[VIDEO] Bulimba Memorial Bowls Club | Meet the Club’s Best Player

Author // Shannon Edwards for Place Bulimba

Located right across the road from Balmoral High School, the Bulimba Memorial Bowls Club has been a local favourite since 1966.

Providing a relaxed, friendly space in the community where everyone is welcome, the club is close to the hearts of many.

We spoke with the club President, Di Warren, and Treasurer, Jayne Smart, about what makes the club unique.

At this time, we also came across one of the club’s special members, Alf Bond.

At 97 years of age, Alf is the club’s oldest player, and according to Alf himself, he’s also the best!

Di, what attracted you to work here?

We’ve been friends for a long time and Jayne got me a job here working as bar manager before I was offered the job of club president.

It’s the first year that Bulimba Memorial Bowls Club has had women on the committee, so that’s a bit exciting.

I used to be a carer for my mother and when she moved into a nursing home I was looking for work.

Living close by the club offered great convenience and I knew a lot of the friendly people here so it was an obvious choice to come on board.

It’s a friendly little bowls club.

How would you describe the atmosphere of Bulimba Bowls Club?

We’re lucky to be part of such a welcoming, friendly club.

It is a quaint club and has kept its original character which we think are quite special.

We like that it’s a little old fashioned here.

We think of it as the sort of place you’d see on The Castle or something like that. We’ve got a lot of unique characters here from our eldest bowler Alf who is 97 this year, through to our youngest bowler who’s 16!

We really do welcome people of all ages – we’re really family friendly.

We’ve created a space where mum and dad can pop up on a Sunday afternoon, have a drink, play a game of barefoot bowls and bring the kids along to run amuck.

The general atmosphere of the club is really quiet and peaceful. We also get a beautiful breeze in the hot months of summer which makes it comfortable all year round!

What do you like about having regular players?

There’s something special about knowing everyone’s. Everyone who walks into the club, it’s like being greeted by a friend.

We’re a community club here so we’re all really supportive of each other.

If someone’s going through a bit of a tough time they know that we’re here, offering our support whenever it’s needed.

We celebrate the good times, and we’re there through the not so good times.

We’re a safe hub where everyone is welcome.

What do you think the club gives to the community?

It provides a place where everyone is welcome, and they can come along and feel totally relaxed.

We really promote a friendly nature here amongst all our staff, so we welcome everyone who walks in the door and always like to have a bit of a chat and ask how their day’s going.

We had an elderly fellow join our club a few weeks ago. He said “I walked in and the first thing I noticed was how friendly everyone is here,” which was really nice to here.

On Saturday nights we have our function night in the hall for all our members and their friends and family.

We have great reviews from our functions and because we’re so relaxed and welcoming it’s a place where everyone can enjoy ourselves.

We had a lady here recently who hosted her mother’s 60th birthday out on the deck and she was coming and thanking me all day for what a great time they were having.

From charity events, functions, birthdays and get-togethers, we host really special occasions to suit everyone’s needs.

Another nice thing about the club is that our prices are really affordable. We have a few young locals who come down on a Friday night just to have a few drinks with their mates.

What are your hopes for the club in the future?

It’s a small club here and we’re hoping it continues to grow.

We’re trying to get grants to improve little things around the place – we’re hoping to get lights in so we can have games on Friday nights.

We’re also planning on getting a restaurant in here which will encourage more people to come down, have a meal and socialise.

We’d love to get a Sunday session going where people can relax, listen to the live music, have a few beers and chat with our friends.

We love the quaint character of the club so while we want to improve it, we don’t want it to get too large.