Toowoomba Croquet Club's forty-first annual meeting

The forty-first annual general meeting of the Toowoomba Croquet Club was held in the Club House. The president (Mrs. G. E. Fogarty) presided. Other members present were Mesdames K. Bedwell, Gerrard Boyce, A. Grahame, N. Cooke, Olive, J. A. C. Wilson, George Cossart, N. Evans, M. Brodie, G. Wagner, Nelson Fox (secretary), J. B. Mackay (captain) and Mrs. Mervyn Dines (treasurer). Apologies were received from the patroness (Mrs. J. D. Annand), Miss C. Hooper, Mrs. A. C. King, Mrs. D. F. Marshall, Mrs. N. Broadfoot, Mrs. McCulloch, Mrs. Rosbrook and Mrs. King.

Mrs. Dines read the annual report and the balance sheet which were adopted on the motion of the president who in the course of her remarks said:—

"I am sure you are all very pleased with the treasurer's report of the financial position of this club. We are celebrating its forty-first year of existence. I am proud to say we still have one of the foundation members, Mrs. Gerrard Boyce, with us. She is an outstanding player in the club. On account of the prevailing war conditions everything is more or less at a standstill, hence the good bank balance. Members who are busy in war efforts do look forward for a little recreation in the fresh air. To those who have suffered bereavement the club has been a great help. I extend deepest sympathy to two of our members, namely Mrs. Bedwell and Mrs. Rosbrook. A lot of praise is due to our captain who has done her best to keep the members interested in their games by forming different tournaments in which we all had to compete. I am sorry to relate that our club has suffered a bereavement during the year in the passing of one of our most esteemed members, Mrs. J. Rogers, who always took a great interest in the club. A meed of praise is due to the keeper of the lawns and to our grounds committee—namely Mesdames D. F. Marshall and M. Brodie. It was very difficult to replace Mr. N. Travis, who was in charge of the lawns before he enlisted and when a good man was procured, owing to the shortage of manpower, he could only give one day a week instead of two and three days as previously. The fact that top dressing was almost unprocurable made it harder again for the committee, but in spite of all these setbacks our lawns have never been in better playing order. We had great pleasure in welcoming three new members to our club during the year, namely Mesdames King and Padget and Miss Campbell, and I do hope they will be happy with us. We were all very sorry when Mrs. Marshall had to send in her resignation owing to the petrol rationing. I hope it will not be too long before she will rejoin the club again. During the year our members have been organising monthly bridge parties to supplement the funds of the Red Cross. These have been very popular and brought in a substantial sum of £[?27]/7/7. I also take this opportunity of saying how much I value the assistance given me by the committee, the captain, secretary and the treasurer during my term of office. I am mindful too of the help that has always been ungrudgingly given by our patroness and the Press. I thank all those who have helped the club with donations and trophies, the auditor, for the work undertaken in auditing the books, and I congratulate the winners of the various competitions held during the year. I would like to mention, with praise, the services Miss Lippold has rendered to the club in providing afternoon tea for at least twenty-five years, which is quite unique and must be a record."

The article as it was printed in The Toowoomba Chronicle, 3 August 1943. Scan from Trove, National Library of Australia. (Trove, National Library of Australia)