New club house opened by the Mayor

There was a very large gathering at the Toowoomba Croquet Club lawns on Saturday afternoon when the Mayor (Mr. J. Douglas Annand, M.L.A.) opened the new club house. The attractive little building, which contains, in addition to a large main pavilion, a club room and kitchen and offices, had been gaily decorated for the occasion with garlands of greenery and hundreds of gay little flags. Over the doorway hung a screen of ribbons in the club colours (dark and pale blue), which were drawn aside by the Mayor as he declared the pavilion open. The Mayor was accompanied by Mrs. Annand, and also present at the opening were the Bishop of Gippsland, who is at present visiting Toowoomba, Sir Littleton and Lady Groom, Mr. T. R. Roberts, M.L.A., and Mrs. Roberts, Mr. A. Hale (president Toowoomba Bowling Club), and Rev. Norman Osborn.

In introducing the Mayor, the president (Mrs. E. Rowe) said that she was forcibly struck with two things; first, how the club had tolerated the recently demolished building for so long, and secondly, the realisation of what can be accomplished by a small body of women when they really set their minds on the work. Looking back over the past two years, when a general exodus of financial members took place, it seemed hardly possible for the handful that remained to carry on, let alone to improve the property and to bring into being a club house such as was to be opened that day. The transformation of the then unsatisfactory state of the grounds into three of the best courts in Queensland was an achievement of which they were justly proud. The lawns, at considerable expense, had been made almost perfect, and are the admiration of visiting players and tourists. The building of the club house could only be made possible, however, by the loyalty and confidence of members, who have ungrudgingly loaned the club the wherewithal to complete the structure. Mrs. Rowe concluded her address by expressing her personal thanks, and the thanks of her committee, to the various presidents of the Toowoomba Bowling Club, who have always assisted them in every way possible.

In his opening address Mr. Annand congratulated the president and members on the attainment of their objective for which they had been working so keenly for so long. When women set out to attain an objective they generally achieved it. The building would not only be a source of comfort and pleasure to them, but an ornament to the grounds. Their lawns were among the best in Queensland, and they too were a credit to Toowoomba and an asset to the Athletic Grounds.

A vote of thanks to the Mayor was proposed by Mrs. [?Rowe] and seconded by Mr. [?Oswald] Booth, [?hon. secretary] [?...] pleased to second the vote of thanks.

It must be a considerable sacrifice to men like the Mayor, who was so fond of sport, to give up the afternoon to the opening of such places as women's croquet clubs.

During the afternoon there were a number of competitions, which were won as follows: Crazy croquet: Mrs. Rowe. Bagatelle croquet: Mr. R. Godsall. Box: Miss Mervyn Dines. Clock golf: Miss Meta Hooper. A beautiful cake, made by Mrs. F. Hodgson, and iced to represent a croquet lawn with a quaint befrilled player, was won by Mrs. George Nutt; a box of cigarettes by Mr. Stanley Hobson; and a large box of chocolates by Mr. Saunders.

Tea was served in the club house at tables beautified with bowls of golden wattle. The president (Mr. Hale) and members of the Bowling Club were guests at tea. Also in the gathering, in addition to those already mentioned, were noticed Mr. and Miss Rowe, Mr. Oswald Booth and Miss Marjorie Booth, Mr. and Mrs. F. Hooper and Miss Hooper, Mr. and Mrs. Mervyn Dines, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Gobbett, Rev. and Mrs. T. R. Thurlow, Mesdames Cooke, Fogarty, C. Fortescue, Wilkin, F. Hodgson, J. McKinney, A. V. Grahame, Esler, Falconer, G. H. Buchanan, E. J. Melville, Percy Boys, W. Morgan, J. B. Kingsford, Duncan Thompson, J. Lee, Isaacs, Miller, Stewart, Compagnoni, C. G. Blair, J. M. Yates, Alex Gaydon, Marshall, A. R. Godsall, W. R. Ross, Corbett, Arthur Collins, Penhalluriek, Cossart, Hodgen, McNeil, G. Nutt, T. B. Quane, H. Walker, G. R. Harrington, J. W. Scanlan, B. G. Costin, G. Noble, Allen, Webb, Pollock, Rodgers, Ferguson, Pickering, Misses Clegg, D. Hodgson, M. Dines, L. Roberts, Donaldson, McNeil, L. Robinson, Jessie Donelly, Eulys Buchanan, Ruth Godsall, Dulcie Rawlings, and Lorna Compagnoni.

The article as it was printed in The Toowoomba Chronicle, 29 July 1929. Scan from Trove, National Library of Australia. (Trove, National Library of Australia)