Dear Members
I hope this newsletter finds you all safe and well. It has been quite a challenging two years for us all, however we are on a roadmap out of restrictions. We are hoping that our bowling season will return to normality and you will be able to return to the green and enjoy the safe and friendly environment of our bowling club.
The opening of the green is planned for Saturday 16th April and we extend an invitation for all our members to attend. We will have a few ends of bowls followed by afternoon tea. Although Covid restrictions will be relaxed by that time your health and safety is still a priority and we have been busy cleaning the club and will continue to have relevant health and safety procedures in place to provide an environment in which our members will feel safe and secure.
We had our 139th Annual General Meeting on Sunday 20th February in the club and were delighted to have a good turn out.
- Election of Office bearers – Our committee for this session is as follows:- Presidents – Val Souter and Karen Cable will again be joint presidents. Vice President – vacant , Junior Vice President –vacant, Club Hon. Secretary – Karen Cable, Hon. Treasurer – Val Lawrence, Past President – Nick Youngson, Match Secretaries – Norman Brown / Frances Thomson, Property Convenor – Gordon Smith, Catering convenor- Fiona Wilkie, Publicity and Advertising – Julie Reid, Wellbeing Officer – Susan Martin, Covid Officer – George Lawrence, Convenors – vacant, General committee members – Billl Marjoriebanks, Alec Marjoriebanks. We would be most appreciative if any of our members would consider joining the committee as a general member. Please let us know if you would welcome this opportunity.
- Fees – fees for this season will be £120 for Ordinary members, £25 for Associate members, £10 for Junior members (5-14 years) £20 for Junior members (15-17 years). There will be a £10 joining fee for new members. Fees should be paid by 2nd April, 2022. Cheques should be made out to Aberdeen Bowling Club and sent directly to our treasurers. Alternatively fees can be paid by Bank Transfer to Account 00102163 with sort code 80 05 14 – please ensure that you put your name to the transfer and let Val know you have made the payment. Our increase is due to the fact that we have had two years of reduced play and no fundraising has taken place. We would be grateful if fees could be paid ASAP so that we can plan ahead for events for the coming season.
- We are hoping that we will have a full programme of Club competitions and matches for the forthcoming season and competition forms will be available to fill in at the opening of the green. The ALDBA League and Scott/Simpson matches will be going ahead this season as are Bowls Scotland matches. We look forward to our members signing up for competitions.
- We are still in the process renewing and updating our club website. Details of events will however be available on our club facebook page and on the club notice boards for your information.
- Our Club Covid officer is George Lawrence – we will still have sanitiser available for members to use and the wearing of masks will be at the discretion of individual members.
- We would ask our members to inform the club secretary – Karen Cable on any change of personal details such as change of address or telephone numbers as Julie Reid is in the process of updating the club handbook.
- We have a provisional date of Saturday 2nd July for our annual coffee morning
Norman has been busy organising Saturday Friendlies and we hope that our members will sign up to play these fun and social games.
We have enjoyed the indoor competitions during the winter. We have a game scheduled for next Sunday 20th March. There is a 4.00pm start and the game will be followed by a one course meal with tea/coffee, mints/ shortbread. Cost will be £15.50. Dress code will be greys and whites.
We had 16 names down for this game. Please let Norman know if you would like to join in or if you cannot manage.
Due to popular demand we are going to host another bingo session on Saturday 2nd April and hope that all our members (ordinary and associate) will support this fun afternoon of entertainment. We intend having the club open from 1.00 pm so that members can come and pay fees. Bingo will begin at 2.00 pm followed by a fish and chip supper at 4.30pm. The cost will be £12.00 (bingo books & fish supper). Cash prizes will be paid to winners and we would welcome raffle prizes as we had a fantastic raffle at our last bingo afternoon.
Please bring your own drinks and snacks for the afternoon.
Please reply to this e-mail or text 07596104274 if you would like to attend the above events. It would be lovely to see as many of you as possible and it would a great opportunity to meet up with friends after the two years we have missed out on due to Covid restrictions.
Kindest regards
Presidents Karen Cable & Val Souter
Presidents Karen Cable & Val Souter and the committee of Aberdeen Bowling Club
Some of our members have been meeting at the club on a Saturday morning during March between 9am and 12 noon to get the club ready for opening. We would welcome any additional helpers for indoor/outdoor chores (gardening, cleaning, etc). Coffee and butteries supplied. Many thanks in anticipation!
