Torquay Bowls Club to roll out centenary celebrations

THE Torquay Bowls Club is celebrating a century of sport and community spirit this year, and will be rolling out a series of events to mark the occasion throughout 2024.

About 250 of the club’s members answered a call for volunteers dressed in white to form a human 100 sign on the top green at the club’s Taylor Park home at the weekend.

President Joe Issell said this feat typified the club as a whole and the 100-year milestone.

“That was amazing,” he said.

“What the Torquay Bowls Club means to the community is we’re a community hub that services groups, Probus Clubs, RSL’s at the heart of it.

“How many bowlers have come through here in 100 years? God knows.

“But that’s what it is; the essence is the members.

“To be in the one spot, too – we haven’t moved in 100 years.

“We’re one of the biggest community clubs going; we’ve got 900 members.”

Torquay Bowls Club’s biggest event for the centenary will be a free community celebration on February 25, where the whole community will be invited between 10am-2pm to enjoy a barbecue lunch, children’s activities, live music and barefoot bowls.

Other events include a 1920s-themed cocktail party on February 10 and a ball in September.

Mr Issell said he was particularly impressed by the work put in by the club’s many volunteers.

“We’re still a volunteer bowls club. We have paid staff at the bar and bistro, but we are totally volunteer-based. Our bowls program is probably one of the biggest in the country. Twilight bowls; we have 60 teams over two nights for social bowls!

“No other club out of two-and-a-half thousand clubs across Australia does what we do.”

For more information and updates on the club’s centenary celebrations, head to torquaybowlsclub.com