A bumper weekend is planned for the Rahotu Bowling Club when it clocks up a century over the coming days.
Secretary Peter Charteris said the club had registered 28 teams of fours for the official tournament, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday. All the activities are at the club. Three games will be played on Saturday and two on Sunday, with teams rotating on and off.
Bowls NZ president Mark O’Connor will be in attendance on Sunday and so will most of the Rahotu community itself – with some 220 expected for the hangi.
Handing out the prizes on Sunday will be the three oldest members of the club and the three youngest – the latter all being current students at Opunake High.
A number of past members will naturally attend, including life members like John Morgan and Ron Bingham and past Taranaki president Peter Bennett. Veteran Kevin Mischefski, who at 90 is still winning club titles at his adopted Stratford-Avon, will be there, too. Mischefski grew up adjacent to the Rahotu club and won the club and western division junior title away back in 1947.
The club’s origins date back to February 1920 when a preliminary meeting was held and a committee was set up. Progress initially was slow at laying the original green. It was made up of four rinks and was located at the Rahotu Domain. Its official opening didn’t occur until February 1921 where the Rahotu hospitality was laid down for the first time. Arthur Chapman was the first president and his wife prepared the dainty afternoon tea at the official opening.
After eight years the club was donated land besides the Rahotu Tavern – its current site – by the then publican, Ted Whittle, father of Waimea’s favourite friend, Ken.
Whittle believed that having the club so close to the pub would be good for business – and so it proved. Charteris noted that hospitality and sociability remain integral parts of Rahotu. “We have 20 members and 15 of them drink beer!”
The Rahotu club has benefited greatly from the Lowry family, with descendants joining in the early 1920s.
A number of members of the family have performed with distinction on the green, including Taranaki gold star holder Des.