Wadebridge Bowling Club held its annual presentation of trophies and other awards at a dinner held on 30th September at The Swan Hotel in Wadebridge.
For the past few years, the presentation has been held at a buffet meal immediately following Closing Day play, but this year we went for something different, booking out the upstairs room at The Swan.
Members and guests arrived to find a picture quiz on the tables, and an answer sheet that referred to a music quiz as well. It looked like we were making our own entertainment…
The meal was fine, though the people (not necessarily vegetarians) having the nut roast found it more than a little peppery (this opinion formed from a sample of two). The staff were attentive and promptly brought additional drinks from the upstairs bar, or went downstairs for more exotic items, such as pints of draught London Pride.
The picture quiz involved identifying cryptic illustrations of sporting events and sporting venues, the most difficult of which was a small furry creature and a barrel; the answer, on close inspection, turned out to be Leamington (Lemming-Tun).
After dinner came short speeches from the Ladies Captain, Pat Archer, and the Men’s Captain, Eddie Jones. The Ladies won the Tamar League this year. The Men came second in the League and won the Top Team competition in Group 2 (though losing in the County semi-final). Fixtures Secretary George Tinker recounted success in the National competitions, with quite a few people reaching County semi-finals and finals.
At last we reached the presentation itself. Barbara Bell had laid out the trophies and certificates in order and handed them to President David Atfield to present to winners and runners-up (not in that order).
As always, the final presentation was for Member of the Year, awarded to the person considered to have contributed most to the club, decided by club members. The deserving winner was Mark Tapley, the Men’s Vice Captain and B-Team captain, who could also be found organising events, helping with maintenance, painting the backs of sheds – wherever you looked, there was Mark. And here he is again, right here, with President David.
The evening didn’t end with presentations. There was still the music half of the quiz to go, identifying singers or bands from snippets of varying length. President David is renowned for his quizzes, and this was perfectly pitched (so to speak) with the music matching the demographics of members and guests.
The photos below are of the general festivities, taken by Penry Archer. The names and photos of competition winners and runners-up can be found in Presentation Dinner 2023 – Part 2.
