MONBULK Bowls Club members celebrated loudly and proudly on Saturday, 12 September.
To mark the club’s 50th anniversary, celebrations started with a dinner and dance.
Items from the club’s history were on display, including photos, old uniforms, minutes of meetings and newspaper articles.
Des Cox, the emcee for the evening, dressed smartly in his early days formal bowls uniform.
His first task was to propose a toast to all past, present and future Monbulk bowlers.
He then introduced each of the dignitaries.
Peter Delaney, the Operations Manager for Bowls Victoria, gave some insight into his preoccupations.
Then President of Bowls Victoria, John Fisher OAM, presented a plaque to the club to proclaim the 50th anniversary.
Upon receiving the plaque, president of Monbulk Bowling Club, Jenny Holmes, gave assurances it would be put in pride of place as part of the history display.
A History of Monbulk Bowling Club was then launched by the Mayor of Yarra Ranges, Cr Maria McCarthy.
Although on the surface it may seem a humble publication, the book has photos and documents from the past 50 years and is a lasting record of people and events that have made the club.
A huge black forest cake decorated with a 50th motif was cut by four of the club’s life members: Doug Elliott, John Van Driel, Leo Koelewyn and Terry Carey.
Jenny Holmes gave a summary of the milestones of the club’s history and asked everyone to consider what could be learned from the past.
Guests then danced into the night to the sounds of the band, in2groove.
The celebrations continued on Sunday, when there was a social bowls tournament.
Ray McDonald, the President of Eastern Ranges Bowls Region, presented awards to 11 new Monbulk Super Veterans, the bowlers who have reached 80 years of age.
