Ryan invites bowlers to The Wearin’ of the Green

The man from Tipperary: Marty Ryan is keen to welcome bowlers from all clubs to Kahutia Bowling Club’s Saint Patrick’s Day tournament, The Wearin’ of the Green. The winners will be presented with the Robert and Ethel Jenkins Memorial Cup, and every bowler will be treated to a helping of Marty’s Irish Stew. Picture by Paul Rickard

BOWLS

MARTY Ryan has always worn his heart on his sleeve.

A splash of colour on his clothing will serve the same purpose on Wednesday, when he welcomes entrants in Kahutia Bowling Club’s Saint Patrick’s Day tournament, The Wearin’ of the Green.

Ryan hails from County Tipperary in Ireland and although he was just a lad when he came to New Zealand with his family in the 1960s, he speaks with an easily recognisable brogue.

When he found himself on the Kahutia Bowling Club committee, he put his mind to the perennial question of how to keep people in love with their sport.

“Simple,” he thought. “We’ll have a Saint Patrick’s Day bowling tournament. I don’t know of another one, and we’ll invite bowlers from all the other clubs.”

He’s hoping players from Wairoa, Te Karaka and Tolaga Bay join the city clubs Gisborne, Poverty Bay and Kahutia.

A cup formerly contested by members of the Riverside Women’s Bowling Club has been repurposed for use as the trophy for the new tournament.

The Robert and Ethel Jenkins Memorial Cup will be presented to the winners. It commemorates the maternal grandparents of Trevor Jukes, a non-playing supporter and sponsor of the Kahutia club.

Robert Jenkins was a long-time member of Kahutia until his death in 1947. He held the positions of treasurer and auditor and was a popular player.

His wife Ethel was the first president of the former Riverside club, when a band of keen female bowlers and their husbands turned a small piece of council land into a popular bowling club.

Their daughter Elizabeth, wife of Arthur Jukes, and Trevor’s wife Carol bought the trophy and it was contested at Riverside as the Ethel Jenkins Memorial Cup. Carol Jukes skipped the last team to win it.

When Riverside wound up, the cup went to Kahutia, and now will be contested in a rotational triples tournament in which everyone has a go at being skip.

The $10 entry fee includes a helping of Marty’s Irish Stew and plenty of “craic” (fun).

Play starts at 10am and prizegiving is expected to be about 4pm.

Ryan, who captained Gisborne City, was player-coach of Thistle and coached a City-Thistle composite team, needs to remember just one thing: no football boots on the green.