Chairman’s Reports for 2023
June 2024
Hi Members,
Our club is very excited to announce that our grant submission to install a downstairs Disabled Toilet and Disability Concrete Car Parking has been approved. We have already engaged a builder and have received the first part payment from the State Government Sports and Recreation Fund. You may have noticed that part of our car park has been cordoned off. This is to allow Mark Faulkner builders to commence work on the construction of our Disabled Toilet facilities. The project involves the demolition of our current Male and Female toilet facilities and their reconstruction to include a disability toilet facility. Therefore, all of our bowls functions will now be held upstairs. At this stage, the builder expects the work to be completed by approximately early October, baring any unforeseen issues. We have also engaged an architect to redesign and upgrade our downstairs Bar area. Our club has received a separate grant for this project. Once we receive these plans, we will determine the best way to proceed and seek quotes to perform this work. Our club held 8 functions in April and a further 3 functions in May, one of which was a wedding reception and another was for an upstairs hall hire. There are no functions planned for June, which may be a blessing in disguise due to our renovations being conducted at the moment. Many thanks again to all of the volunteers who make these events a success and welcoming to all our guests. King Kong stores has agreed to sponsor a Men’s Prestige Fours competition to be held on the 29th of June. We are working with the Mercure regarding sponsorship and have also sent proposals to the Rockhampton Auto Group and Advantage Pharmacy. It has been agreed to recommence Barefoot Bowls starting on the 5th of August for 10 weeks and ending on the 7th of October. These events will be held on a Monday night which is a change from previously being on a Wednesday night. Thanks again to Miriam Black and her team for taking on this event for another session. Our Containers for Change recycling has taken on a new process where Pat Coleman has organised some new bins and a monthly pickup at our premises at no cost to our club. Thanks Pat, this is a great outcome for the club in making this task much simpler. The Upstairs hallway has now been carpeted with the assistance of Ross Sanders, Bruce Ballentine, Frank Jenner and Jeff Slater. It has certainly improved the décor and comfort of our members and guests. CPR and Defibrillator training was held at the club in May. It has been suggested that we purchase a new Defibrillator to complement our existing older device, so the club is investigating the best type to suit our needs and will obtain quotes. Also, many thanks to Kay Borg and her team of helpers for their ongoing support running the monthly Card Day which is a great success and well patronised. Our sincere condolences and thoughts to the family and friends of those club members who have recently passed, may they rest in peace.
Syd O’Sing, Chairman
April 2024
Hi Members,
Welcome back to 2024 for all our returning members and a special welcome to all our new members. I’m pleased to advised that we have received and accepted 6 new members into the club in February. There has been quite a bit happening in the club since last year. We have formed a new committee with some new faces on board and some role changes. Many thanks to Desieree for accepting the position of Secretary, always a difficult role to fill. Also Lyn has once again accepted to continue the role of treasurer, another extremely important position in the club. Our club has actively pursued some grants this year and I am pleased to say that 3 of 4 applications have been successful and we already have the money in the bank. The Frenchville Sports Club has provided us with a $5,000 grant to upgrade our downstairs Refrigerator/Freezer which was lacking in capacity to handle some functions. Thanks to Megan and staff at the Frenchville for their support which is much appreciated. Also the Queensland government has approved two grants towards improving our Ladies bowling and support towards a disabled toilet facility downstairs. The other grant which has not been approved as yet, is to rearrange our downstairs toilet facilities to include a disabled toilet and two concrete disabled car parks, fingers crossed we are successful. We have been well patronised with functions again this year, having four in January, four in February, two in March and four proposed for April. Many thanks to those who have volunteered to support the club, as you know this is our main revenue earning events which helps the continued survival of our club. Barefoot bowls has been a great success with Miriam and Rod Black at the helm. There has been a keen interest from bowlers and non-bowlers at this first 8-week session with another 8-week session in the pipeline for later in the year. Once again, we have had great volunteer support to make this event a success. Also many thanks to Doblo’s Fruit and Veg for their kind donation of numerous $25 vouchers as prizes and thanks to Pat for his involvement in procuring Dominic Doblo’s support. Bruce has had some success with the Rockhampton City Council who are going to replant the native shrubs in the Victoria Pde front garden. Thanks Bruce for your persistence and perseverance in engaging the council to perform this project. Jeff has arranged the replacement of all the downstairs fluorescent lights with Led lights which will now be more reliable and efficient. The committee has been in actively working towards reviewing and renegotiating our sponsorship agreements and seeking new sponsors. Discussions have taken place with Mercure Hotel, Rockhampton Auto Group, Bendigo Bank, Advantage Pharmacy, Betta Electrical and King Kong Discount Store. We are in the process of updating our By-Laws and policies. Our uniform by-law has now been changed to reflect our new shirts/tops and bottoms which have been registered with Bowls Queensland. The Office of Fair Trading has advised that we must have a Grievance Policy in place by the 1st July 2024. At a recent Special General Meeting it was unanimously agreed to include the suggested process by the Office of Fair Trading into our By-Laws.
Syd Chairman 2024
November
Hello again Members
Well hasn’t this year gone quickly; this will be our final Newsletter for the year.
Our committee has accepted and endorsed
seven new members into our club at this
month’s meeting, so welcome to you all and enjoy the company of our friendly members.
We have been inundated with requests for Xmas parties and we are fully booked for the remainder of the year. It does show the club has a great reputation for our functions and it all comes for the support of our volunteers and their professional attitude to upholding a friendly and happy environment. We have received many praises for providing an enjoyable atmosphere and a fun event. This month our club will have held ten functions with another eight planned for December. Thank you Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped to make these functions a success.
Our garden gurus have attended to our front garden during a recent working bee. Unfortunately, the native shrubs had a bug infestation and hence required some pruning which we are hoping will revive some new growth. Also, the irrigation system has been upgraded to improve the water supply to these shrubs.
We have provided the remaining details for our grant application to Minor Infrastructure and Inclusive Facilities Fund for the rearrangement off our current downstairs toilet facilities to incorporate a disabled toilet and shower. Our submission also includes upgrading the carpark to provide disabled parking. The final decision on whether we have been successfully may not be known until next year, so fingers crossed.
As a reminder our Xmas get together will be on Friday 15th December, cost is $28 pp, please put your names on the notice to book your table.
Also, our AGM will be held on Sunday 17th December starting at 9:00 am. Please put your nominations in for any position that you can contribute to the continued success of our club.
I wish you all a very merry Xmas and a happy festive time over the Xmas and New Year period, please stay safe and look forward to a great 2024.
Syd O’Sing Chairman
October
Hello again Members
Hi All
Our State Government has passed new Legislation which commences on 8th December 2023 that impacts all organisations that sell food. For our club it requires our members who purchase, handle and/or cook food to hold a certificate. These certificates can only be obtained online. I have already completed this online course titled “I’m Alert” which is a basic refreshment of safely handling, storage and serving food. Members will require an email address to enable them to complete this online course. If members require assistance to obtain this certification, please advise the committee members so that we can arrange some support.
November is going to be very busy for functions as we have 10 bookings for this month, mainly for Friday and Saturday afternoons/nights. We are fully booked now and are turning away many requests for functions each week for both November and December. It would be greatly appreciated if any members who are able to assist at these functions to please contact Bev Johnston. There have been several members who have already been very generous with their support, and it would help Bev if there a few more members to share the load. Please enquire with Bev on how you might be able to help.
Our Clubs new uniform has been a great success with many members already wearing them. Jeff Slater has already placed another order which will arrive soon. If you haven’t already ordered a new club uniform, please contact Jeff to arrange a further order for your request.
The committee have been working feverishly on obtain information and quotes for our grant application to rearrange the current downstairs toilets to include a disabled toilet. Plans have now been completed and are available for viewing by kindly asking Jeff Slater.
We have also been in contact and meeting with current and potential new club sponsors. We are very appreciative of our long-standing sponsors who contributed to support our club for many years. These sponsors also hope that our club members support them. Some organisations only require signage for advertising while others are willing to sponsor bowls for juniors or club events. Any members who have suggestions or contacts for new club sponsors please advise any of the committee members for us to follow up.
As a reminder, our clubs Xmas party is on Friday 15th December, it’s always a great night with great food and great company.
Syd O’Sing Chairman
September
Hi All
We still have representatives in both Ladies and Men’s Zone Pennants Finals. Our club is very fortunate to have such talent and we wish them every success. Also, both the first and second division Men’s Pennants teams achieved second place, another great achievement.
Unfortunately we have been unsuccessful with our grant application for a bitumen carpark. However, we are compiling a new grant application for the rearrangement of our downstairs toilet area to accommodate a disabled toilet. The architect has completed a plan and are now waiting for quotes from builders to complete our grant submission.
The committee have met with staff from the Rockhampton City Council to assist with the review of our 5-year strategic plan for our club’s future development. This meeting was very successful with valuable input from the council who have input into government grant applications.
Once again we have had a busy month for functions in September 6th in total, all earning valuable revenue for the running of the club. Next month, October, we only have 4 function bookings thus far, a lull before the storm, as we have 7 bookings for November. Please assist Bev Johnston in the organisation of volunteers to assist at these functions, your support and help is much appreciated.
Trueline will complete our awning installation by the end of the month.
The committee have agreed to change our telephone provider to our Local IT guy which we hope will improve our phone service.
Syd O’Sing Chairman
August
Hugh accolades to Clem Magee and Graham Hudson for winning our Zone 6 Champion of Champion Pairs final and will go on to represent our zone in the State finals on 23rd and 24th October at Mackay. Zone 6 includes Central Queensland, Port Curtis and Bundaberg Bowls clubs. What a great effort and is an important indication of the skill level within our club. We wish you both every success and what ever happens we are very proud of your achievements.
I have been advised that the decision on our grant application for a bitumen carpark will finally be made by the end of this month, fingers crossed we are successful.
Barefoot bowls has now finished for the winter but will return again for a summer session. Thank you to all who assisted in running this event and those who participated to make these Wednesday evenings a great success.
We have five functions booked for September all of which are for 50 to 70 guests. Please assist Bev Johnston in organising volunteers to be in attendance to make these important functions a success. All your support is greatly appreciated and the club has received many thanks and gratitude for all the work our volunteers put in at making our functions a friendly and enjoyable experience. These functions are important for revenue raising to enable our club to keep fees low and provide funds required to maintain the running of our club.
Please welcome our 3 new members Gary Battersby and Glenn & Margot Jinks. This takes us to 13 new members to date for the year.
On a more somber note, we wish to extend the club’s sincere condolences to the family and friends of Jack Robinson and Glen Saunders on their recent passing. It is always a sad day when we lose members of our club’s family.
Also we still have some club members who aren’t feeling the best at the moment, our thoughts are with you and we wish you all a speedy recovery.
As an important reminder to all players, please please please, take care on the green whilst playing, it is in all our best interest to be safe, be aware of your surroundings, take your time there’s no rush and be mindful of other players, lookout for each other.
Syd O’Sing Chairman
July
Congratulations to our Zone 6 CQDMBA Champion of Champion pairs winners Graham Hudson and Clem Magee. Also to our CQDLBA Champion of Champion triples winners June Shelton, Sharon McConachie and Marion Dobbs with Marion Dobbs and Sharon McConachie being runner-up in the Champion of Champion pairs.
Just shows the strength of our bowlers in the club.
You may have noticed that the replacement of the awning between the club house and the roof over the Green has commenced by Trueline, unfortunately they struck some deterioration of the facia which will need to be removed and replaced before recommencing.
We are still waiting for the builder to provide some plans for the downstairs toilet alterations to include a disabled toilet. Once received and quote’s obtained, we will be seeking a grant to assist in performing this upgrade. We have been advised that some grants are available for this type of project.
Our grant application for the bituminisation of our Carpark is still being assessed and hopefully we will receive some favourable news in the near future.
Many thanks to our volunteers who have assisted our club successfully host 6 functions in June and another 6 functions in July. These functions have provided a significant boost to our working funds to perform the upkeep of our club.
At our last meeting we have approved the new uniform which is the Design1 Shirt/Top with Royal Blue Pants/Bottoms for both men and ladies. We have sent an application to CQ for approval and registration with Bowls Queensland, once approved we will place orders to purchase your requirements.
Jeff Slater has already commenced a list to take orders.
Syd Chairman
June
Shirt/Uniform Vote
The club recently emailed members to vote for a change to our uniform or not for 2024.
If our uniform was to change, there was a choice of 4 designs to choose from for shirts/tops and that the bottoms ie pants/skirts would be Royal Blue for both men and ladies.
The results of this vote was as follows: –
Only 56 votes were received hence the committee have assumed that the members who did not vote are not concerned with the outcome.
Within the 56 votes, 41 of these chose to change our shirts/tops to design number 1.
This outcome was discussed at our June committee meeting and was agreed to commence the process of changing our uniform. Both the Men’s and Ladies committees have been sent a letter to advise of our intension to change the club’s uniform commencing in 2024. This does not mean that all members must purchase a new uniform immediately, however those members that play competition for our club will need to update their uniform for 2024. The current uniform can still be worn for internal club fixtures.
The club will need to make application to both CQDMBA/CQDLBA and Bowls Queensland to ratify and register our new uniform.
Grants
Our club has just received a grant for $2,500 to which the committee has yet to decide how it will be expended under the criteria of our appointment.
The outcome of our grant application to bitumen our car park will not be known until the end of June or early July, fingers crossed for a favourable outcome.
Functions
We have 6 functions booked for June and 2 functions booked for July to date.
Bookings for Xmas parties have commenced in earnest for November and December.
As a reminder our club Xmas party will be held on Friday 15th December, the Caterer and the Musician have been booked.
Again, our thanks goes out to the many volunteers who make these events possible and assist in making our club financially sustainable.
Building
Repairs to the upstairs rear exit and fire escape landing have been completed.
The builder has also performed some repairs to the fire exit door.
We have paid the deposit to Patio World to replace the awning between the main building and the roof over the green, we are waiting for a date for commencement of this work. We have engaged the builders to provide a plan and a quote to construct a disabled toilet which will require both the ladies and men’s toilets to be modified. Unfortunately, we have been advised that the room planned for a disabled toilet upstairs would not meet council regulations for approval.
Barefoot bowls
Barefoot bowls have commenced on Wednesday evenings and has been quite successful with good support from the community. Our team of volunteers have developed a new format to entice more players to participate.
We are continuing to attract members with 3 new members being accepted into our club this month.
Sadly, several members of our club currently have medical illnesses and we wish them all our best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Syd Chairman
April
Hi All and fellow bowlers
Hooray, we finally have had our phone line replaced and now have the phone and internet back online at the club. Bev Johnston has now been relieved of taking all the clubs calls for the last 11 weeks, many thanks Bev for your dedication and support during this period. So, all calls will now go direct to the club, if the club is unmanned, please leave a message and if required someone will return your call.
Jeff Slater has also been involved in maintaining our limited Wi-Fi connection to enable our Efpos capability, and is now in the process of re-establishing our security cameras, so remember Big Brother will again be on watch, thanks Jeff.
Telstra has offered an acceptable amount of compensation for our phone line outage.
Bruce Ballentine and myself have had a productive meeting with CEO Craig Osbourne and Jasmine Rolls, Communications Coordinator, from Access Recreation regarding sponsorship and signage at the club. We are looking forward to having a successful relationship and mutual support for both parties going forward.
Jasmine is the rose between the two thorns.
Although we have had a couple of late cancellations for functions, we still have a
busy month ahead, with four functions still planned for April. At this stage we do not have any functions planned for May.
We have paid Trueline the first instalment to replace the awning between the main building and the green, they have remeasured and will give us a start date when the materials have arrived.
The Builders have finished repairing our Emergency Exit on the Mecure side of the building.
We have enquired about our current grant application to bitumen the car park and have been advised that we will know the outcome at the end of May or mid-June.
Mark, the builder is also going to provide a quote to establish a Disabled Toilet upstairs and will also provide a plan to do the same for downstairs. Once we obtain this information, we will determine how to fund this project/s, including seeking a grant.
I will be overseas from 10th April to 27th April and will not be able to be contacted. Bev Johnston will act as Chairperson during this period and will assist as Functions Coordinator.
Our April monthly meeting has been moved to Wednesday 10th May commencing at 09:00. The committee has had to juggle the meeting date to suit as several of our committee members are away at State events.
Syd O’Sing Chairman
March
Hi members and fellow bowlers
Bowls competitions have commenced and there has been some great bowls being played and some interesting outcomes.
An update on our ongoing Telstra issues is that NBN Co need to replace 60 metres of defective cable to reconnect our telephone line. We have been in contact with Michelle Landry’s office who have assisted in escalating our matter with Telstra and have since been advised that our issue has now been given a code red priority. We have regularly been in contact with Telstra’s Customer Complaints Team however we are still waiting for a planned date from NBN Co to advise when the work will commence to replace our telephone cable. It has been two months since we lost our clubs communication line, so it has been a very poor response from both Telstra and NBN Co. Unfortunately, Bev Johnston is still taking all of the clubs calls until this issue has been resolved.
On a happier note, we have had some good news regarding club sponsorship and are excited to receive $3,000 from Access Recreation. Access Recreation has over 30 years of knowledge and experience providing support for people with a disability,
within Rockhampton and the surrounding areas. This is a great boost to the club’s coffers and how this money will be utilised by the club will be discussed at our next meeting on Monday 27th March.
Our insurance claim for hail damage has finally been completed with the last payment for the replacement of the awning between the club house and the roof over the green. Jeff Slater has engaged Trueline to complete this work as soon as possible.
We have another proposed new club member, Stan McConochie which will be the 8th new member into the club this year.
Our club functions have continued to be successful with two more held in February/March. There are another two functions planned for the remainder of March and three more planned for April. Many thanks to all those who have contributed their time and support to make these event’s a success and to those who have their names down for future functions. These functions are extremely important for our club in revenue raising efforts to maintain a sustainable club.
A big thank you to everyone for paying your membership fees for 2023, I believe there are no outstanding fees.
Last but not least, I would like to impress on all bowlers to be careful on the green and in the club house as any accident or incident is one too many.
Syd
February
Hi members,
It’s good to be back playing bowls again in 2023, both Ladies and Men’s have commenced play and some comps have already started. As a reminder to all players please take care on the greens and surrounding areas, please do not become a victim of trips and falls, so be aware of your surroundings and please take the appropriate precautions to stay safe.
Our revenue functions have started again in 2023, with 4 functions already been held in January. Hugh thank you to all the volunteers who participated in making these events a success. At present we only have 1 function planned for February.
On Sunday 22nd January we held our volunteer’s breakfast which was well attended by about 50 plus members. Our club patron, Councillor Drew Wickerson was in attendance and volunteered to assist by making the toast, our toastmaster. Drew gave an inspiring speech outlining his support and appreciation of being our club patron as well the importance of volunteers in maintaining a successful club. After breakfast members participated in a Jeff Slater special bowling event which I’m sure all enjoyed.
Special thanks to all of those who assisted in setting up, cooking, and washing up.
A big issue causing our club major problems is our Telstra network connection which was lost on 10th January. Effectively the cable connection to our club needs replacing. This has meant we have no phone or internet service to the club hence we have problems in making Efpos transactions, not receiving alarms and off-site vision from our security cameras, problems in printing documents and more importantly are unable to make emergency calls. Telstra have been very belligerent in addressing our needs and quite frankly have been disgusting evasive in addressing our issue despite Bev and myself making numerous calls. In the interim Bev has volunteered to take all the calls to the club on her mobile phone, thanks Bev much appreciated.
On a brighter note our club has some new members in 2023 and I would like you all to give a warm welcome to Penny Wilton, Aggie Luhrs, Lorraine Dougan, Denise Watt, Daryl Herman, Mike Browning and Matt Bradley.
I would lastly like to remind members to pay their club membership fees, to date we still have 17 outstanding.
Syd
Introducing our New President for 2023
It is with much pleasure I introduce myself Sydney O Sing as your new elected Rockhampton Bowls Club Chairperson for 2023. I wish to thank Bev Johnson for all her hard work and commitment as Chairperson of this club, Bev has certainly set some big shoes to fill. To the other members of the management committee, I congratulate you on your election and look forward to working with you this coming year. It is good that we have several new faces on our 2023 committees, and to those leaving I thank you for your time and dedication.
Some of our members received recognition for their service to bowls and our club, including Valda King who was awarded Life Membership for her 32 years of service and filling many positions during this period.
Also noted was the 11 years of service that Jim Norris held in the position of the clubs Providore.
Xmas Party
The club Xmas party and presentation night was held on Friday night 10th December which had approximately 80 members and partners in attendance. I believe all present had an enjoyable time particularly those who received prizes in the multi draw raffle. Thank you to all those who donated prizes to make this raffle quite enormous. Special thanks to Carol Wellings for donating her wonderful Xmas cake.
Functions
The club has had a big year for functions, and we have received many congratulations and appreciation from the many organisations who have booked our facility. It appears our popularity has many functions already booked for next year. We would not be so successful if it were not for the many volunteers that give up their time to support the club. Some of these events have given the club a considerable boost in our income. Special thanks to Marion and Bev for their efforts in coordinating these events which takes some considerable time and patience.
I wish all members and their families a very happy and merry Xmas and have a safe return in 2023.
Syd O Sing
