The Arohanui Hospice Charity Bowling Tournament
On Saturday 18 March Levin Bowls held its inaugural charity tournament in aid of the Arohanui Hospice. The Hospice is in the process of setting up a clinic in Levin to meet the needs of about one third of its clients who live in the Horowhenua district. The club saw this opportunity to extend the role that the club plays in the local community through its work with the Work Mates Business House Bowls programme which it has run every summer for the past 25 years.
For months now a sub-committee of seven club members have been very active in canvassing over six hundred local businesses and many individuals for support through donations in money and/or goods for auction or used as prizes. They also recruited teams from local and regional clubs to take part in the mixed fours charity gala.
The tournament was played in Great Spirit with two games in the morning and with Ralda’s sausage sizzle available throughout the day, no one went hungry. During the lunch break and starting at twelve thirty the charity auction was held, celebrity auctioneer Arne Jansson with bid spotters Kumara and Turbo sold items such as a rotary mower, a home security system, Swazi Sika shirt, top of the range garden hedge trimmer and many other items, all were new and all were for unreserved sale. They were eagerly snapped up by the keen bowler bidders before play resumed with the two games in the afternoon.
Twenty two teams took part on the day with the emphasis being on having fun, there were even coloured balloons flying on the club’s front fence. As with all Levin Bowls galas the dress code is optional/mufti, this time the tournament flyer said fancy dress for the occasion. Many teams went to a lot of trouble with their dress-ups with Peter Murphy’s Colourplus team taking out the winning ‘Best Dressed Team’ prize. Three tied for the ‘Best Dressed Women’ Lynn Cherry, Denise Collins and Lynda Orr, two men tied for the men’s award, John ‘Boy’ Walton and Roy Dickson. A number of district clubs supported the Levin Bowls on the day with entries coming as far as Waverley in the North and Wainuiomata in the South.
Prior to the presentation of the prizes the Master of Ceremonies Neville made special mention of Club members who have helped to make the day a success. Arne Jansson and his team looking after the Summerset Master Green and Greg Hutchings the Cobb & Co Dales Green. Lana Mahupuku who looked after the bar and the four ladies who maned the kitchen all day, Heather Mathie, Hildi Ewart, Lodzia Wnek and Jessie Johnston.
The generous sponsored prizes were then given out with the prize winners on the day being:
Summerset Master Green:
1st. Shoota Ballinger (s) Grahame Law, Joe Wnek, Christine Ryan.
2nd. Kerry Geertson (s) Ian McQueen (Central) Buster Davies (Central) Deryn Comber (Waitarere Beach)
3rd. Arne Jansson (s) Peter Brown, Brenda Fellows (Foxton & Beach) Murray Griffin.
4th. Brian Magill (s) Ra Higgott, Judy Burns, Graeme Yeoman. (All Waikanae)
Unlucky Team: Terry Corrigan (s) Brian Henry, Betty Hepburn, Alex Farrell. (All Waikanae)
Cobb & Co Levin, Dales Green:
1st. Daphne Rowe (s) Agnes Tiweka, Diane Fergusson, (All Waverley) Roger Athersuch (Waitarere Beach)
2nd. Barbara Selley (s) Denise Collins, Dave Grigg, Graeme Mathie.
3rd. Bill Clelland (s) Roy Dickson, Lynda Orr, Lynn Cherry.
4th. Stan Bradbrook (s) Errol Shearman (Central) Margaret Griffin, Linda Moy.
Unlucky Team: John Collins (s) Maree Collins, Ann Collins, John Blackwell.
At the end of the afternoon Arohanui Hospice Representative Gail Savage was on hand to present the prizes and the Hospice Trophy which for the first time was won by the team from Waverley, the only team to have won all its games. She also received a cheque for $14,000.00 from the organizing committee to go towards the establishment of the Horowhenua clinic in Levin.
It was the culmination of an amazing effort by the tournament sub-committee of Neville Turnbull (Chair), Ralda Adams, Diana McGill, Mary and Les Judd, Jenny Watt and Peter Brown.
Levin Bowls is very grateful for the efforts of the sub-committee in raising the profile of the club in the community and to the great number of supporters from the local community who supported the venture through donations and gifts of items for auction or prizes. We should be very proud of what our members have achieved over months of toil; on behalf of us all.
The Donors of Money Received were:
R & J Adams, AMP Prime Insurance, Arlan Engineering Ltd, Jonathan Bentham – PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Margaret Benton – Professionals Real Estate, Bruce Little & Associates Optometrists, Bupa – Te Whanau, The Caffeinator, Cooper Campbell Law, Crighton ITM Levin, Crowe Construction & Associates Ltd, M J Davie Builder, Designer Headstones, Murray Doreen – Property Brokers, Engine Restorations Ltd, Finer Aluminium, Freshpork Levin Ltd, Graphic Press & Packaging Ltd, Graham Lang Plumbers & Gassfitters Ltd, Greenhaven Homes Ltd, Margaret Griffin, Malcolm & Betty Guy, Harcourts – Lorraine Rankin, Harcourts – Raewin Smith, Harcourts – Susanne Hanlon, Harcourts – Team Group Rentals, Hayes Spraying Services Ltd, Harvey Bowler Funeral Services, Horowhenua Motor Co Ltd, Horowhenua Panelbeaters, Stuart & Jenny Irons, Julie Judd – Ray White Real Estate, Les & Mary Judd, Kerrys Upholstery Specialists, LC Car Wholesale Ltd, Levin A1 Joinery Ltd, Levin Cosmopolitan Club, Levin East Electrical Ltd, Levin Glassworks Ltd, Louise Duncan Hair Design, Mako Mako Dairy, Mash Trust, Masonic Village Café, Diana McGill, OJI Fibre Solutions, Plumbing Solutions, Plumbing World Ltd, Prior & Palmer Ltd, Queen Street Food Market, Redwood Lodge Motel, Richard Webb Ltd, Barry & Alida Rollison, Sels Place Ltd, Skin Medic Ltd, Snorkel New Zealand, Supreme Roofing Ltd, Roz in Real Estate – Roz Wallace – Ray White, Neville & Sharon Turnbull, Trevor & Carol Turnbull, Welcome Inn Motel, Woodhaven Gardens, Woodstock Joinery Ltd.
Sponsors of donated products used for Prizes & Auction Goods.
Andersons Outdoor Machinery, Audio & Security Solutions, Bank of New Zealand, Bartons Furnishings, Brien Electrical, Peter Brown, Campbells Water Centre, Cherry Pie Bernina, Cobb & Co Levin, Colourplus Levin, Countdown Supermarket Levin, Envy Hairdressing, Farmers Trading Co, Farmlands Co-operative Society, Five Star takeaways, Flowers by Belina, Granite Tops, Genoese Foods, Nathan Guy, Horowhenua Chronicle, Horowhenua District Council, K.C. Motors, Kingston & Kemp, Levin Bowling Club, Levin Jewellery, Levin Nails & Beauty, Levin New World, Levin Sawmakers, Lone Star Café & Bar – Palm Nth, Louise Duncan Hair Design, Lucky Lotto Shop, Masonic Village Café, Mico Plumbing Levin, Diana McGill, Mitre 10 Levin, Noel Leeming, Norca Rug Co, Property Brokers, Roadkill Coffee and Book Shop, Shady Hairdesign, Simply Brewing, Supreme Antennas & Supreme Lock-ups, Swazi Apparel, Talus Industries, Topglass, Tsar Nails, Neville & Sharon Turnbull, Trevor & Carol Turnbull, B.S. Young & Son, Tararua Pharmacy, The Warehouse, Westpac New Zealand, Woodhaven Gardens, Zenith Hairdressing.
A photo of the organising team for the Arohanui Hospice tournament taken shortly after the end of a great day and the presentation of the $14,000.00 cheque at Levin Bowls. The team has now completed the four projects it has undertaken for the season very successfully, they started with the two bowl, two end pairs and singles, then the Cobb & Co Classic Invitation Triples, followed by the by-annual bus trip to the Bowls Hastings Club and now the Arohanui Hospice Charity Tournament.
Photo of organising committee
top row left to right: Les Judd, Mary Judd, Ralda Adams, Diana McGill, Peter Brown.
Bottom row left to right: Neville Turnbull, Gail Savage (Arohanui Hospice Representative) Jenny Watt.
Please note, we had one angel in the team?
Report by: Ken Hayward and Neville Turnbull