August 17, 2023
Current and former Nanango Bowls Club members celebrated 75 years of lawn bowls at the club last Saturday.
After a fun morning on the greens – with some players dressed in vintage club uniforms – the crowd adjourned to the clubhouse for the ceremonial cutting of a birthday cake accompanied by tea, coffee, cakes and biscuits.
Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington, who was a guest of honour, congratulated the club for operating a valuable community service which had provided entertainment, exercise and companionship for members and visitors.
Afterwards, guests inspected a display of bowls memorabilia put together by long-standing member Delvin Powys that featured newspaper clippings, photos, trophies and old club uniforms.
Men’s president David Williams said that while the day’s celebrations focussed on 75 years of bowling, the club would also be celebrating its 77th birthday later this year.
He said residents had begun discussing plans to build a bowling green in Nanango in September 1946.
Work on building the clubhouse and greens began a few months later, with the bowls club incorporated the following year.
However, plans to officially open the club on December 13, 1947, were derailed at the last minute by a flood which destroyed the newly laid greens.
This pushed the club’s opening date back to June 1948.
In the 75 years since then, the club has been hit by several more floods – the most recent in 2011 and 2013 – but has managed to recover much faster.
