ARMADALE BOWLERS

NEWSLETTER

ARMADALE NEWSPage 1

Princes Park, 41 Sussex Road, Caulfield South, VIC, 3162. Phone 9528 4620 eMail: abcbowls@bigpond.net.au Website: www.armadalebowlsclub.com.au

Be Aware Drive With Care

FEBRUARY 2014

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2013-14 CLUB CHAMPIONS

Winner of the Ladies Singles was Leila Levy with runner-up Gail Nadelman

Emmery Bihary was too good on the day over Don Finkelstein in the Mens Singles

Ladies Pairs Champions Rose-Marie Todes and Di Grosberg with runners-up Denise Brick and Jill Diamond

Mens Pairs winners for the second year running Garry Barnett and Michael Stange with runners-up Dan and Alan Faigen

2013 was the 125th Anniversary of the Armadale Bowls Club and the Board wanted the Club to celebrate this milestone event in style.

An Organising Committee was appointed to plan and facilitate the events which were to take place. We are fortunate to have quite a number of talented people in the Club who gave of their time to ensure that all the events were successful.

We started off the year with the publishing of the Recipe Book. This book was a limited edition print and contained a compilation of favourite

SUMMARY OF OUR 125TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

recipes provided by members and partners of members. It proved to be very popular and sold very quickly.

The Committee decided to produce a book to commemorate the history of the Club since its formation in 1888. Fortunately, there was plenty of archival material, including photographs, to trace the history. There were contributions from many members of the Club and the monumentous task of sorting and collating the material to get the book to the editing and print stage was ably undertaken by Norma Zandle.

The 125th Anniversary Book was given to Members who attended the 125th Celebration Dinner.

The fountain which was originally installed at the Club’s original premises in Northcote Avenue, Armadale, had been dismantled and lay, in various sections, around the present Club’s premises. It was decided to restore the fountain and, with the artistic talents of Ron Hirsch, it was put together and now has pride of place near the entrance to the Club.

The Club was very fortunate to receive some wonderful prizes from some generous sponsors to be able to conduct a raffle over a number of months during the year. The first prize was a

$4000 contribution towards a holiday provided by Travelscene Malvern. Other prizes were a diamond necklace donated by Ian Sharp Jewellery, Antler Luggage, Bowls items from The Resting Toucher and Tyres from Goodyear Mentone. The raffle was drawn at the 125th Anniversary Dinner.

The Club also ran a 125th Anniversary Guest Day bowls event on the 20th April 2013 and a wrap-up event on the 19th January 2014 which was sponsored by the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC), who were celebrating their 95th Anniversary. The VACC generously donated $6000 for prize money.

The highlight of the celebrations was the 125th Anniversary Dinner which was held at the Caulfield Racecourse Committee Rooms overlooking the racetrack. Over 130 people attended including local and parliamentary dignitaries. The event was MC’d by Philip Kingston and a number of speakers paid tribute to the Club and the historical significance of this Anniversary.

Entertainment was provided by the Alan Zavod Trio and a most enjoyable evening was had by all.

We wish to thank all those members who helped to make this Anniversary a memorable occasion.

ARMADALE NEWSPage 2 Be Aware Drive With Care

CHAIRMANS CORNER

SATURDAY PENNANT

TUESDAY PENNANT

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy & healthy 2014. With only a few games left in another season, do not forget that we still have finals and we look forward to seeing all members not playing supporting those members who are still in finals.

Also this year for the first time Armadale Bowls Club is playing in the Wednesday Night Pennant and so far it looks like both sides entered will be in the finals.

The Club Competitions are going really well with the Singles Championship won by Emmery Bihary and the Club Pairs won by Garry Barnett (lead) and Michael Stange (skip).

We are still to hold the Minor, Mixed Pairs, Triples and if the numbers allow we will have a Fours Competition, so if you are interested please send an email to David Brame and let him know.

The Monday 2-bowl Triples Competition as usual is running very well with 30 to 32 teams every month and our Wednesday afternoon game is also a success, with high numbers every week run by our very helpful David Janover and his team.

We still have our always-successful Mixed Generation Night being held on Wednesday 26 February at 7:00pm and of course the Star-Weisler Day being held on Saturday 22 March starting at 9:30am. Make sure to put your name down on the list in the first shed before all the places are taken.

As this is my last year as President of Saturday Pennant I would like to take this opportunity to thank my committee for all their help and assistance during the last two years and of course Di Grosberg, without her help and friendship it would have made the job a lot more difficult.

Abe StiglecPresident Saturday Committee

Our 125th. year has been very eventful, and I hope you all enjoyed the events and celebrations.

As has been mentioned previously, it was an amazing team effort to reach the results that we achieved.

Further more many of the organisers really got to know each other and this mutual respect gained has made us a better club.

I recommend to all members who have not been involved in the organisation of the

running of the club to give it serious consideration and you will benefit and appreciate things a lot more. We do get some negative feedback from well meaning members and we do understand their concerns. Please get involved and make us even better.

To the selectors who sadly are our most criticised committee, you really have a most difficult task and I applaud you for your devotion and dedication. We the players don’t always agree with your decisions but I believe you all have the best interest of the club at heart.

I know its been a difficult season in regards to the coaching situation, however Steve and his team of coaches have done a really good job. Thank you to all who have contributed. Special thanks to Denise Brick and Alan Faigen who have helped a number of players who have requested their assistance.

We will continue to bring in experts to have seminars such as Geoff Maskell and just more recently Gail Nadleman, Addy Wetzler and our very own Michael Stange. The Q and A they conducted was really outstanding and the response from our members was very encouraging. It was obvious that players are keen to improve and the Board will address all these issues for our future.

We encourage you all to make a concerted effort over the next few weeks to train.

We have to fight to retain our positions. It is equally important to avoid relegation as it is to make finals.

Be well and thanks for your support.

Tom WeislerChairman

With the Pennant season coming to an end, I would like to thank all of those people who have contributed to the smooth running of the greens, gardens, surrounds and clubhouse.

At present, it is a small team of dedicated volunteers who are constantly busy creating a safe, enjoyable environment for all bowlers.

It takes an enormous effort to coordinate trades, ongoing maintenance, schedule servicing, urgent repairs & future planning at a club such as ours, so if there are any other individuals who can help us with small tasks on a regular basis, please contact me.

Good luck to all those teams reaching the finals.

Colin LuberChairman House Committee

HOUSE COMMITTEE

18 rounds of Pennant finished, now for the finals! That’s not the end of bowling for the season, as we still have a few more functions to go.

Our annual President & Vice-President Day was held on 13 February with bowls & lunch.

We also hold our Ladies Armadale Triples on Thursday 13 March and we’d love to see all our Armadale Ladies join us for a pleasant day of bowling.

Our President’s Cup Invitation Triples will be held on Tuesday 18 March which is becoming a prestigious event with entries from outside clubs taking preference.

Our final Tuesday event the “5 a side” day, will be held on April 5 with pairs & triples in an hour on, hour off format. You can chat to fellow members, have lunch or cheer your team members on in the hour off. We will also try and organise some Tuesday bowling after Pennant finishes depending on teams in finals. We’ll keep you posted.

We had a very successful annual Charity Night BBQ & Bowls & we raised about $800 to donate to our worthy Special Kids Charity. Thank you for supporting this event and special thanks to those members who made a donation, despite not being able to attend.

There are still 2 tournaments running for Proportional & Minors, so make sure you check your play-by dates on the lists in the shed.

We will organise Indoor Winter Bowls again for our girls, so get your holiday dates sorted & then let us know when you will be available. You are also welcome to enter your own team.

Thank you to all my Committee for their help & support over the last year. Big thanks to our Catering Girls for a fantastic year of feeding us all very well. Thanks also to the support from Abe Stiglec my fellow Saturday President.

Hoping to see you all at the Pennant Closing Dinner on 20 February at 6pm for a Greek Feast! (Partners welcome)

Di GrosbergPresident Tuesday Committee

ARMADALE NEWSPage 3Be Aware Drive With Care

COACHING CORNER

TUESDAY SELECTION

The Club’s coaches have been volunteering their time through various formats. • Wednesday Nights for individual coaching.• Thursdays during the day for Midweek Pennant coaching• Thursdays between 4:00 and 5:00pm for drill sessions with Don.• Sunday mornings for individual coaching.

The Club Coaches are willing and able to help you with any issues you may have. Please approach them and organise a time to meet.

We ran a very successful open discussion forum on January 16 on Skipping, Teamwork and Playing to Win with panel members Michael Stange, Gail Nadelman and Addy Wetzler from Mentone Bowling Club. A big thank you to all involved especially David Brame who filled in as MC for the session. We intend to hold more discussion forums in the future due to the popularity of this first session and I welcome input for discussion topics.

We are also extremely fortunate to have Mary-Anne Spicer, who has an outstanding track record as both a coach and a player (representing Victoria and Australia in over 280 games) who will be conducting extra special training sessions leading up to the finals. The first of these will take place on Thursday 13 February from 4:30 to 6:30pm.

Steven RubensteinCoaching

We have just completed the 18th round of Pennant. We are pleased to report that 3 sides have made it into the finals: sides 2, 3 and 7 and we wish them good luck.

The premier side finished 7th on the ladder which is a good result thus cementing their position in premier league.

All other sides did quite well considering, with the large number of men playing midweek, the competition is of a very high standard.

It has been a very difficult season with an unusually high number of players having physical problems. The weather also presented some problems for the players.

We look forward to season 2014-15 and hope to achieve even better results.

Gaby CohenChairperson Tuesday Selection

SATURDAY SELECTIONWith the end of season 2013 – 14 rapidly approaching, the Match Committee and all Pennant Players, can look at this season with some satisfaction.

Some of our sides will play in finals and that is a great source of delight to many. There are disappointments we have to contend with also. Some of our sides have not fared as well as we would have liked but, in the main, the season has been a good one.

As Selectors we constantly face the problem of player unavailability. Again this season we have had a number of weeks where we could not field 7 full sides. Remember last year we fielded 8 sides. The 8th side was a 2 rink, 8 person side and on a number of occasions we gave walkovers. In spite of withdrawing that 8th side we are still short of regular players week after week. We have often had to call on some people to help fill in and whilst in the main we have had good co-operation, it is a constant source of concern.

To fill our 7 sides every Saturday we need 112 players. So far this season we have used 150 players to fill those 112 spots, which means each week there are at least 38 players that are not available to play. We understand there are family and work commitments along with health issues and extreme weather conditions that keep players from their favourite sport, but we want you to understand the difficulty we face on a regular basis.

Player marking continues to be a contentious issue. Sometimes when the selectors look at the score cards we wonder if players in one rink have been playing on different rinks. Clearly the marking of a fellow bowler’s ability on any given day is subjective and open to interpretation.

Early in the season we gave all members of the playing group a set of guide lines to help try and standardise the marking of your team mates. A lot of people seem to have drifted from the guides and marks are sometimes widely divergent. To help you try and get a standard set of rules for marking your fellow team mates we have published the guides once again on the Armadale web site.

Please read these guidelines again and re-acquaint yourself so that we are all on the same page when it comes to the marking system.

This Selection Committee have tried to be open and transparent when making decisions about player placement throughout the season. We know we have not been able to please everyone all the time but we have made an honest attempt to select the best sides, always keeping in mind the success of the club is our first objective. Our resource for achieving the best outcome for the club is you, the Pennant playing group.

Our coaches have continued to ‘ply their trade’ in an attempt to raise the standard of bowling for the good of players as individuals and for the good of the Club as a whole. We thank all the club coaches for the efforts they put in throughout the season and we hope you, as individual bowlers have improved, as a result of their efforts.

The Selection Committee would like to thank all the Club bowlers that contributed to the club through this season and to all those privileged to represent the Club in the finals, good bowling !!

Noel RubensteinChairman Saturday Selection

The Board of Management will allow members of the club to bring their friends and foes to the club for fun roll-ups.

Hopefully the friends stay friends and the foes morph into friends. If they then wish to further their bowling experience with a view to joining the club, our coaches are available to guide them.

The club is constantly on the look-out for men, women and young people, to carry the club into the next decade and beyond. Barefoot bowling events can be organised for groups.

For all enquiries re membership please contact :

Danny Miller Membership Convenor

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS

BUSINESS CONTACTA.D.M. Motors Adam Adler 9530 8144

Adler Electrics Michael Adler 9505 3880

Antler Luggage Sonney Roth 1300 268 537

Astoria Honda Centre Julia Connell 9579 1988

Axis Property Commercial Real Estate Daniel Liberman 9525 5222

Barton Glass Sam Hofbauer 9795 9514

Bet-Olam Funerals Rhonda Nirens 9883 6737

Cafe D’Lish Izzy Baran 9523 0245

Caulfield Glasshouse Restaurant Thushari Gomez 9257 7170

Creative Balloons David Janover 0412 113 271

Documents on Call David Shandler 9687 7555

Feet 4 Life Kathryn Nicol 9596 8418

Ian Sharp Jewellery Ian Sharp 9866 4983

Ironman 4 x 4 Tom Jacob 9532 1111

Junction Tyre and Auto David Rabinov 9584 8411

Malvern Travel & Cruise Justin Lawson 9576 0211

Marshall White & Co Justin Long 9822 9999

Matthew Iaco Real Estate Matthew Iaco 9532 8845

MoleSafe Dr Mark Franck 9510 7888

Nelson Pharmacy Paul Pham 9578 3960

Optical World Jerry Jukovic 9532 8033

Personal Training for Active Living Rose-Marie Todes 0419 390 652

Peters Mitre 10 Timber & Hardware Peter Broderick 9509 9811

Regis Aged Care Greg Briggs 1300 998 100

Rocksalt Restaurant James Salem 9596 4622

Resting Toucher Geoff & Jackie Maskell 8520 9600

Scotchline Signs Barbara Vaughan 9532 0660

Simon Carpets Sol Simon 9557 7808

Stevie B Stevie B 0413 006 970

Sutton Partners Ron Sutton 9824 2212

Synergy Funds Management Michael Burstin 9684 8130

Taylor Bowls Danny Keating 07-5390 1100

Tommy Ruff 9077 8815

The Athlete’s Foot Malvern Abe Engel 9500 2444

The Expertstone Group Nissim Kalifa 0499 007 714

The Hospitality Man Steven Swiatlo 9578 2153

To Catch A Chef Annette Gurgiel 9523 7486

ARMADALE NEWSPage 4

Our thanks to Documents on Call for the printing of this Newsletter They can handle all your printing requirements

quickly and professionallyContact them at: 2B Parker Street,

Footscray, 3003Phone: 9687 7555

Be Aware Drive With Care

Take the opportunity of trying our sponsors services and let them know that you are an Armadale member.

Show our sponsors that we support them too. Contact Jack Cooper if you have information regarding prospective sponsors.

MEMBERS WITH PROBLEMSThere is now a conduit to help resolve any problems or issues.

The committee comprising Rose-Marie Todes, Danny Miller and Tom Weisler will be the go-between to selectors, coaches, players and the Board.

For all enquiries regarding hiring of the Clubhouse please contact Elaine Kovkin on 9599 2429

or 0419 997 788

The 125th anniversary of our Club boosted the quantity (and quality) of our Sponsors. Our new, in-house produced Fixture Book also did the same.

To keep our fantastic range of old and new Sponsors happy, our bowlers are encouraged to become familiar with our Sponsors and utilise their services whenever possible. All our Sponsors are listed above on this back page and are also found on our Website, Team App and in the Clubroom.

Business cards are available in the special rack under the wall plaque listing all our Sponsors.

There has been one change to the name of one of our Sponsors. Travelscene Malvern has changed their name to Malvern Travel & Cruise, still at the same address and phone number and ably led by Justin Lawson and his crew.

SAFETY FIRST

Your Safety Team has had a busy season.

The very good news is that we have not had to attend to any significant incidents.

It has been “preventative” actions which have kept us busy - to assist the safety of each of us.

To summarise what we have attended to:• Weekly posters reminding us of key messages: Stay HYDRATED. Keep COOL. Remove OBSTACLES.

Concrete is SLIPPERY • Keeping players as cool as possible on hot days with cloths and cold water• Providing WATER bottles to members at no cost or for $5 for THERMO bottles• Upgrading the training of 25 Safety Officers to Level 2 Safety Standards• Providing Level 1 Safety training to 20 members and partners at no cost• Using the TEAM APP to send out timely messages

A MAJOR PROJECT for the season is to complete our EMERGENCY CONTACT LISTS for each player.

Please assist us to contact a family member or friend for you should you require support. It is very disconcerting for the individual and the club if we are unable to do so.

An email has been forwarded to members to provide this information. Please contact Les Newman by email newmanl@bigpond.net.au or phone 9592 5959 if you are not on email or prefer to call. We require preferably 2 contacts, their phone numbers and their relationship to you.

Remember we still have several VERY HOT weeks ahead.

Please BE AWARE of the HEAT EXHAUSTION messages everywhere at the Club. Keep Safe. Help each other. And be sensible.

Your Safety Team

Please contact Cedric Gould on 9509 8930 if you hear of any member sick, injured or in need of help.

Latest information is marked on the whiteboard inside the clubhouse.

ALMONER