Lawn bowling club celebrates centenary
Nestled in the eastern side of Crescent Park, the Moose Jaw Lawn Bowling Club has been a local institution for 100 years. The club will celebrate their centenary on Sunday, Aug. 19 with an open house from 2-4 p.m. All past, present and future lawn bowlers are welcomed to celebrate with the club.
“We are celebrating 100 years and we couldn’t let the year go by without recognizing that,” said Bette Fox, the Moose Jaw Lawn Bowling Club’s acting president. “Just think of what has happened in 100 years and we still have our lawn bowling in town.”
When the club was formed in 1918, its first home was in a park located just west of the Police station.
“It moved from the Old City Hall Park on Fairford Street West to Crescent Park in 1953 and has been in that spot ever since,” Fox said.
At the open house, the club will offer refreshments and have lanes set up for peo- ple to come and try their hand at lawn bowling and see what the sport is all about. “We would like to get some more people interested in lawn bowling. It’s a lovely sport that takes you through the ages. So many people think it’s just a sport for old ages, but it isn’t,” Fox said. “If you get interested in it when you’re young, there are lots of opportunities to travel across Canada, North America and even Australia and places like Scotland if you’re competitive.”
In the last decade, the club has had junior and adult bowlers who advanced to the national stage. Still, the club is largely recreational and social. They bowl three times a week — Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays — with games lasting from 90 minutes to two hours.
“It’s open to everybody. There was a time when you had to dress a certain way, but that’s like everything — times have changed,” Fox said. “We’re modern now. We have all of the equipment. The only thing we ask is that people wear good, flat shoes.
“We are very lucky because we have such a beautiful setting. It’s so quiet and you’re playing, and you have fellowship. It’s a lovely way to spend a hot summer evening.”
While the club wants to welcome back former members and celebrate their anniversary, they also want to use the occasion to potential draw new members to the sport. Fox said that their membership has dropped off considerably since it’s peak in the 1980s. “At one time, people had to line up to get to bowl on a Wednesday evening or a Sunday evening,” Fox said. “We were 100-plus strong. That was back in the ’80s. We were one of the strongest lawn bowling clubs in province, numbers-wise. It was that way for a number of years, but once we hit the ‘90s, the numbers started to dwindle.
“This year we have a membership of 22 and we would like to see that a little stronger. We’re looking for more members like anybody else is.”