Following three days of intense competition the team of Brent Merchant and Louise Mason of Oak Bay Lawn Bowling Club emerged on top. They, along with second place finishers Brent Jansen and Karen Evans, also of Oak Bay LBC, will represent British Columbia in the National Playdowns. The host province is permitted to enter two teams. This year the Nationals will be held at Qualicum Beach LBC from September 12 to 15.

Finishing in third place was Eric Leung and Vivien Chan of Richmond LBC, and fourth place went to Kevin Burns and Lynda Robbins of Canadian Pacific LBC.

Oak Bay last hosted the Provincial Mixed Pairs in 2007 when 18 teams entered, two more than this year’s field. Three teams from the host club entered this year with two advancing to the finals. Medal presentations were made by Allan Wood, Club President, and Jaymee Sidel, Bowls BC representative.

An event like this takes a good deal of planning and preparation. Many volunteers must be recruited and put to work in an orchestrated manner. The support includes organizers, greenskeeper, umpires, scorekeepers, kitchen staff, bartenders, rink set-up staff, publicity, and even minor but nevertheless important tasks such as the disposal of waste and re-cycled material. It truly does take a village, or in this case a club, to put on a successful competition. Bravo Zulu to all who entered and to the many who contributed in ways big and small to the success of the competition.

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