I am pleased to announce that the Oak Bay Lawn Bowling Club will soon be offering the game of croquet to all of its members. This will be part of the membership rewards in being a member of Our Club.

Following a very successful pledge drive – explicitly to purchase croquet equipment that all of our members could use free of charge – the croquet committee received very generous donations to purchase this starting equipment. The almost $6000 in pledges from more than 40 members clearly supported the addition of the game of croquet at our Club.

While some of you may have played croquet when you were a youngster, the game has evolved over the years. Croquet will also be an excellent option for those who may temporarily experience back problems and not be able to bend over sufficiently to comfortably lawn bowl. Mallet lengths vary and techniques have changed as to not require a croquet player to bend over to play the game. Also, please be assured that the croquet hoops that are placed into the ground will not affect the playing field for lawn bowlers. Many Victoria lawn bowling clubs have introduced croquet with no adverse effect on their lawns.  

Through these specific pledges for croquet, the Executive did not have to use any discretionary funds to start up our new activity. The Executive still did have to vote on introducing croquet at our Club. The Executive decided unanimously that croquet would be introduced at the start of the new lawn bowling season, currently projected for April 1st, 2021. Information on introductory training sessions will be announced when the new season begins.

We are hoping that the addition of croquet to our Club will increase our membership numbers over the years. Croquet will be included for our members as part of their membership fee and will not be offered as a separate program. The timing of the introduction will, of course, be subject to the Public Health Orders and Provincial Sporting Rules and Regulations in place due to COVID19. I sincerely hope the majority of our Club members will be happy about this news. 

For those who pledged money to purchase the required start up croquet equipment, please either drop your cheque into the mailbox at the entrance of Anderson House or mail your cheque to Oak Bay Lawn Bowling Club, 2190 Harlow Drive, Victoria BC, V8R 3J1.  Please indicate on the cheque that it is to cover your croquet donation pledge. Please do not send your donation through e-transfer. Thank you.

Barry Hersh

President, Oak Bay Lawn Bowling Club