Welcome to the September edition of your Club’s Newsletter. I trust you have all dried out by now, and I am equally sure that those of you survived our Ulster ‘Summer’ are looking forward to playing in equable conditions, without continually reaching for your wet gear.
Staying within the bounds of our summer however, I am pleased to say that the 2 Summer leagues were competed for and completed as well; congratulations to the winners ie. Valerie Peden and Patsy Wells, Nigel Gibson and Walcott Taylor; the Committee has already decided to try to extend this service to Club members in 2010.
The Club’s AGM was held in August, and there have been a few personnel changes on the Management Committee : see the noticeboards for full details. One major change I would like to draw to the attention of all members is the election of Ivor Cargill to the position of Club President. Ivor is one of, if not the, longest serving members of BIBC, and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this honour. I trust you agree. I have already proposed various changes to the voting procedure for next year – in order to simplify things for some of our members.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: the AGM voted to retain the structure as of last year; the rinks fees also remain the same for each game. Members please note that ALL subs MUST be paid by the end of September this year. Failure to do this will result in being refused entry onto the greens.
We had a large number of potential members along on the three Open Nights; many have since joined – up to date we have over 80 new members. But – if any of you seasoned bowlers need one or two to make up your rink to 6, check the subs list on the notice board. Please remember : ALL rinks operate around a rota of 6- the 2 sub rule as we call it allows for a lot fewer postponed games. Every cancelled game costs the Club £24. Regarding postponed games there has been a change to the rule : please see notice boards for details about this and the new forms which are now available in the Office.
ALL members : please check ALL your league matches – there have been a number of changes in recent days.
Looking ahead, while we do not have the prospect of British Internationals this year, we do have other attractions : the PBA ( Professional Bowlers Association) are having their play-offs in the Stadium on 19th, 20th and 21st September; this will entail a little re-arrangement of the Monday leagues. We will also be entertaining the PSNI Championships in March – details later.
On the social scene, we have had a big input of new House members, and things are already hotting up on Saturday nights. There will be a Darts Team operating every other Friday (but only after 9pm). The new Entertainments Committee is at present drawing up the programme for the year ahead, and if any of you have ideas or suggestions, please speak to me or the Manager.
DRESS CODE : just in case : let me remind all players in the evening leagues that white shirts (not T-shirts) and grey trousers (not jeans) remain the order of the day – until an AGM changes the ruling.
ETIQUETTE: please abide by the basic rules here; please walk up the centre of your own rink rather than stray onto a neighbouring rink – it IS annoying.
CAR PARKING: all members please obey the signage regarding Committee members and disabled spaces.
If anyone has changed address please inform the Office, so that we can keep our records up to date.
CLUB TOUR : as you might have noticed from the notice board in the foyer, I am planning a bowling tour to Tunisia in February next year. This is an attractive holiday- all organised for you. If interested, there are initial interest forms in the Office.
UMPIRING: the Umpires Association will be running a course for potential new umpires before Xmas- if interested give your name to Billy McConkey. Billy also informs me that if there is sufficient interest, he will run an umpiring ‘clinic’ for those who have questions regarding our sport. Again, let Billy know.
MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING : this year’s dedicated day for this important charity is Wednesday 30th September. The Ladies Committee and Alberta from the restaurant will be running this event. Please support this good cause – even if you do not play on a Wednesday.
May I take this opportunity to wish all our members a happy and successful bowling season ahead,
Editor