The OLD Madoc Facility
Internationally, lawn bowling is one of the oldest recreational persuits. It was played in Rome, Greece and Egypt. Records show that a bowling green has existed in Southampton, England, since before 1611 and is still being played on, further, an annual competitive event has been scheduled on this green since 1776.In the Southern hemisphere, it was played in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1845 and in South Africa in 1882. In the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia, there are over 1200 lawn bowling clubs.
A Ladies Tournament
The History of the Madoc Club
Taken from the original Minute book
From 1927 to 1937
The Madoc club was started at a meeting on July 30th 1927 and the fees were $10 for gentlemen. (No ladies were invited) The Rev A H Foster of Trinity United Church on the main street of the village proposed that the greens be built on the grounds adjacent to the church.
By 1928 the fees had fallen to $5.00 for men and now ladies could join for $2.50, but there was a $5.00 joining fee for new members. In 1929 there were 6 teams of 4 for which a skip was appointed, and the other 3 members names were drawn out of a hat.
The meetings were held in the Community Hall. There seems to have been very little money in the bank, the operating budget in 1929 was $250 and they finished the year with a deficit of $21.17.
In 1933 a motion to join the Ontario Bowling Association was defeated but the motion to join The Hastings Bowling League was adopted.
In 1934 a delegation was asked to investigate the cost & feasibility of enlarging the greens. At the same meeting the Property committee was instructed to "look after the roof of the club house". The annual meetings were still held in the Community Hall and no mention of building a club house is made or how it was financed.
In 1936 a motion was adopted to charge 25 cents per night to members who had not paid their membership dues.
From 1937 to 1947
In 1939 the membership fee for ladies and new members was dropped to $1. (times must have been hard and they were trying to get new members). The groundskeepers salary was $75 for the season.
In 1941 there was a request that the ladies form their own club, but at the 1942 meeting they were invited to bowl "the same as last year".In 1943 the balance at the end of the season was $24.66 and was seen to be "very gratifying". Fees were increased to $10 in 1948 and the greenskeeper & maintenance man's salary was raised to $135 for the season.
The club had a big win in 1949 when a Madoc pair won the "Liftlock Gold Trophy" and each winner was presented with a gold "Gruen" watch for beating out teams from all over Ontario. The runner up pair were presented with a "Kenwood" Overcoat.
From 1947 to 1957
In 1954 the fees were $10 single, $12 Man & Lady & $2.50 for Lady only but at that time "the ladies were invited to organise a club of their own" In 1956 there were 14 members registered with the Provincial Secretary, and an advert was placed in the local paper seeking new members.
in 1959 the fee structure was once again changed to
- New men bowlers fee &5.00
- New lady bowler fee $3.00
- Regular men bowler fee $10.00
- Regular lady bowler fee $6.00
From 1957 to 1967
In 1962 the fees were ; men $15.00 and ladies $5.00, but by 1964 the fees were $15 for men and $10 for ladies and membership was listed as 11 men amd 9 ladies registered with the provincial secretary. In 1966 the bank balance stood at $23.32. Mr & Mrs Mel Caverly won the Seagram Gold Trophy.From 1967 to 1977
In 1968 the fees were $15 for men & $10 for ladies. The O"Keefe Trophy Tournament was played in Belleville. In 1970 the fees were changed once again to $15 for men and $15 for ladies.
In 1972 Bowls were loaned to the club for the use by others by Jim Watson and P.H. Nayler. (The Jim Watson bowls are currently being used by myself in 1998, courtesy of Mrs Margaret Watson, the wife of Jim's son Alex.)
Throughout the years the bank balance had always been about $25 but in 1972 they suddenly had a balance of $553.
In 1976 there were 26 members and it was agreed that bowling would be on Tuesday & Thursday evenings and Ladies and new members bowling on Saturday afternoons.
Senior citizens were invited to use the club house, free of charge for "Games day" on Fridays.From 1977 to 1987
The fees for 1977 were men $20.00, Ladies $15.00 and Juniors $10.00, and an application was made to the Wintario Corporation for a grant to fix the lights, roof and general repairs.In 1978 the fees were increased to $25.00, and for new members $12.50.
In 1980 bowlers from Stirling were invited to bowl at Madoc as their club had disbanded.
In 1981 they held a ladies tournament in Madoc but the mens tournament was held in Belleville.This was also the year in which a grant of $4056 for building improvements was approved by Monique Begin, the minister for National Health and Welfare, which administered 'The New Horizons' Program.
In 1982 Gord & Marrianne Taylor proposed a sign for the building.
The NEW facility
From 1987 to present
In 1988 WHytock Park was proposed for a new bowls club complex and in 1989 the fees were raised to $30 for regular members and $20 for new members. In that year also tournament were to be played in Trenton as Belleville was no longer agreeable to using their facilities.
In 1990 fees were raised to $35 and in 1991 a grant of $150,000 from Wintario was made and in that year the fees were raised to $40. In 1991 with the help of Government funding a new facility was built in Whytock park and was opened for play on June 28th 1992 and the fees were again raised to $45.Our members take great pride in the fact that so much of the planning & work was done by members and volunteers from the district. The latest technology and materials were used in the construction and we pride ourselves on some of the best facilities in the district.
