The Range Maleny Festival of Colour and Friendship Day

The Range, Maleny Croquet club, situated on the right-hand side of the Maleny showgrounds as you drive in, has had a busy, entertaining, and productive spring quarter in 2022 in which we had our Friendship Day, our November tournament and our AGM. Where did the year go? At our AGM in early November Sarah Widin was returned as President with Vince Carbery as Vice President. Priscilla Vickers and Stuart Craig remain in control of the minutes and the finances while other positions were filled by the usual suspects with Wallace Roy demanding a special mention for his indefatigable devotion as lawn CEO. After watching the MacRob, some think that our lawns are better than Cairnlea’s. Donna Manning, from our club, one of the three referees at the Australian National Singles Championships and the Gold Medal at Cairnlea will probably agree. As a club we believe that it is important to keep the structures of Croquet (especially Association which is our bias) alive. Both Donna and Sarah who are active at regional, state, and national level, deserve a special mention for this. As well, several of our players are travelling away to participate in events.

Although Golf Croquet and Ricochet are also on offer here, The Range continues to support Association Croquet more than any other discipline, and we have attracted players from other clubs wanting a challenging AC game. We are keen to support our Sunshine Coast clubs and journey to their clubs to play at their Association Croquet sessions. We had a great day at our Friendship Day on Thursday 22nd September, which was well supported by players from clubs near and far. Regardless of the rain, we enjoyed a day of fun games, raffles, and delicious food. We had the two lawns set up as half courts, offering a range of croquet games including Association, Golf and Ricochet as well as some fun novelty challenges. This set-up was greatly enjoyed by everyone, offering the chance to mix around, renewing old and making new friendships ... very appropriate for the well termed “Friendship Day”. There were seven raffle prizes including five rose bushes donated by club member Lynette Evans. A fruit platter donated by IGA was won by George Oliver from Coolum and wine donated by Kath Smith was won by Colin Harris also from Coolum. A huge thanks to these donors – IGA, Kath, and Lynette – for their support of our small but vibrant club. The roses were won by well deserving participants including Sarah, who was delighted to take home a beautiful rose. Sarah is pictured with her prize. Thank you also to all the club members who contributed their time and cooking skills to help make this a great day. Sarah with the rose bush Our Festival of Colour Tournament held in November was also well subscribed. Many thanks to Vince and Val Carbery, for organising this event and thank you to all the members who contributed with refereeing, providoring and supporting us. Ted Singleton, one of the founding members of the club and club patron, won the first division. He is shown in the photo receiving the shield from Sarah.

Sarah with Ted Singleton Wallace Roy with Sarah Nic Cram won 2nd division, Dianne Horsman 3rd and Lynette Evans 4th. Wallace Roy is shown receiving the second-place certificate for 4th Division from Sarah in this tournament. We have seen our players and their families contend with major illness and physical challenges, and yet we keep on surviving. Croquet keeps us fit, how many steps in a game, Dianne? I suspect not quite enough to burn off those delicious treats you keep bringing. Joint contribution by Helen Uhlmann and Ken Barker

"Photo- Sarah with Ted Singleton"

"Photo- Wallace Roy with Sarah"

By Helen Uhlmann and Ken Barker, The Range Maleny. From the Croquet Newsletter, December 2022, pages 27-29.