Dalby Croquet Club celebrates its fourth birthday

H*eading: BIRTHDAY PARTY CROQUET CLUB CELEBRATES. Presentation of Trophies.*

*Newspaper: The Dalby Herald*

*Date: Friday 3 May 1940, page 8*

*Found on: [Trove](https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article216794109), National Library of Australia*

The fourth birthday party of the Croquet Club was held at the clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon, and was favoured with glorious weather, brilliant sunshine bathing the lawn and flower beds. There was a large attendance of members and friends, including some visitors from Brisbane and Toogoolawah. Apologies for non-attendance were received from the past president (Mrs. W. H. Coulson), and members of the Laurel Bank Club, Toowoomba.

The party was arranged by the president (Mrs. A. White) and members of the Club.

The club's colours, blue and gold, were used in the decorative scheme, streamers of that colour radiating from the walls to the ceiling, the centre of which was marked with a hanging basket of beautiful dahlias, chrysanthemums and fern. Large jardineres and hanging baskets of gorgeous blooms were placed at intervals round the room.

The afternoon tea tables were beautified with small crystal vases of carnations, chrysanthemums, and fern, and a gay serviette marked each place. A feature of the main table was the beautiful square birthday cake, made and presented to the club by Mrs. White. The cake, which was beautifully iced in pink and white, bore the words, "Dalby Croquet Club," and was surmounted by four candles. Afternoon tea was convened by Mesdames L. Wilson and C. J. Thompson, and they were assisted by members of the club.

During the tea interval Mrs. White extended a welcome to the visitors and thanked them for helping to make the afternoon such a success. She also apologised for the absence of the immediate past president (Mrs. Coulson), and spoke in glowing terms of the work Mrs. Coulson had done while president of the club. Mrs. White remarked that the club had had a very happy year, and she hoped that this year the club would continue to enjoy that happiness. Mrs. White then called on Mrs. W. J. Vowles, who was the first president of the club, to cut the birthday cake.

Mrs. Vowles thanked Mrs. White for giving her the honour of cutting the cake, and said that she was pleased to see such a large gathering present, and she hoped that there would be a big increase in the number of members this year. She also congratulated Mrs. White on her second term as president, and expressed the wish that those present at the party would be present at the 21st birthday party of the club.

Mrs. White then called on Mrs. T. Jack to unveil an honour board which she (Mrs. White) had presented to the club. Mrs. Jack said she was very pleased to unveil the honour board. She was doing it in the absence of Mrs. Coulson, and she sincerely thanked Mrs. White on behalf of the members of the club for donating the board, and remarked that it would remind members of the generosity of their president.

A fancy stall was conducted by Mesdames Welsh and Coutts, and Mrs. W. Hoffman was in charge of the entrance gate.

During the afternoon several competitions were held and these were won as follows: Crazy competition, Mrs. White; bell competition, Mrs. C. J. Thompson; ladder competition, Mrs. Jack; clock competition, Mrs. White.

The trophies were presented to the winners by Mrs. Jack. They were: Open championship (donated by the Club), Mrs. Jack; runner-up open championship (donated by the Club), Mrs. Irvine; C grade championship (donated by Mrs. Smoothy), Mrs. Lalor; runner-up C grade championship (donated by Mrs. Wilson), Mrs. Hoffman; consistency competition (donated by Mrs. Savage), Mrs. Irvine; B grade handicap (donated by Mrs. Shill), Mrs. Jack; doubles handicap (trophies donated by Mesdames J. Thompson and Baxter), Mesdames Smoothy and Welsh; runners-up doubles handicap, (both trophies donated by Mrs. Coulson), Mesdames White and Welsh; C grade handicap (donated by Mrs. Coutts), Mrs. Lalor; runners-up doubles championship (trophies donated by Mesdames Irvine and Starling), Mesdames Coulson and Lalor; novice B handicap (donated by Mrs. Welsh), Mrs. Quirk; C novice handicap (donated by the Club), Mrs. C. J. Thompson.

Members present included Mesdames A. White (president), T. Jack, L. Wilson, C. W. D. Savage, V. Irvine, H. N. Smoothy, E. J. Starling, E. S. Coutts, J. Welsh, B. J. Edmunds, C. J. Thompson, P. Lalor, E. D. Slaughter, A. H. Addison, and L. Orford, and visitors includes Mesdames D. J. Mackay, L. Kemmis, C. C. Weedon, A. B. Carvosso, J. Carmody, S. Thorn, L. Bryant, S. Hall, F. J. Wiemers, F. Patterson ("Hayfields"), G. E. Jekyll (New Bon Accord), E. F. Skerman, F. Toole, V. M. McCabe, G. Davison, L. Raymond, S. Jack, N. Nicholls, T. Bell (Toogoolawah), A. E. O'Toole, C. F. Adcock, T. O'Shea, C. Routley, T. Smith, F. Snell, J. L. Watts, Cattes, A. M. Savage, E. Hoffman, S. Hourigan, E. Dutton, Morton (Brisbane), A. F. Thornton, D. Vickery, Misses M. Wiemers, M. Conroy, I. Hoffman, E. Fitzpatrick, and B. Bell (Toogoolawah).

The article as it was printed in The Dalby Herald, 3 May 1940. Scan from Trove, National Library of Australia. (Trove, National Library of Australia)