Gibson, Peace Shield titles up for grabs

THE Ella Gibson women’s and Peace Shield men’s fours titles are up for grabs this weekend.

Play will be at the Te Karaka club, with eight men’s and eight women’s teams competing.

The Peace Shield was made available for competition by the Poverty Bay club in 1920 — the year the club was formed.

It has been played for every year since, and those featuring have been the best of the bowls fraternity.

Last year’s winners were the team skipped by Kahutia’s Vern Marshall.

Teams likely to challenge strongly this year include Team Goldsbury (Steve) of the Gisborne club, Te Karaka’s David File and Bob McIlroy, and two new players to skipping — the ever-confident Charlie Ure of Kahutia and Steve Berezowski, fresh from, winning his club championship fours title last weekend.

Ella Gibson was a prominent Riverside player, as was her sister Vera. The trophies for winners and runners-up bear their names and bowlers are grateful to the Gibson family for their contribution to the game here.

Leading lights in this event will be teams skipped by Lyn Truman, Bobbie Beattie, Emily Hongara, Saraha Brown and the evergreen Glenys Whiteman.

The format for both trophies will be round-robin.