A FAMILIAR face was missing when the Masterton Park Bowling Club opened their 2006-07 season. The recent death of Kevana Smith not only robbed Masterton Park of the most outstanding female player in their history, but was a huge blow for Wairarapa bowls in general. Smith won no fewer than 19 centretitles and represented Wairarapa with great success at inter-provincial level over a long number of years. In her heyday she was amongst the top singles players in the country with the accuracy of her draw play being the feature of her game. It was president Frank Meyrick who rolled up the first kitty at Masterton Park's opening day with ladies vice-president Fay Beech delivering the first bowl. Members were addressed by Doug Bracewell from Sport Wairarapa who outlined a proposal to involve bowls, croquet, petanque and Caf? Cecille in a scheme which will encourage all members of the community to try out the three sports that have their headquarters at Queen Elizabeth park. Paddy Paku, Doug McLean and Glennis Hinds combined to win a mixed triples tourney held by the Masterton Park club last weekend.They won all four of their games while the runners-up with three wins and 22 points were Don Glasgow, Willis St Clair and Margaret Hourigan. Third with three wins and 21 points were Jeff Gray, Gordon Manley and Kevin Milne. Masterton Park are now taking entries for their DB open mixed triples tourney planned for Wednesday, September 27, and an open day is to he held by the club on Sunday, October 1, starting at 1.30pm. The only requirement for anybody wanting to participate there is flat soled shoes. Meanwhile, another long time Wairarapa bowls representative in John Polson also passed away over the winter months. A member of the Eketahuna club, Polson was a gold star badge holder and was also heavily involved in administration, being selector of last season's Wairarapa senior women's and development squad teams and a leading light on the coaching scene.
