Newsletter No 14 - November 28th 2010

MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP SINGLES
Yesterday saw the continuation of the Men's Championship Singles.

Congratulations, Morris, the only person to go through the Championship undefeated. Ray was a fitting runner-up and is to be commended on displaying his customary very high standard of bowling.
 

• WOMEN'S FOURS continued
  Angela Boyd (skip), Sheryl Glock, Marie Fenton and Barbara Exeter will play Sue Brock (skip), Del Girven, Maree Turner and Lynda Boyd.
   
• MEN'S PAIRS continued
  Gary Heathcote & Alan Ferrick will play Ernie Friedlander & Bryan Gilbertson. (Each team has one life)
  The winner will play Ross Hamilton & Jack Philip (two lifer)
   
• MEN'S FOURS continued
  Rolly Hoare (skip), Peter Thomson, Gary deRidder and Lyndsay Martin will play the final against Barry Hanlen (skip), Brian Annear, John Hanlen and John McLaughlin.
   

Photos from last week's Men's Junior Singles

TWO ESSENTIAL BOWLING SKILLS
Success in bowls comes down to consistent execution of two essential skills.

·       Smooth release (rolling the bowl away on its running surface)

·       Straight lines (delivering the bowl consistently down the intended line).

"When introducing new players to the game these two skills are all we should be focusing on," says Sharon Sims.
 

QUESTION: Last Saturday a jack was struck, it hit a stationary bowl then rebounded FORWARD instead of backward.
Do you know the minimum distance you can have between the moved jack and the front end of the mat?

Law 30        Dead jack
If the jack is moved by a bowl in play, it is a dead jack if it:
·   passes above the face of the bank;
·   passes completely outside a side boundary of the rink of play;
·   comes to rest in any hollow in the face of the bank; or
·   comes to rest at a distance of less than 20 metres as measured in a straight line from the mat line.
 

ETIQUETTE: DECIDE FIRST THEN MOVE
Bowls should not be moved until the shot(s) has been decided.
 

QUOTE: A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.
-Larry Bird, basketball
 

EARRING FOUND
One earring was found on A green after the Friday Hetero Triples on 12th November
To make enquiries please phone Maree Turner 8449949

In 1955-56 I moved to South Canterbury and trained for two years to become a Marist Brother. Training was very strict and not everyone who started the course completed it. Some left of their own accord and some were told to leave. We rose each morning at 5.30 and our time was taken up with prayer, study and work. Breakfast and lunch were eaten in total silence and we were not allowed to speak to each other until mid-afternoon.  At 3 pm we played a game (soccer, softball) then it was more study. There were no phones, no newspapers or magazines and no radios ... although once we stole a radio from the milking shed to listen to the Springboks play the All Blacks in 1956 ... and got caught! I reckon if anyone could survive those two years they could survive anything. Training College in Auckland came next. After that I taught in Auckland, Hamilton, Masterton, Lower Hutt and Christchurch.

I left the Brothers in 1969 from Christchurch and came to Colenso High School where I taught science for seven years. In those days Colenso had a roll of 1300 so it was one of NZ's biggest schools. I transferred to Sacred Heart College in 1977 and spent 25 years there before retiring in 2002 ... then I took up bowls.

Colleen and I were married in 1971. She had been widowed in '69 (Graham died of a heart attack in his early 30's) so I began with a ready made family of five and later Colleen and I had another five. Our kids have all done well for themselves, all are usefully employed and five have university degrees. As far as sport is concerned Michael was selected to play goalie for the NZ roller hockey team, Carl played volleyball for the North Island, John was a Hawkes Bay 3rd Grade rugby rep, Chris was athletic champ at St John's College - the rest did OK. Colleen played basketball for the West Coast after she left school. I told my kids that I too represented the West Coast ... at rugby. If they pushed me I told them I was an under six stone rep - and if they really pushed hard I told them I was reserve!!

As you can imagine when all the kids were at home life was pretty busy. I worked at the TAB every Saturday for 13 years. Because I enjoyed a beer and a flutter on the horses I built and sold about 200 dog kennels and after that sold a computerised racehorse selection system (necessity is the mother of invention). Four of our kids live in Australia, one is in London, one lives in Wellington and the remaining four are here in Hawkes Bay. We have 13 grandchildren and early next year the first of them gets married.

Now ...  life is so quiet and peaceful!!! 

AN EXPENSIVE NIGHT
An elderly lady decided to give herself a big treat for her significant birthday by staying overnight in one of London's most expensive hotels.  When she checked out next morning, the desk clerk handed her a bill for £250.00.

She exploded and demanded to know why the charge was so high. "It's a nice hotel but the rooms certainly aren't worth £250.00 for just an overnight stop without even breakfast."

The clerk told her that £250.00 is the 'standard rate' so she insisted on speaking to the Manager.

The Manager appeared and forewarned by the desk clerk announced: "the hotel has an Olympic-sized pool and a huge conference centre which are available for use."

'But I didn't use them," she said.

''Well, they are here, and you could have," explained the Manager.

He went on to explain that she could also have seen one of the in-hotel shows for which the hotel is famous.
"We have the best entertainers from Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen performing here," the Manager said.

"But I didn't go to any of those shows," she said.

"Well, we have them, and you could have," the Manager replied.

No matter what amenity the Manager mentioned, she replied, "But I didn't use it!"

The Manager was unmoved, so she decided to pay, wrote a cheque and gave it to the Manager.

The Manager was surprised when he looked at the cheque.
"But madam, this cheque is only made out for £50.00."

''That's correct. I charged you £200.00 for sleeping with me," she replied.

"But I didn't!" exclaims the very surprised Manager.

"Well, too bad, I was here, and you could have."