Eildon welcomes new president Jill Cole, hosts Gateball and celebrates Golf and AC results

Eildon has appointed new president Jill Cole to lead the club until the AGM in November. Jill will be well known to many players in south-east Queensland as she is a very enthusiastic GC competitor, often representing the club in tournaments near and far.

Belvedere Plaque

The winners of this year's Golf singles competition are Gabby Spencer from Southport with 12/14 wins in Block A and Desley Bischoff from Eildon with 8/10 wins in Block B. Congratulations to both. John Smith did a fine job as Tournament Manager. Thank you to all the hard-working volunteers who made the day a great success.

Gabby Spencer (Southport) and Desley Bischoff (Eildon) with the Belvedere Plaque.

Gateball

Eildon hosted a Gateball Teams and Doubles Event over the weekend of 15-16 July. Congratulations to Moreton Bay who won the team event, with Eildon placing second, and to Cheryl and Steve Kele who won the Doubles event with Geoff Morris and Paul Ekeberg runners up.

Players gathered at the Gateball Teams and Doubles event hosted by Eildon.

Association

Also in the recent news, in the AC Queensland Open played over 4 days from 13-16 July, Les Watson made the semi finals and finished 4th, and Wade Hart won the plate.

Meanwhile, the AC Windsor Brooch played on Friday 7th July saw Keith Williamson and Wade Hart engaged in a fierce battle for first place (Keith) and runner up (Wade).

Keith Williamson (left) and Wade Hart (right) with Windsor Brooch organiser Francesca De Wytt.

Well done to all clubs and players who took part.

Lawns and facilities

Like many clubs in the region, the cooler weather can wreak havoc with the lawns. Slower growth, unreliable rainfall and insidious patches of brown are proving to be quite a challenge for the dedicated greenkeeper Rino Parello and his band of volunteer grounds-people. Despite this, the lawns are still a pleasure to play on. The club is upgrading its solar power system and looking forward to seeing the benefits of greater capacity in power generation.

Marketing and social

Eildon continues to offer social and competitive play in Association, Gateball, Golf and Ricochet croquet. The club is working hard to attract new players of all ages and is about to embark on a targeted marketing campaign, complete with snazzy new brochures.

On the social side, the club recently introduced a Friday Mahjong session, and this is already proving to be very popular.

Eildon members enjoying the recently introduced Friday Mahjong session.

Christmas in July saw the usual crowd get together to celebrate the occasion with a distinctly French theme (it being Bastille Day). On August 4th the second annual Arts and Crafts Show will give members the opportunity to showcase their talents outside croquet. Everyone is welcome.

Vale

Roy Johnson passed away on 6 July. Roy and Diane joined the club in 2014 and were very active in volunteer roles for many years. The club's condolences go to his family.

By Penny Verrell, Eildon. From the Croquet Newsletter, July/August 2023, pages 10-13.