Happy days with Ann Holland (centre) following another club success back in 2019
Happy days with Ann Holland (centre) following another club success back in 2019

By Shela Cammack

2021 has gone.

At Christmas most people enjoyed sharing time with family & friends; via phone, computer or real life (once you’ve managed to unpick the mysteries of all the paperwork connected to travelling out of our home countries!).

But sometimes, just as things seem to be going really well, life – or the opposite, suddenly smacks you in the face & reminds us that we are all fragile and we must make the most of the time we have with our family & friends.

On December 28th we received the sad news of the sudden death of our lovely friend: Ann Holland.

At the service celebrating her life, Ann’s nephews spoke the eulogy, which began:

“It would be hard to talk about Ann without mentioning the fact that she was very small, but what Ann lacked in height she made up for in so many other ways. She had a big heart, her capacity to watch or play sport was never ending, her love for her sister, her girls, Ray, Amy and her 6 grandchildren was endless and she had an insatiable appetite when it came to socializing and getting together with friends.

Her heart and soul were forever young, in short Ann wasn’t small at all.”

We will all miss her so much.

To ease us gently back into bowling, after New Year’s Eve celebrations, Dee organised fun bowling  followed by “Breakfast”! Our next challenge, organised by Keith, was “Last (Man) Bowler Standing.” On 3rd January 18 people turned up at San Luis to play, 2 rinks of 4 and 2 rinks of 5 were selected and play began at 10:30am.

Everyone began with 3 bowls, which were gradually reduced as the furthest from the jack was removed each end, some of the measurements were quite close but well away from the jack!! The winners from each rink: Jane Hamill, Ralph Jones, Christine Jackson & June Jones played a one bowl knockout.

The ultimate winner was June Jones who was presented with a bottle of wine and a bottle of whisky, whilst the other finalists received a bottle of wine each. It was a different format to normal and was enjoyed by all.

So after the warm-ups we’re all looking forward to getting back to work/league matches next week.

Take care, stay safe & carry your Covid QR passport!! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022.