As the new season kicks off, it is high time we caught up with the winter events at the club.
The men's section meeting took place in early January. President, Trevor Francis, explained to the assembled men that due to a change in personal circumstances, the 2013 Captain, Steve Chivers, had reluctantly stepped down. After some discussion, David Beard was then ensconced as the 2014 Men's Captain, the club extends its best wishes and full support to Dave in his efforts to continue the recent successes of the club.
The highlight of the winter break is the weekend of indoor bowls at the East Dorset Bowls Resort, near Bere Regis. What a memorable weekend it was, but not necessarily for the bowls! Cast your mind back to mid-February and the torrential rain and high winds, around fourteen Paulton members battled their way through the weather on the Valentine's weekend. After arriving safely, a mid-afternoon roll-up was the order of the day, before the evening meal was served.
With the weather still blowing a gale, it was perhaps no surprise when the lights went out! The big surprise was it took eighteen hours to get the power fully restored! The following day, the Christchurch team decided to return home, just an hour before power was restored. Made of tougher stuff, Paulton and the very friendly bunch from Kensey Vale, in Cornwall, battled on with a game of torchlight bowls, luckily, or not, as the case may be, the power was restored just as the first round games were finishing, so Ken Crouch had no excuse for his wrong bias when playing in the latter round.
Congratulations to Dave and Lesley Beard, with Trevor and May Francis, who have made it through to the grand finals next January. A special well done and thank you to the management and staff of the East Dorset Bowls Resort for coping so well with the circumstances and managing to provide a hot meal without electricity.
On to more recent events, Paulton's green opened with the traditional President v Club Captain's fixture, with the President the well-deserved winner.
On Sunday, 27th April, Paulton was very pleased to host the Under-25s County match between Somerset and Wiltshire, played under very difficult conditions of very heavy showers and slow green, the competitors gave their all and there was some excellent bowls played by both sides. With honours going to both counties, the final scores were: Somerset U-25s Men, 48, Wiltshire U-25s Men, 74, played across four rinks, Somerset U-25s Ladies, 32, Wiltshire U-25s Ladies, 29, played across two rinks. A number of the Paulton faithful turned out to prepare and serve refreshments to the teams and their spectators and on behalf of the club, many thanks are due.
Club nights have now started on Friday evenings, from 6.30 p.m. onwards and if you are interested in taking up the sport or just fancy being a spectator, you will be made most welcome.
Steve Chivers