We turn 75 !!

On the 10th of November the Club officially celebrated it's 75th Anniversary at a cocktail function held in the clubhouse. Most of the members present had spent a pleasant afternoon on the greens and were pretty thirsty by the time the function commenced at 6 p.m. The resulting good humoured crowd which listened to the speeches were generous in their applause and loud in their appreciation of the jokes made by the speakers. After being introduced to the gathering by the MC of the day, Frances Maythem, our President 'Blackie' de Swardt regaled the crowd with a number of interesting and amusing anecdotes while not forgetting to pay tribute to VIP's past and present.

Here's Blackie in full flight:

After welcoming the Mayoress, Nicolette Botha-Guthrie, and the President of  Boland Bowls, Basie Louw, the President went on to pay tribute to our honorary life members Dupie Fischer, Chrissie Wyk, Tienie Schickerling, Joe Hartzenberg and Pieter Loots. He took the opportunity to then welcome members of the business community who are so important to the future of the Club with their advertising and support for the annual Business League. Blackie paid special tribute to Pieter Loots who is the founder of the Business League, and also of the Hermanus Classic tournament.

Special mention was made of the 3 Club members who had been invited to participate in the South African Masters tournament to be held in East London in February 2012, Tish Bryce, Amanda Meyer and Dave Buckley. Blackie paid particular tribute to Dave who had brought much honour to the Club through the years. Here are the 3 Masters putting on a brave front to the camera:

Good luck for February !!

Then followed a short but sweet tribute paid to the Club by Boland Bowls via their President, Basie Louw.

At last it was the turn of the Mayoress to highlight some salient facts in the Club's history, while saying some very nice things about the honoured place that Hermanus Bowls Club holds in the community at large.

Thank you, Nicolette - your comments are much appreciated. The Club is fully aware of how much it owes to the Hermanus municipality and it's support from the very beginning.

The gathering then had the opportunity to celebrate this auspicious occasion with the many wines that had been donated by various individuals and businesses, and to enjoy the excellent food that had been prepared for the party by resident Chef Quinton.


We now look forward to the next major birthday in 2036 !!