The month of April saw a change to warmer days and our greens came out of their winter hibernation and are running well. The Pearl Wart weed is dying off, but we’re still looking for one more treatment to nail the coffin shut. Our website (www.longbeachlbc.com) continues to be a great resource that includes our club calendar of events, and now our new member directory among other things.
We had lots of tournament activities this month. First up is the Men’s So Cal Triples where Dave Morrison came in 4th place. Then there was the big one for us, the SWD Open. Carol Poto came in 4th place (Champion flight) in the Women’s Singles. Giulia Gallo got 1st place (Champion flight), and Stephanie Johnson and Alex de la Garza got 1st place (4th flight) in the Women’s Pairs. Giulia Gallo got 1st place and Candy DeFazio got 2nd place (Champion flight), and Stephanie Johnson and Tricia Quan got 1st place (2nd flight) in the Women’s Fours, and finally Dave Morrison pulled out 2nd place (2nd flight) in the Men’s Fours.
Then we had our Club Pairs match on April 22nd. There were four final teams from that day that needed to schedule their playoffs on another day. Those teams were: Corey Vose and Giulia Gallo, Jake Jeffery and Woody Cane, Steve Jones and Steve Folick, and Carol Poto and Lee Boyer. Stay tuned for the list of winners. And wrapping out the month we had the Katy Stone Women’s Singles here at the LBLBC where our very own Carol Poto took 3rd place. Congratulations to all our winners, we are all so proud of you.
It is the collective effort of all our club volunteers that makes every tournament possible. Volunteers run and maintain this club, and they do such a great job, that we’ve become the “go to” club for so many important events. I’m proud of every one of you.
We had one fund-raising corporate party here in April. It was a commercial real estate support firm called Air CRE. This is the party that got postponed a couple of times in March due to weather, but they stuck it out. It was a big catered event with lots of prizes. They had such a good time that they told me that they were looking to start doing this twice a year. A big shout out to all the volunteers that pitched in that day to make it a success.
Next month we get a little break from tournaments. We have Ladies Day here on May 10th and Coast League on May 17th. But the big event for our May is, of course, our annual membership drive — Open House, on Saturday, May 13th from 10 to 3. Be on the lookout for the volunteer sign-up sheet to help us with: Greeters, Registration, Ambassadors, Membership, Set Up and Take Down. Hospitality and Instruction will be led by those club committee members.
In our efforts to beautify our club prior to hosting the US Open in October, we are looking for some volunteers to help install new back board edging along all 3 greens and refurbish all the rink markers. If you’re interested in helping, please drop Greg Golgart a note; the club will be grateful for your contribution of labor.
The last thing I wanted to say is how grateful, and honored, I am to have been a member of this club. I think of you all as family members. We look out for each other, support each other, and truly enjoy our time together. Open House will be my last day as President, and Patti Balsillie will assume the position until the next election. I hope to be able to drop in for a game or two before I move to Santa Rosa. Thank you for letting me be a part of the Long Beach Lawn Bowling Club.
Well, that pretty much wraps things up for my last “Message from the President”. As always, if you have any suggestions concerning how the club can better serve its members, please let me or any board member know. While we cannot promise everything to everyone, those things that we can act on will surely benefit us all.
Let’s have some fun,
Mark Holden, President