Thanks to Bernie Weitzman and Vince Donohoe for their hard work in generating sponsors for 2024.

"We've had a great response to our request for sponsors," Bernie says. "We believe that sponsorship is an important component of the club's financial future."

This year's lineup of sponsors includes some returning names and a number of new ones. Additionally, some sponsors have chosen to support more than one event.

"One of the benefits of sponsorship is the potential for a four-foot by eight-foot banner on our fence facing Beecroft Road," Bernie says. "Our research has shown that up to two-point-five million cars go by the club each season, which represents an excellent opportunity for sponsors."

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Thanks to everyone who joined us on Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21 to help get the club ready for the 2024 season.

Kam and Maureen (who showed up both days), Marilyn, Bernie (both days), David, Joan (both days), Sandy, Julie (both days), Nancy, Ardyth (both days), Iris, Mike, and Lois and David.

Of course, Vince was there both days. And thanks as well to Ines and Doris who helped out on Monday.

We got the clubhouse cleaned, the windows washed, the ditches cleared and weeded, the mats and patio furniture pressure washed, the short mat put away, the centre green rolled and cut, the grounds weeded and moss control started.

Thanks to everyone who helped. If you're interested in helping out on the property with one of the many jobs available for the summer, please contact Eric or Julie Bergman.

The winter season, which ran from November 2023 to March 2024, consisted of a number of events that focused on short-mat bowls on two carpets in the clubhouse but included much, much more.

Over a period of five months, 30 organized short-mat bowls events were held in the clubhouse. This included 18 Sunday afternoon Jitneys and 12 Thursday evening meet-ups.

There were also five "special" parties on Sunday afternoons. These included a kick-off party, a volunteer appreciation party, a cookie-palooza and yummy congee holiday party (many thanks to all the wonderful bakers in the club who brought sweets to share and especially to Maureen Szeto for her amazing congee contribution), a combination bring-a-friend jitney and community barbecue party that was co-hosted by Willowdale municipal councillor Lily Cheng, a spring fling and a say goodbye to winter party (on the week it snowed in March, no less).

Goodby, winter. And good riddance.

In total, there were 368 attendees at these events. This included 298 members and 70 guests.

In addition to short-mat bowls, members played darts, mah-jong, rummy-cube, and other board games. On top of that, thousands and thousands of jigsaw pieces were patiently put into place in a dozen beautiful puzzles over the course of the winter.

And we looked beyond ourselves, toward making life a little less difficult for some of our less fortunate neighbours.

Members made cash donations, which were forwarded to the North York Second Harvest Food Bank. And we responded to a request from Councillor Cheng to host a community sock drive, where we collected hundreds of pairs of warm socks which were then given to refugees and homeless people in our community.

It was a very successful winter. Special thanks to Don Rayko for leading this initiative.

Just a quick reminder that we’re going to get the club ready with our annual cleanup and startup on Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21.

We’ll start at 11 a.m. each day and finish by 3 p.m.

It’s a great opportunity to clean the clubhouse and locker room, perform moss control on the artificial green and begin general cleanup of the property.

See you there!

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We have a number of open houses scheduled for early in the 2024 season. Open houses are a great way to recruit new members.

Please feel free to drop by on one of the following dates to help out with introducing potential new members to the club, the grounds and our sport:

• Sunday, May 5 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
• Monday, May 6 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
• Saturday, May 11 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
• Monday, May 13 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
• Thursday, May 16 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
• Sunday, May 26 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
• Saturday, June 1 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. (National Bowls Day)

During the past two seasons, a number of incidents have led the board of directors to enact a new policy that club bowls are not to leave the premises under any circumstances.

This policy includes all bowls, whether the coloured Taylor bowls that we were able to purchase with our most recent Trilluim Foundation grant, or the bowls in tubes.

“Historically, members were encouraged to purchase their own bowls after a season or two,” says Suzan Tari, club president. “We haven’t enforced that guideline, but to ensure that bowls are available, we cannot allow club bowls to leave the premises.”

if you’re interested in purchasing your own set of bowls, please contact Vince Donohoe.

Dues remain the same

Registration is open for the 2024 season. And the better news is that the dues remain the same.

At their February meeting, the board of directors voted to keep club dues at $180 for the 2024 season. And, to facilitate payment, invoices will be sent to past members over the next week or two.

You can download the club’s registration form and the Ontario Lawn Bowls Association (OLBA) waiver.

There is no charge for lockers. However, if you have a locker, please send us an e-mail to let us know your locker number.