19/05/2023
Media piece written by Mr. Peter Rookas
PAST PRESIDENTS CONTINUE A TRADITION…
The Past Presidents of Bowls clubs throughout Queensland gathered in Toowoomba recently, for a week of fellowship, friendship & bowls, during the 23rd Annual Past Presidents of Queensland Bowls carnival.
Hosted by the Darling Downs Division, current President of the PPDDQ, Ray Chicken, welcomed teams from Port Curtis, Wide Bay, Bundaberg, Caboolture & of course the Darling Downs. The field consisted of 18 teams of Fours, comprising of 72 players, who took to the greens of Drayton Club Rink 46, Pittsworth, Toowoomba City and Souths/Wests Club Toowoomba over 4 days of very competitive bowling, playing 2 games per day & wrapping it up with a major presentation dinner at Club Toowoomba once the dust had settled!
A welcome BBQ evening kicked off the week, with old and new friendships kindled before the serious business of Bowls competition. Visitors were treated to some of the very best bowls greens in Southwest Queensland and passed on glowing praise to the greenkeepers of each club.
Obvious by the results, the ‘home ground’ advantage saw two Darling Downs teams go ‘hammer & tong’ to claim the major prizes. Darling Downs 5, skipped by wily Drayton Club Rink 46 veteran Graham ‘Macca’ McCarthy in company with Pittsworth trio, Ken Keleher, Ken Coutts & Debbie Gadd with a perfect run of 8 wins from 8 games, edged out the Darling Downs 7 foursome of Andrew Payne (skip), Peter Rookas, Bill Hogan & DD Secretary and Tournament organiser Sandy Lees. Third place went to Team Harvey and fourth place was claimed by Team Tickle.
One of the highlights of the carnival was the attendance of the oldest Past Presidents Queensland player George Cox. At the tender age of just 94, George never missed a beat over the entire week, playing in every one of the 8 games, and generously helped sponsor the event along with Club Toowoomba, Club 46, Toowoomba Bowls Shop, Moore Trailers, Local MP David Janetzki, Ray Chicken and Carnival Secretary Graham Healy.
On a sombre note, the absence of teams from near neighbour's Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast & Cunningham was a disappointment and the future is not bright for PPQ. Once, back in the 80’s and 90’s, their numbers boasted over 400 but that has dwindled below half that number and only a resurgence in support will see future carnivals. Where once you would see a new President in each club each year, more and more people are at the helm for several years. I sincerely hope this anomaly can be rectified but so much has changed in club administration in recent decades.
