Egham BC – celebrating 100 years
Saturday, September 17th
On a lovely sunny day, the Friends from twelve counties made their way to Egham Bowls club to help them celebrate their centenary.
We arrived to welcome cups of tea and coffee and very shortly a lovely buffet was ready to eat – and we did.
Our Captain of the Day, John Thompson was there to greet us, together with the President Ben Gardener and the Captain Roy Spencer.
The game didn’t start until 14:30 which gave us lots of time to catch up with friends we hadn’t seen for some time.
The green looked glorious and played well. The whole setting was delightful with lots of tables, chairs, pots of flowers and some amazing plants.
After lunch we all went outside to the green and were made welcome by President Ben who then made a quick exit leaving Captain Roy to formally greet our Captain John and the rest of the Friends.
There was lots of laughter across the green – everyone was having a good time. We broke for tea at ten ends and then returned to the battle. A battle which I am sad to say we lost. We might have lost the match, but we made lots of new friends and we all had a good time.
It was then time for the after-match meal, and what a great meal the lovely Emma and Amy provided. They had to deal with several awkward customers (me being the worst) and they catered for us beautifully, making us individual meals. What an asset they are to the club.
After we had all stuffed our faces with good food and eaten our pud, it was speech time. First it was Captain Roy who was gentlemanly enough not to mention the score. Prizes were awarded to his winning team: John, Mo, Richard and Ben. He invited us back next year, so maybe we can get our revenge – or not.
Then it was our Captain John’s turn – and what a great speech he delivered with several very funny jokes. I think he must have been a stand-up comedian in a former life. He then asked his winning team to come forward, Graham, Richard, Marcia and Michael, and gave them each a lollipop, followed by a bottle of wine. He then called on the highest losing rink to come forward and gave them all notebooks. I think they have to write a hundred lines of ‘I must do better.’ John then presented our certificate to commemorate our visit.
The Friends had more luck winning the raffle, taking home the majority of the prizes.
The proceedings came finally to an end, and it was time to make our way back home. Speaking for myself I can truthfully say that I had a most enjoyable time and would like to take Roy up on his kind offer of a return visit to Egham.
Cyndy Lee