Big attendance at annual meeting

The fifth annual meeting of Bowls Wairarapa Inc was held at the Carterton Bowling Club pavilion last Sunday afternoon with a full attendance of club delegates and centre officials.
In opening the meeting president Keith Hannam extended a warm welcome to all present and invited them to observe a minute's silence in memory of bowlers no longer with us.
The minutes of last year's annual meeting had been circulated and were adopted with little discussion.
In presenting his annual report Keith Hannam called attention to the very tight financial situation with the loss of two major sponsors having had a salutoty effect on the season's operations but through putting their noses to the grindstone the executive had kept their ship above water.
Until Bowls New Zealand make a decision of their Pathways concept either being played in zones or regions Bowls Wairarapa have withdrawn from these competitions. Sponsorship of $2000 was required and none was available.
The president noted the playing of two bowl triples and pairs in other centres, saying this had been to Wairarapa's detriment. He said it was important for our players to perform under this system and requested the match and tournament committee to see that two bowl triples and pairs be played in all centre events.
On the representative front it was reported that the men's development squad and the senior women's teams had played above expectations and showed a high level of commitment. But there were experienced players in other sides who did not show the same commitment and had consequently let their centre down.
On the domestic front one disturbing feature was the savage increase in fees to the McKenzie sevens competitions, rising from $70 per team to $90 per team.
Mr Hannam had pleasure in presenting gold stars to Brian Schischka (Carterton), Neville Smith (Martinborough) and Daphne Traynor (Featherston), all of whom picked up their fifth centre title. Avis Cooper of Eketahuna had won her tenth centre title and was awarded a bar to her gold star.
The president congratulated all players who had won centre titles over the past season and thanked the centre committees for working and co-operating well.
Centre treasurer Alan Knowles had indicated an intention to retire from the post and Mr Hannam paid tribute to the tremendous amount of work put in by him in bringing the centre from showing a deficit on their operations a few years ago to an improved financial state..
Centre secretary Val Whiitley was also thanked for her diligence and hard work in this demanding position and thanked too were the centre's sponsors, without whose support the future would be bleak.
Mr Knowles presented his financial report in some detail and the reading left no doubt it had been a hard row to hoe. Representative fixtures showed a loss with the usual open fixtures showing a small profit, insufficient, however, to cover the withdrawl of the two major sponsors
Notices of motion were debated and in most cases were withdrawn after strong argument was put forward, both for and against.
Officers for the coming season are: Patron, Alex McLeod; president, Keith Hannam; vice-president, Daphne Traynor; secretary, Val Whitley; treasurer, Alan Knowles; match and tournament, John Polson, Garry Stammers, Liz Bondy and Daphne Traynor; selectors, John Polson (women) and Dennis Richards (men); auditor, Graeme Tindall.
The treasurer presented his budget for the 2005-06 season with the current Bowls New Zealand and centre levies to remain at last season's rates of $19.60 and $10 GST inclusive respectively.
The recently-appointed publicity officer gave a short resume of his intentions and requested that both the centre and clubs provided regular information of events and results so their sport could obtain a higher profile.
Draws were made for the various centre champion of champions events plus the McKenzie sevens and the Wally Brown triples.
The Hannam-Knowles men's inter-club competition has been cancelled and the women's Blackburn-Gray inter-club series will be conducted along the same lines as the Wally Brown, being for three teams of triples.
The annual meeting closed with a hearty vote of thanks to the Carterton club for their hospitality.
CLUB NEWS
Eketahuna Bowling Club held their annual meeting on June 30 with a very good attendance. Officers elected: patron, Len Hansen; president, Max Cooper; vice-president, Doug Hunt; secretary, Ann Rolston; treasurer, Walker Bowyer; delegates to centre, Avis Cooper and John Polson; greens supervisor, Wes Pearce.
Opening day for Eketahuna will be Tuesday, September 6.
Martinborough Bowling Club held their annual meeting on July 24 and officers elected there were: Patrons, Barney Reede and Anne Edwards; president, Dennis Smith; vice-president, Shona Wilkie; secretary, Merv Smith; treasurer, Andrea Dee; women's match and tournament committee, Colleen Reede, Colleen Smith and Shona Wilkie (men ton be confirmed)' committee, Pat Burling, Mavis Jones and others to be confirmed; centre delegates, Shona Wilkie and Dave Murray; catering manager, Pat Burling; club captain, Vern Burling; selectors, Pat Burling and Dennis Smith.
Housie nights at Martinborough are held on Fridays, starting at 7pm.
Masterton Park Bowling Club are continuing with their winter programme with a mixed pairs event being won by Dawn Towgood and John Colvin and a Thursday pairs event by Colin Pugh and Merle Evans from John Harmon and Doug Hunt.