The Chilliwack Lawn Bowling Club is celebrating 100 years as the community’s longest running sporting organization.
Members marked the centennial milestone on Wednesday, Sept. 29, with a plaque presentation, champagne toast, and a few remarks from Mayor Ken Popove, who was “excited and honoured” to be asked to throw the golden bowl.
Club director Merlin Bunt has a keen interest in the club’s history as well as its present-day prospects.
“Unlike many other areas of old Chilliwack, the immediate surroundings of the Club have remained largely unchanged over the years, perhaps appropriately in keeping with the stability of lawn bowling as a timeless outdoor pastime appealing to all, regardless of age, gender, or location,” Bunt posted in his Chilliwack History Perspectives column of Sept. 26, 2021.
The outdoor sport played on a grass rink requires relatively little equipment and has been gaining fans.
“Today, perhaps in response to the pandemic, the sport of lawn bowling is experiencing a resurgence in interest on a global basis, including Chilliwack,” Bunt wrote. “Accordingly, as it embarks on its second century, the Club is investing in its infrastructure, as evidenced by installation of new backboards in 2021, enabled by a federal grant, along with plans to recondition its green in time for Opening Day.”
The club will be undertaking a marketing campaign to attract new members, since these efforts having been largely curtailed due to pandemic restrictions, he added.
RELATED: Time-honoured tradition for mayor to throw first bowl
The Chilliwack Progress covered the 100-anniversary event on Sept. 29, 2021, just as it did at the outset of the club’s formation a century ago on Sept. 29, 1921 when lawn-bowling advocates showed up at City Hall (now the Chilliwack Museum) to formally establish the club:
“Enthusiasts of the lawn bowling game gathered at the City Hall on Thursday last to formally organize and make plans for a full season of sport next year,” the Progress proclaimed in a story headlined ‘Lawn bowlers organize club’ from Oct. 6, 1921.
The captains of business formed a joint stock company to purchase the perfect site, not far from Five Corners, for the club to create a bowling green.
“It was reported…that over a hundred citizens had signed their names as desirous of taking up lawn bowling. With such a start, the meeting decided to form the Chilliwack Lawn Bowling Club,” the 1921 article noted.
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