by Cliff Bennett
“Almonte Lawn Bowling Club has made a significant leap forward as an excellent venue for lawn bowling in Eastern Ontario,” stated Guy Chaput, as he addressed packed meeting for the annual meeting of the club, held Wednesday, Sept. 24 at the club facilities in Almonte. “Through vigorous marketing and promotion, the club experienced a large growth in membership in 2014,” said Chaput, “indicating ALBC has a great product to offer to the community”. Chaput, a Carleton Place resident, was re-elected President of the club for the year 2015.
Extolling grateful thanks to the Municipality of Mississippi Mills, especially to Calvin Murphy, Parks and Recreation Director, the President reported on many upgrades to the facility including a new ladies washroom, parking lot grading, work on the greens lighting and the building’s plumbing. Chaput concluded his address by praising the club’s volunteers in completing several successful tournaments, building the greens up to a competitive level and making the new players most welcome. Special praise was levied to Patricia Guimond of Waterside Seniors Retirement Residence in Carleton Place for her financial and encouragement support.
The evening began with a sumptuous pot-luck dinner, supervised by Directors Marina Johnston and Jan Peterson. Two special door prizes, presented by Waterside Retirement Residence and Island View Suites, Arnprior. The winners were Bernice Butler from Appleton and Cecil Dubois, Almonte.
Denis Davignon, club tournament director, reported to the meeting the lawn bowling season began in early May with a very successful open house. Two invitational tournaments and one in-house tournament were held and the club hosted a District Novice Day where new bowlers from up and down the valley came together for training and competition, guided by experienced players and accredited umpires. Davignon also praised the condition of the greens and the clubhouse upgrades as contributing factors to the success of competitive play. Much praise was heaped on Property Manager and greens keeper Ken Brown and his team for improvements made to the facility.
Treasurer Don Osborne submitted the annual financial and the 2015 budget showing the club is financially solvent. Irene Arrowsmith, membership convener, in her report, showed the increase of twenty-one new memberships, noting a 40% increase and Al Jones, Co-chair of Marketing and Promotion reported on the branding exercise leading to the creation of a club crest, club shirts and caps and promotional material.
The evening concluded with the election of officers for the coming year. In addition to Chaput as President, they were as follows; Denis Davignon , Vice President; Lee Steele, Secretary; Don Osborne, treasurer; Cliff Bennett, Past President; Myrtle McNeely, Membership Convener; Jan Peterson, Social Convener; Ken Brown, Property Manager; Ruth Dubois, Publicity and Public Relations; Al Jones, Lawn Bowling Programme Director; Marina Johnston and Cecil Dubois, Directors-at-large.
Almonte Lawn Bowling Club will move into its 104th year in 2015. The club is one of eleven clubs throughout the valley and is a member of the Ontario Lawn Bowls Association. It is situated on Robert Street in Almonte. For Further information, contact the president at 613-253-2784 or at chapguy1@gmail.com.
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