A cracker of a bowls club
by Cathy Reid
If you've seen the movie Crackerjack , it won't be hard to get a feel for the Para Hills Bowls Club - although you certainly won't find any 'strange weeds' stashed in the greenhouse, Chief Executive Officer Brian Gale quickly points out with a laugh.
Just like the movie, the 200 members of the progressive South Australian club have resisted the financial temptation to install poker machines.
'Most of our members aren't all that wealthy. We'd hate to see them lose their hard-earned money by feeding poker machines just to make the club rich. We just don't think it's the way to go,' Brian said.
Instead they run a range of fundraising activities, which importantly also double as social events.
'We have everything from jazz nights, dances, bingo, socials, yoga - there's something virtually on all the time.'
The driving force behind all these activities, and of course the bowls, is an army of volunteers.
There's Colleen Fawcett , 'the life and soul of the club', who doesn't let being in a wheelchair after suffering a stroke stop her.
Then there's Sadie 'The Cleaning Lady' Hawkes, who shook off a knee reconstruction to get back to the important job of organising the social side of things, especially taking care of the many visitors.
'There are many of them that do a fantastic job and they hate getting any credit for it because they do it for love.'
There are in fact at least 45 regular volunteers, and many more who chip in when they can. The volunteers are organised in teams.
'We've got the Clean Team that does a great job three times a week. The Kitchen Team, which looks after all the functions, and they're a happy bunch as long as we make sure there aren't too many cooks in the kitchen. And outside we've got a fantastic Green Team.'
The club is very aware of making sure the volunteers don't burn out, so the workload is shared around.
'To give an idea of how much work they do, if we had to pay our volunteers for the time and effort they put in I reckon it would cost well over $250,000 a year.'
Some of the volunteers come from community groups such as Northern Volunteering Australia (SA) and Mission Australia , which provide opportunities for out-of-work youth.
'They've done some great work for us and they get to learn some valuable skills along the way.
'In fact we are just about to open Memorial Walk, which they helped us with and it's just beaut. If you can imagine a rose trellis walkway with a water feature then you'll get the idea.'
The club has also used grants to make improvements, such as the installation of floodlighting for the new synthetic green for the 'night owl' bowlers, and a more accessible toilet block.
The focus is very much on the social side of bowling and the club gives plenty back to the community. They've 'adopted' the St Peters Bowling Club, which is for bowlers with a disability.
'They lost their clubhouse and had nowhere to go, but we were happy to have them on board and they come along twice a week.'
There is also a strong junior side, with students participating from primary and secondary schools as well as Endeavour College.
'There's a photo on the wall in the clubhouse with the youngest member Matthew Webber , who was 10 at the time, and the oldest member Frank Brown , who was 90.'
'We really make an effort to be more than just a bowling club and we have lots of social members who just enjoy the functions and the companionship.
'Visitors are always commenting on how it is the friendliest club they've ever been to. I've gone to some of the bigger clubs where you just feel like a stranger.
'We may not have the best bowling greens yet, because they take time to develop, but we are certainly up there when it comes to being hospitable.'
To reach out to the community the club organised a 'come and try, come and enjoy' month with 47 different activities including keep fit, tai chi, road and home safety, puppet shows, musical concerts and dances.
Training is considered another important role and retired members are happy to pass on their skills and experience to volunteers. There are regular training programs offered in first aid, garden maintenance, green-keeping and bar management.
What makes all these achievements even more incredible, is that the club is only six years old, recently earning one of the National Australia Bank National Volunteer Awards.
One thing for sure is the club won't be standing still and new projects in the pipeline include building bocce courts, erecting a covered way to the greens and installing a water-recycling system.
