It is my sad duty this week to have to pass on the news of Maggie Collins’ death. Although not a bowler, Maggie held the post of Club Secretary for several years, and could always be relied upon to keep us on track when our meetings wandered. She was a great supporter of Norwest, and we’ll miss her gentle smile and wicked sense of humour.

The funeral service to celebrate Maggie’s life will be held on Friday, 21st July at 10.45 a.m. at Haycombe Crematorium and afterwards at Norwest Bowls Club. It was Maggie’s wish that we use this occasion to be happy, while remembering her and celebrating her life. So no long faces, please and casual, colourful clothes.

This year our Fun Day, which will be held on Sunday, 6th August, will be raising money for Dorothy House, who supported and cared for Maggie through her illness.

It has not been a good week for us on the green either, with five games played and five games lost. Our Ladies welcomed Alexandra Park to our green on a hot Tuesday afternoon for a North Somerset League game, which we lost, 2–8. Well done to Kath, Jackie and Pam on my rink for the one bright spot of the game when we scored a hot shot.

The second Ladies’ game on Thursday was a Wild League game away to Castle Cary on an even hotter afternoon. It was decided we would only play twelve ends due to the heat and frankly, it was a relief to most of our ladies to come off after the thorough trouncing we received. This time, it was a 2–10 defeat.

The first defeat for our lads came with their MSL game on Wednesday, at the hands of Purnell, when they lost 4–12 by only four shots. Defeat number two and three came in the County League East games on Saturday. Both the A and B teams lost 2–10, with the A team away to Frome Park, losing by just four shots and the B team at home to Keynsham, by only two shots. So, three games lost by only ten shots! That’s really hard luck.

We rounded off the week on a very pleasant Sunday afternoon, when members met at our green for the annual Cecil Jones competition. After a tough knock-out contest with lots of banter on the green, we were whittled down to our two finalists, Dave Hill and, our birthday boy, Merv Ashman, who played a nail-biting game, which finished with them having to play an extra end and resulted in Dave taking the honours by one shot. Thanks to Mike for all his hard work in

organising the competition.

Now for something to lift our spirits. We have managed to arrange a week in Bournemouth for our 2018 tour. We will depart on April 30th and return on May 4th, and be staying at the Whitehall Hotel, which is ideally situated for both the beach and the shops. We hope to be playing games against clubs from Dorchester, Bournemouth and Swanage.

Please can you check the noticeboard or ask Mary or me if you need any further information. We need your names up and your deposits before Thursday, 29th July, as our booking will only be reserved for two weeks.

As you know, Ken usually runs our tour, but due to ill health, has decided he can no longer do so and as this is a new venture for Mary and myself, we would really

appreciate your support.

NH