Murrayfield Cup, Rayleigh reached the Final but were outplayed by Runwell who have two or three ladies who reached the National semi finals.

However, we learned a lot from these experiences and we will do better again next season.

The other positive to take from our campaigns is that the name of Rayleigh, as a Club to be reckoned with, has been registered in many quarters and comments have been made to that effect in our travels. Once again we have been asked to supply a team for a Group 6 Area match against Group 4, which is a good sign. Congratulations and thanks to all those who have taken part in competitions and who have waved the flag high for Rayleigh.

My thanks to Murray White who has taken all the results and analysed them in relation to the personnel playing, and, although statistics can be made to prove anything, some very interesting trends have been shown which will help us in future selection decisions. To my knowledge, this is the first time such an analysis has taken place within the Club, so if you are interested in your own performances please contact Murray who will be pleased to show you. What is very noticeable is that we have a greater number of stronger players coming through to challenge for places in League Teams, which we welcome and which we planned for when we first embarked on our recruitment policy. This is very gratifying and is an encouragement for us all to carry on.

SOCIAL EVENTS

We have endeavoured to keep some social events going through the season, although

this is often difficult to fit into a busy calendar of fixtures. The most recent events were the

three Supper Nights organised by Granville Williamson and the Quiz/Bingo night

organised on President's Day. Members are still commenting on the success of the Quiz

Bingo Night and on the generous prizes awarded, so thanks to Derek Helson for the Quiz,

Alan Simpson for the Bingo and to Peter Graham for organising the Fish/ Chicken and

Chip Suppers.

At the last Supper Night, Granville announced that the proceeds of his catering exploits

over the last two seasons, plus the money we raised through our winter and summer social

programmes had topped £1,000! This is quite an achievement, I'm sure you will agree, and

thanks are due to Sheila Campling, Sheila and Murray White, Alan Stammers, David

Barnes and Cyril and Linda Stringer, as well as to those mentioned above and to all of

those willing helpers who have put in time and effort to make these events a success.

Using some of these proceeds, a dozen new bowls pushers have been purchased and the

Ladies' Section has agreed to buy new horizontal scoreboards from the proceeds of their

successes, so we will start next season with some impressive new equipment.

Just a reminder that 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, who will be pleased to receive help or new ideas.

RAFFLE PRIZES

Many thanks to those who support us regularly with raffle prizes. We all receive gifts

or buy things that that we never use. If you have given up the demon drink, let us have any

unopened bottles. (Thanks Stan for the two bottles of whisky!) Have you bought things that

seemed a good idea at the time but have never been used? Put them in the raffle? ( Thanks

to Peter Graham for several gifts on President's Day ) On a diet?

Give us that box of chocs or that tin of biscuits. Every gift helps to swell our funds and

thereby keeps down our fees, which are already amongst the lowest in the area!

WELFARE NEWS

It was good to see Trevor Hodge bowling again during the last week of the season. He has

suffered from rheumatoid arthritis in his hands, which prevented him from playing and,

after seven months of receiving the wrong treatment, he has received the correct medication

and has now made a rapid improvement. Likewise, it has been good to see Don Cook

watching a few games and we hope it will not be long before we see him playing again.

Ray Burrell hoped to return to bowling towards the end of the season but his progress has

been slow. We hope that he will be able to resume his bowling next season after a full

recovery.

Harry Mitchell, one of our newer members was a regular league player in the first half of

the season but, again, has made a slower than expected recovery from a hernia

operation.

Banny Halpin was recovering well in April from the problems with his feet and was

expecting to resume his bowling career when he was struck down again just as the season

started.

John Nunn has had to retire from bowling with a condition that causes his fingers to

lock in the closed position. He has, however, said that he still wishes to remain a Club

Member and will still run the Club Website www.rayleighbowlsclub.co.uk Our thanks

are due to him for his efficiency and speed, plus his photographic skill.

Ron Pratten is still adjusting after his heart op. but is back, determined to take a full part

in the life of the Club. We wish all of these people a speedy recovery and hope that we

see them all taking an active part in Club activities at the beginning of next season.

WORK AND WORKERS

It is with many thanks,and much pleasure, that the Committee and members

would like to say a special thanks to Lynda Clarke, for her support of Derek in his

Momentous Task as Green Keeper, and work in the Gardens

A.S.

Ernie Clarke and Bob Chiverrell and Derek Clarke would welcome any volunteers to

Complete some projects throughout the winter months. If you could afford an odd hour

or two now and then, please contact any one of the above.

ROLL UPS

Sadly, I have to report that some newer members have not fully understood the idea of

the roll up sessions and have not included some people who have turned up, forcing them to

play on their own. Maybe this the Club's fault as we have not communicated this as well as

we might. However, the intention of the roll up is to ensure that all those who turn up are

enabled to play and members should go out of their way to ensure that all those who turn up

are included. It is not intended that the roll up sessions are exclusively available to groups of

friends or to those who usually turn up on any one day. Likewise, roll ups cannot be booked

up in advance to the exclusion of others. Please be scrupulously fair about this.

E-MAILS

The number of members providing email addresses is rising all the time. If you have recently acquired an email address, please let me know. Also, if you have changed your email address over the last year or gone onto broadband, please let me know. We are currently saving well over a third of the costs of postage by this method of communication.

LOST PROPERTY

Quite a few articles of clothing have been left in the changing room for a long time now and

these will be put into a box as lost property. We will keep them for a while to allow members

to claim them and then they will be disposed of, so please collect anything that you may have

left at the end of the season.

THE CAPTAIN HAS MOVED

If you have not tuned into the soap opera that has surrounded my move, can I point out that my new address is 8 Trinity Road, Rayleigh, SS6 8QD and that my new phone number is 01268-770814. The new owners of my old house, although very pleasant, are getting a little fed up with members of the Bowls Club ringing up. Please remember to change details in your Club Booklet. Thanks.