Issue No: 12
Tranmere Times
May 2015
This is your club – enjoy it
It was our Annual General Meeting on
Sunday 3rd May, and 46 members came
along to support it. At this time of the year
many members are off on their travels, and
why not, it's a long bowls season. Here are
a few snippets from the AGM.
Once again I encouraged other speakers to
keep their speeches short, and they did,
because my chock-full-of-interest report
was only eight pages long. So much
happens in bowls season.
Tranmere Bowling Club –
New Committee
President:
Mike Porter
VP (Women): Anne Lippis
VP (Men):
Geoff Thomas
Secretary:
Chris Douglas
Treasurer:
John Bartram
Committee:
Bev Cowles
Kathy Day
Veronica Dolan
Anne Ellis
Ian Abraham
Bob Gilby
Peter Holland
Tom Lycett
Although we did not win any pennants this
year we sure came out in top spot with the
Clubs SA Bowling Club of the Year award.
And it was good news to retain the Taylors
Cup in the Bronze section. All up our two
teams won over $2500 in prize money, going into club
funds.
It’s always a pleasure to thank so many of our members
for the volunteer roles taken up throughout the season.
With so many of you, it ensured that our events program
was well organised and presented for our members and
visitors to enjoy. Tranmere Times has been a welcome
publication along with the sponsors and program leaflet
that supplied members with lots of club news throughout
the year.
There is terrific support for our Night Owl competition already full up for the next season. And I reckon we run
one of the best winter bowls programs out. The finale of
each day is always worth waiting for after playing a game of
bowls, no matter what the results are.
“This makes baseball a distinct threat to cricket,”
Dave Roberts hopefully announced when the
inaugural summer season of baseball was launched in
1969. History tells a different story, but Dave is a
legend of the game all the same. Read more .. page 2.
Bowls SA State Championships
Seventeen Tranmere club members competed in this
season’s Bowls SA State championship events with Andrew
Dayman and Eric Monti progressing through to the round of
16 in the men’s pairs, and Guy Stanley through to the final 8
in the men’s singles. He met Scott Thulborn in that
encounter and was very competitive, going down 25 to 18
after matching it with Scott at 20 to 18.
Congratulations to everyone who entered, and well done
Guy for progressing to the quarter finals.
Richard Ellis retired after 8 years as our bar
manager. What a fantastic contribution from
him! Grace Murphy retired after serving as
our bowls administration secretary for the
past 3 years. Thank you, Grace.
Members attended St John first aid courses
and other members attended Bowls
Australia measurer courses.
A wonderful donation from our Club
Patron, Dr John Flett, and the Beilby family
saw the club receive one of the latest
Heartstart Units. If, in an emergency, the
machine saves just one life, we will be so
thankful.
In our 90th year we have so much to look
forward to. Our club financial status is very strong. We are
planning to install a shade system over C green next April,
another Turbo oven for the main kitchen, and an upgrade
of the tennis section facilities, where the old kitchen is still
in 1960's mode.
Dr John Flett, our club patron, spoke for everyone present
when he said, “I’m really very proud of this club and, of you,
Mike Porter.”
Mike was very appreciative and finished off by reminding
everyone, “This is your club. You’re all shareholders; you’re
all owners. Enjoy it!”
It's a big call to take on Woollies and Coles, but Romeos are
doing just that and they are supporting our club. Romeos, at
Rostrevor, donated all the bread for our pennant
sandwiches this season and they are also sponsoring our
winter bowls program. If you’re lucky enough to win one of
their vouchers it will certainly help with the weekly
shopping.
With supermarkets at Magill, Rostrevor, Campbelltown and
Athelstone, they are conveniently located for your custom.
Congratulations to John Feddersen, who has been
selected in South Australia’s over 60s representative
side to contest the national championships for the
fourth year running.
Tranmere Times is proudly supported by Pullman Printing ... thank you Mike Sandon.
Sporting Hall of Fame
Tranmere has some high achievers in their chosen sporting
fields, being recognised for their excellence in their
respective Halls of Fame.
Dave Roberts: Baseball
Canberra and he’s very proud of the fact he was the oldest
player in the competition.
He’s got every right to be proud.
Barrie Robran: Australian Rules Football
Barrie, as we know, is
a great all-round
sportsman. He excels
at every sport he plays
and, in addition to his
outstanding football
career, also played two
first class cricket
matches representing
South Australia.
Dave started playing baseball in 1941 at Norwood High
School and then progressed to the East Torrens Baseball
Club. By the time he finished playing, on his 50th birthday,
he’d completed 863 major league games. This included 14
consecutive years representing South Australia and eight
times representing Australia. “Unfortunately,” he says, “all
the national games, against Japan and the USA, were played
in Australia.”
Dave was recognised as a legend of the game when he was
inducted into the inaugural Australian Hall of Fame. He was
also recognised as SA’s best Claxton Shield short stop and
then as Australia’s best short stop over 75 years, in a
ceremony held in Sydney in 2005. This was a special
moment for Dave, with Marlene and his son Christopher
attending the presentation.
Dave was a
stalwart for
junior
baseball,
having the
Dave Roberts
trophy for
U14 state
baseball
named in his
honour. The
image shows
Dave with his
son (middle)
and his two
nephews.
When Dave
was 75 years
old, he played alongside his son in the Masters Games in
In 1996 Barrie became
one of the first
inductees into the
Australian Football Hall
of Fame. In 2001 this
was upgraded to
Legend status,
becoming the first
South Australian
footballer and first player never to have played in the
VFL/AFL to be so honoured.
In 2002 Barrie was one of the inaugural inductees into the
South Australian Football Hall of Fame and in 2014 his
contribution to football was recognised with a statue
erected in his honour at the southern entrance to the new
Adelaide Oval.
Barrie is immensely respected, not only for his talent, but
also for his sportsmanship and humility, which we’ve all
witnessed first-hand.
Nic Cirocco: Bocce
Bocce isn’t big enough in
Australia to have its own
Hall of Fame, but Nic
Cirocco has been
recognised for his
services to bocce at the
highest possible level with
an Australian Sports
Medal, presented to him
in 2000. Nic managed the
Australian U18 team and
took them to three
consecutive World Championships, making the grand final in
his third year when the team won the silver medal. Make no
mistake, this is a huge achievement for Australia.
Tranmere Times May 2015
“Don’t forget; once the season starts, we have 160 selectors.” – Mike Porter at the AGM 2015.
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Service Medal Recipients
Tranmere also has members who have given tirelessly of their time to
community service. Several have been formally recognised. Barrie Robran was
awarded an MBE for his services to Australian Rules Football (1981). Nic
Cirocco was awarded an OAM for his services to the South Australian Bocce
Federation and the Italian community (1995). Dr John Flett was appointed as a
Commander of St John (1993) for his service to the St John Ambulance Service
and awarded an AM for his services to medicine and the community (2007).
Our General President, Graeme Parkinson, was awarded an OAM in 1992 for
his services to the Modbury Hospital. Graeme became a volunteer member of
the board in 1979, at a time when the public hospital had its own board of
management. Graeme became chairman in 1984 and served in that capacity for
another nine years. He made a very significant contribution to financial,
professional, industrial and operational matters at the hospital, which serves a
regional community of more than 100 000 people.
It was a very challenging period during which the board oversaw an extensive
expansion of the emergency department, worked through a critical period of
industrial action regarding rostering schedules for nurses and grew the budget
from $20m to $60m per annum. During this period the Modbury Hospital was
also responsible for providing medical services to South Australian prisons.
Graeme being presented with his medal by Her
Excellency, the Governor of South Australia,
Marjorie Jackson, in Government House.
“We were continuously challenged, by the Health Commission, to do more with less,” Graeme recalled. “But, the biggest
challenge was coming to grips with the internal politics of power play between the various medical specialties.”
After he left the board, the administration of the hospital was taken over by HealthScope and privately managed, albeit publicly
funded.
PARADISE MOTORS MIXED SIXES DAY
A full house of 20 six-member teams, from afar
afield as McLaren Vale and Lyndoch, converged
on to the Tranmere bowling green to contest the
2015 Paradise Motors Mixed Sixes tournament
on Monday 13 April 2015.
What makes this tournament different from most
others is the format. Each team contests six
games of two-bowl triples. No two triple
combinations can have the same three members.
Paradise Motors Mixed Sixes Winning Team
“Brenda and The Boys”
Kieran Gavin, Brenda Porter, Bob Taylor, Nic Cirocco, Mike Sandon and Mike
Porter being presented their winning cheques by Robert Maiolo on behalf of Jeff
Neal from Paradise Motors.
The format makes it a real challenge to win all six
games and gives every team a chance and hope
for success, even if it loses the opening game. As
it turned out, the winning team did win all six
games. And, they were the only team to do so.
Well done to Brenda Porter and her boys. The
second placed team won five games and the third
and fourth placed teams won four games and
drew another. Only three teams won four games.
The weather was superb, the lunch was amazing and the camaraderie both during the games and in the clubhouse afterwards
was sensational. Book your team early next year – this event fills up very quickly once announced.
Tranmere Times May 2015
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“It takes him ten minutes to get up,” Denise Abraham told assembled members as Ian Abraham, who’s recently had a hip replacement, made
his way to the front of the AGM to deliver his report as chairperson of selectors. Realising what she’d said, she quickly tried to recover with
the helpful advice, “It’s only short.”
Tranmere In World Record
When you’re on the hunt for a world
record entry into the Guinness Book
of Records, a bleak weather forecast is
but a minor irritant. Sure, it was windy
and showery on the morning of Friday
24 April, but that didn’t stop Chris
Thomas taking on Justin Parkinson,
with Sam Caon officiating as measurer,
in a 10 end game of bowls.
Justin Parkinson, Chris Thomas and Sam Caon
Chris Thomas is attempting to break
the world record for the most number
of lawn bowls matches (of 10 ends)
played in a year. In the process, he’s
raising funds for cancer research. Chris
hails from Cobram, Victoria. He
started with his first game in Tweed
Heads on 1 July 2014 and is targeting
800 games by the end of June 2015.
The current record is 670 games and
his game at Tranmere was game 727.
Well done Chris.
Chris has travelled from Queensland to Tasmania along the east coast and is now
completing his venture in South Australia. He’s played a maximum of 4 games in one day,
with a creditable 65% winning record. Along the way he’s beaten the Commonwealth
Games silver medallist, Ryan Bester of Canada, in a game in Broadbeach. For the record,
Justin beat Chris 13 shots to 5.
You can follow Chris on Facebook at Chris Will For Cancer.
So far he’s raised $35k, on target to achieve $40k by the end of the year. He’s designed his
own polo shirts, pink for breast cancer and blue for prostate cancer (see image above).
Chris was supported by Fashion Club Wear who provided the shirts at cost.
Has anyone else from Tranmere featured in the Guinness Book of Records – let me know.
Claus’ Conundrum
Last month you had to work out your winning strategy, as the opening caller, in the game
of 100 Up. You can guarantee winning by calling the number ‘one’ to start the game off.
Whatever your opponent then adds in his turn(s), you add the difference between ‘eleven’
and that number in your turn. The game progresses with these numbers after each of your
calls: 1, 12, 23, 34. 45. 56, 67, 78, 89.
If your opponent begins the game and does not call ‘one’, all you need to do is to bring the
total to 12 and then follow the above strategy for the rest of the game.
Now to this month’s conundrum.
Identify the club members in the images to the right and deduce the secret code word. The
third image is a toughie, but if you get the pattern of the clues worked out, it will help you
make an intuitive guess. The photo was taken in the mid 1940s.
The fourth image was taken in March 1965 at The Bay of Islands, New Zealand, when this
club member was just 18 years old – he hasn’t changed a bit. Looks like a good catch, but
this was only the bait. They were MARLIN fishing! However it was still the biggest thing he
caught that day.
Tranmere Times May 2015
Viagra now comes in tea bags. It doesn’t enhance sexual performance, but it does stop your biscuits from getting soggy.
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