Gayle Wallach and Dolores Troyer show how it’s done

Many of you may be mourning the closure of the club and not even having access to your bowls that are shut away inside your club locker. Can anything be done?

The watchword these days is “resilience” ­– being able to carry on with your organization’s activities regardless of pandemic lockdowns.

It takes couple of veterans to show those of us who have been bowling for a mere ten years or less, how to adapt during lockdown. All you need are: a patch of grass; a spouse with a lawnmower; and a piece of fruit. (“Of course”, I hear you say.).

While Ray is doing his best to keep the Troyer grass short for the bowlers, it does interfere with his other goal of “growing a good crop of dandelions to attract the bees”, or so he says.

Grapefruit are available in many colours, sizes 00 to 7

For bowls substitutes, Dolores and Gayle chose grapefruit.

Dolores advises that grapefruit should be left outside to age following purchase to ensure that they soften a little to make them easier to grip. She suggests pink grapefruit for the ladies, but men can choose any type.

One of the advantages of choosing a grapefruit is that it lasts for about a ten-end game — and then you can eat it!

Read the labels!

However, for the 43% of our membership on statins for their heart problems, please check the label on your pill bottle or take further medical advice. 

Other fruit could be used, such as melons, but with their thinner rind they might only last a couple of ends, and eating a whole melon every two ends would be a challenge.

For those of you that have no backyard lawn, Dolores advises against bowling on your living room carpet with grapefruit. Coconuts might work indoors???

Dolores says she had not intended that her at-home bowling efforts should go viral and result in a run on grapefruit at local grocery stores, but it may explain the “only two per customer” signs in the produce section. She was just making sure her knees would work for the upcoming delayed season. (They do!)

If you must, send your ideas on fruit substitutes for bowls to the editor, but they will almost certainly not be published.