End of an era for the
Levin Women’s Bowling Club rolls last bowl on May 9
The Levin Women’s Bowling Club has been losing members over recent years and though the club is financially healthy, at this year’s AGM its remaining members decided to dissolve their club.
“It was the best little club in town, it is sad to see it go.”
It is the second bowling club to close its doors in the last year.
The origins of the club go all the way back to 1942, when on June 5 its first ever committee meeting was held at the home of then president Mrs Maud Lett, previously known as Mrs Clark, who donated the land on Salisbury St for the RSA Bowling Club, which was dissolved last year.
“In our heyday we had 86 members,” said current president Carrell Knight, who has been a member for 37 years.
“Sixty-four people can play on our green. In fact, we had so many wanting to play that they had to go into a ballot to decide their turns.”
Interest in the club has been waning for a while as times change and there is so much more for people to do.
“New generations have different expectations. We just played bowls and made cups of tea and warmed sausage rolls. Nowadays they want to have a drink at the bar and demand social activities.”
The club tried to talk the nowdefunct RSA Bowling Club into merging a few years ago, to no avail.
“They just made it too hard. Bowling New Zealand had been urging clubs for some time to amalgamate, to keep the sport alive locally, and we did try.”
There is a history of the two clubs working together, though. Not only was Mrs Maud Lett, the women’s club president, the RSA members helped put up the women’s bowling green, according to members.
The women’s bowling club leases the land from the council, but owns the timber clubhouse that they had built. Beside it sits a stone building, that dates from early in the last century.
“There was a swimming pool, where the clubhouse sits, and its disappearance caused a bit of controversy at the time.”
Two legal opinions obtained at that time stated that giving the land to the women’s bowling club, for a new clubhouse, was illegal. The Thompson House Memorial Cultural Centre’s secretary T Wardle called the plan an annexation in a letter of protest to the borough council.
He even publicly threatened to resign if the council did not back down. Not consulting with the centre about the plans was part of the complaint. The grounds surrounding
New generations have different expectations. We just played bowls and made cups of tea and warmed sausage rolls. Nowadays they want to have a drink at the bar and demand social activities Carrell Knight (left), Levin Women’s Bowling Club president