Hi Everyone, Thank you to all the full members who have contacted me with shirt sizes. If you haven't yet and want a new club shirt, then please do contact me as soon as possible. We'll need to put the new order in next week. Also, Bowls Leicestershire have a new computer system and we now have to submit the names of all full members and pay the fees in February, rather than May after the sign-on date. So, I only have last year's list of full members to go on. If you were a full member last year and are not planning to rejoin as a full member, or are not yet sure that you will, please let me know as soon as possible. Some of you will remember Coral Kelham, who is a former member of QMPBC. She has received an MBE in the new years’ honours list for ‘services to the community of Barrow upon Soar’. Our congratulation to her. People have been asking about he Friday evening events. Here is the programme for the next little while: 12 Jan Bingo (Jacket potatoes and sausages) 19 Jan Dominoes 26 Jan Burns Night 02 Feb Hoy/Quingo 09 Feb Whist Drive 16 Feb Bingo 23 Feb Dominoes You will see that a BURNS NIGHT is planned for Friday 26 th January. This is being organised by Gill Williams and Richard Jack. It will start at 7pm and bring a taste of the Scottish Celebration to Quorn. There will be traditional music, food and a quiz. Both meat and vegetarian options will be available at £10/person. Numbers are limited. There is a list in the clubhouse to put your name on if interested. Kind regards, Andy

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good Christmas. As was mentioned at the AGM, Dave Walters has got sponsorship for new club shirts. This means that we will be able to give every full member a new shirt free of charge. 🙂 However there is a 12 week delivery time from when we place the order, order, so we need to do so within the next few weeks if we are to have them in time for the new season. So I'm sending this to you to ask you please to let me have your shirt size as soon as possible. If you check the size of your current shirt then it should be the same. If you are not intending to rejoin the club as a full member, please let me know. Kind Regards, Andy

Hi everyone, A big thank you to all who turned out to the AGM last evening. It was the largest attendance that I can recall and at one point I was beginning to worry if I’d run out of ballot papers! It was also one of the shortest that I can remember! John expanded on the financial report, highlighting where our income comes from – E.g. 25% from subscriptions and 33% proceeds from the bar! He also brought us up to date on the discussions concerning the development of the club and appealed for anyone with experience of architecture or the building industry to help. A modest increase in subscriptions was proposed and agreed: Full members: £100; Social bowling members (and first year full members): £50. Junior and social membership to remain the same at £5. The Club Person of the Year award this year went to Jean Willson. In recognition of his years of service to the club, it was announced that the committee had decided to confer honorary membership on George Ince. The new committee was elected en bloc, given that there was only one nominee for each position. The new committee is: President: Dave Walters Vice President: Gill Aspinell Treasurer: John Ventham Secretary: Andy Thomson Housekeeper: Vicki Bustin Property & Maintenance: Paul Eggleston Greenkeeper: Dick Hogg Development: Mal Mugglestone Health & Safety: Dave Walters Ladies’ Safeguarding: Kath Rothera Men’s Safeguarding: Dick Hogg Ladies’ Secretary: Barbara Lindsey Ladies’ Representative: Pat Radley Men’s Secretary: Stephen Smith Men’s Representative: Dave Radley Jean handed over the chain of office to Dave, and Dave spoke highly of Jean’s presidency and proposed a vote of thanks to her. The date of the next AGM was set as Thursday 5 th December 2024. Can I take this opportunity on behalf of the club to wish all members a very happy Christmas and a successful New Year. Regards, Andy

Hi Everyone, The Finals Weekend went off very well indeed. A big THANK YOU to all those involved in the arrangements – to the competition secretaries, to those who did the catering, to those who marked and scored for the matches, to those who came to watch and support and to the players themselves. There was some very good bowling. Inevitably there are winners and runners up. The results are as follows: COMPETITION WINNER RUNNER UP Men MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP M. Brown M. Wiggins MEN’S HANDICAP M. Brown J. Ventham MEN’S TWO WOOD A. Thomson A. Woodforth MEN’S NOVICE SINGLES M. Wiggins S. Carvell MEN’S PAIRS J. Ventham & K. Harrington M. Schiavone & A. Woodforth MEN’S VICTOR LUDORUM M. Brown Mixed MIXED 7 UP, JOHN LEE TROPHY K. Harrington D. Walters MIXED 101, GWEN MEE CUP K. Harrington R. Hogg Ladies LADIES SILVER CUP G. Aspinall P. Radley ROSE BOWL HANDICAP P. Radley G. Aspinall LADIES WYNN BOON K. Rothera G. Aspinall LADIES TWO WOOD C. Kenneth K. Rothera LADIES MAIDEN CUP S. Eggleston S. Norton LADIES PAIRS S. Eggleston & P. Radley J. Brooks & K. Rothera LADIES VICTRIX LUDORUM G. Aspinall Congratulations to all the winners, and particularly to Gill Aspinall and Mike Brown It was great to see the green teeming on Friday – we had 40 people bowling, only slightly below capacity! Friday roll-ups will continue, weather permitting, until 22 nd September. On Friday September 29 th , it is our traditional Candlelight Roll-up. If you wish to play, you will need to sign up. Sheets are in the Thatch. One difference this year is that we are offering a pizza supper, so make your choices when you sign up. The last Sunday event is the Mixed Triples Open Gala. It is open to all playing members and the sign-up sheet is in the Thatch. The final roll-up is on the afternoon of Sunday 1 st October. After that the green will be closed. During the winter we offer Short-mat bowling in the club house. The sign-up sheets are in the Thatch. There will also be Friday evening socials, but more about that in due course. Regards to all, Andy

Hi everybody, As far as the leagues go, the bowling year is over. The men’s Monday afternoon teams, the Weavers and the Dons, finished third in their respective divisions. The mixed Wednesday evening teams, the Foxes and the Webbers, did not fare so well, finishing 8 th and 9 th in their respective leagues. The men’s Thursday team, the Millers finished 6 th in the first division. And the ladies’ Friday team finished 4 th in their league. So no one is going up and no one is going down. Well done to everyone. The Dixon cup went off very well with John Ventham and Sylvia Burns finally winning it. Congratulations. In the club competitions, for the most part, it is only the finals that are left to play. These will be played next weekend, 2 nd & 3 rd September. Even if you are not playing, do come down to watch. On both days a pre-ordered lunch will be available for both competitors and spectators, and will be served between 12.00 and 1.00pm. The menus are: Saturday - Cottage Pie & mixed vegetables/Lasagne & Bread - Price £4.00 Vegetable lasagna Sunday – Jacket potatoes – cheese, col slaw, beans - Price £3.50 or Chilli filling - Price £4.50 To order there is a sign-up sheet in the clubhouse, or contact Pat Radley on 07753 146021/ patradley33@gmail.com The trophies for all the events will be presented at our presentation evening on Friday 17 th November. Carol has asked me to remind everyone that f the deposit with menu choices needs to be made before the end of August. In other words, by next Thursday. Ron Pintus reports: “I have just received an e-mail from easyfundraising showing that the club has been paid £36.37.” A big thank you to everyone who is using easyfunding. It doesn’t cost you anything and the club benefits. Finally it is with sadness that I have to report the death of a former member of QMPBC, Sam Harvey. His funeral will be at 2.45 on Friday 8 th September2023 at the Loughborough crematorium. Our thoughts go out to his family. Regards to all, Andy

Hi everyone, It has been great to see the club humming, particularly on a Friday evening. A very warm welcome to those who have newly joined us. Membership has reached 119, the highest for many years. In terms of our participation in the leagues we have generally done quite well. With just one more week to go: On Monday the Weavers are lying 3 rd in Division one and the Dons are similarly 3 rd in Division 4. Wednesday is still all to play for. In Division 1 the Foxes are 7 th , but only a few points separate the bottom 6 teams. Webbers are lying 9 th in the 2 nd Division. In the Thursday league Millers are 5 th in the 1 st Division and well clear of the relegation zone. In the Friday league, the ladies are lying 4 th . President’s day was a great success. It was enjoyed by everyone. Well done, Jean. A total of £217.73 was raised in donations for Rainbows on the day and a further £340.20 was raised at the coffee morning held at the Baptist church. The next Sunday event scheduled is the Dixon Cup this Sunday – drawn mixed pairs. At the moment we only have 5 ladies signed up. We need a minimum if 12 to make it viable. Any lady bowling member is welcome to enter, Please do sign up, if you can. The sign-up sheet is in the Thatch. Then on the 13 th September is the Mixed Triples Trophy Open. Any bowling member is eligible to play, but you do need to enter as teams, not as individuals. Each team of three needs to include at least one lady and one man. So arrange your team first and then sign up in the Thatch. Saturday 2 nd and Sunday 3 rd September is Club Finals Weekend, when the finals of all the club competitions are played. The order of play will be posted later. Everyone is welcome to come down and watch, even if you are not actually playing. There will be refreshments available. The other date to put in your diaries is Friday 29 th September – Candle Light Roll-up. This is the last Friday event of the season and great fun – bowling in the dark!. There will be a sign-up sheet for it. Look out for it. The final roll-up for all playing members is Sunday 1 st October at 2.00pm. After that the green will be closed for the winter months and there will be no more outdoor bowling until April 2024. During the winter months, we have a programme of short-mat bowling. A special mat is laid down in the club house to bowl on and bowls are provided. Members can join a group of 8-10 people each week to play on a Monday or a Tuesday. Scores are recorded and the top 2 from each group go through to the final, usually played in March/April. Groups remain the same, so it is a good opportunity to get to know a few people well. Last year we had 7 groups, but can have more, if there is the demand. Sign up sheets will be going up soon and you will be asked to indicate your preferred times. Some groups tend to be over subscribed and others undersubscribed, so there will probably have to be adjustments made. Please be prepared for that, but every effort will be made to accommodate everyone who wants to play. Continue to enjoy your bowling. Regards, Andy

Hi everyone, Thank you to everyone who helped out at the Big Bowls Weekend. We had a number of people come to try out bowling. Jean Willson writes: Can you please let the members know we had a successful weekend with monies raised for the club £300.00 plus, picking up some new members, £80.00 for Presidents charity RAINBOWS + sales of ice lollies going fifty fifty to the club and RAINBOWS. We hope the sale of ices to take off in the summer from the Fifty One hut(next to equipment shed. All ices priced at £1.00.Lots of families having a go on Sunday. Lovely to see them enjoying themselves. Thankyou all for your contributions, time and hard work. Also on the subject of finance, Ron Pintus writes: Help us get June off to a great start for Quorn Mills Park Bowling Club by signing up to support us for FREE on #easyfundraising. You can raise donations whenever you shop online with over 7,000 brands including John Lewis & Partners, eBay, Argos, M&S and more. Plus, once you've raised your first £5, easyfundraising will double it! Sign up today - it will make a BIG difference to us. We have already raised £172.79 via easyfundraising for the Club. https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/qmpbc/ Cheers, Ron Pintus (QMPBC easyfundraising administrator). We’ve also had a number of people join the club over the past few weeks, mainly from the Friday roll-ups, so a big welcome to them. Can I please remind people that the dress code (greys with white/club tops) always pertains, except for Friday evening roll-ups. For regular bowlers it is important to have flat bowling shoes and to change into them only when you arrive at the club. The last is to reduce the possibility of infections getting into the green. The leagues are well underway and a number of county games have been played as well as most of the first round of the club competitions. Saturdays are going well and they are a good place for new bowlers to start, so if you haven’t yet, please do sign up on the availability sheet in the Thatch. On Sunday it is the Royal British Legion Open (mixed rinks – 2 ladies & 2 men). It is open to all. But please arrange your team before signing up. Sign up is in the Thatch. Then next Tuesday afternoon, we welcome the Leicestershire Visually Impaired Bowling Club. It is open to any bowling member to play and I’d encourage you to sign up for it (in the Thatch). It is a good afternoon. Then on Sunday 25 th June it is the Memorial Shield – drawn mixed triples, with fun rules. It is open to full members only and the sign-up sheet will be in the Thatch. Kind regards, Andy

Hi Everyone, The bowling season is well and truly underway. It has been great to see the green so busy, especially on Friday evenings. It is also great to see the new slabbing in front of the clubhouse. Thank you to Barbara Lindsey and Dave & Pat Radley for the donation of the tables. We’ve already had three weeks of league matches with middling results. Both the Millers (Thursday) and the Weavers (Monday) are up in their respective first divisions, so the competition is stiff. Unfortunately for the Dons, one team (Greenfields Foxes) have withdrawn so we are down to 6 teams in the division. The draw for the club competition has been done and the resulting tables are up in the Thatch. May I remind you that in singles it is the responsibility of the person drawn first (the name on top) to arrange a marker for the match. Then, when your match is arranged please put it up on the white board in the Thatch. Please can I ask you not to arrange matches for Friday evenings – all rinks are required for other events. The committee met last evening and the decision has been made to play all games in greys. This is in line with what many other clubs are doing and does away with the need to get whites for some matches. So from now on all matches will be played in greys with club/white tops. This includes Saturday and Sunday events and ladies’ friendly games. The national Big Bowls Weekend takes place on the last weekend of May – the bank holiday weekend. At Quorn we will be having our normal Friday roll-up to which visitors are welcome. Then on Saturday there is a home match to which we are inviting people to come and watch. Then on Sunday from 10am, there will be an open day for anyone to come along and have a try at bowling. Also there will be stalls, catering and target bowls for children. If you know of anyone who might be interested, encourage them to come along. I’ve also been asked to remind you about Easy Funding. When you are shopping online, you can nominate QMPBC as your charity and the vendor will donate a percentage of what you spend to the club – usually about 1%. It may not sound a lot, but it all adds up. Kind regards, Andy