History
CENTENARY REPORT
TATURA BOWLS CLUB 1904 – 2004 TATURA BOWLS ASSOCIATES 1954 – 2004
An information summary obtained from the Centenary book – researched, written and edited by club Life Member Arthur Knee.
In the Beginning: One man who should take credit for the formation of the Tatura Bowls Club, is Mr Richard J Luxon, described as the rotund manager of the Bank of Victoria, whose place of work was the newly erected building in Hogan Street, and now the site occupied by the National Bank of Australia. In those days banking hours were 10.00am to 3.00pm, with ample staff, and Managers who were encouraged to participate in local sporting and social activities. Mr Luxon was the ideal person for the project, particularly with his eye to everyone’s financial position.
The Free Press in January 1904, provides the following : “Mr Luxon of Tatura, at the request of a number of residents, has been seeking promises of financial support for the establishment of a bowling green. So successful has he been that all practical difficulties seem to have been overcome. Mr Luxon intends to call a public meeting at an early date in order to form a club”.
The inaugural meeting was held at the Mechanics Institute on Monday 1st February 1904, and Mr Luxon was elected to the chair. He reported to the meeting that 37 persons had promised donations ranging from 10 guineas ($21) to half a guinea.
The site chosen (Cnr Service and Albert Sts) for the bowling green was on land set aside by the Crown for Public Gardens and Recreation. This reserve had been used as a rubbish tip, and was thickly timbered with grey box trees. A committee was then selected from among the subscribers to investigate the proposal to construct a six rink Bowling Green, estimated to cost sixty pounds. Tenders were called for a considerable amount of soil and without the mechanical aids of front end loaders and laser graders, the work was hard and arduous. The end of the working season was celebrated with a fund raising Euchre Party and Dance, followed by a period of watching the grass grow, English grass of course. The club was officially formed on 6th October 1904 with the President being Mr R Luxon. A formidable group, of office bearers were elected, not only containing the Bank Manager Luxon, but a Rodney Shire Councillor in James Wilson, Thomas Hogan the “King” and major land owner and developer of Tatura, D C Morrison a solicitor, the local publican W Bazeley and the popular Dr Park.
After waiting for the grass to become sufficiently established, the greens were declared open by Cr J W Wilson on 9th November 2004. In support of the occasion visitors attended from the other clubs at Shepparton and Seymour.
In 1907, Mr Luxon was elected to the position of President of an Association of Bowling Clubs consisting of Tatura, Shepparton, Seymour, Nagambie and Euroa. A new Association, the Goulburn Valley Bowls Association, was formed in 1921 following World War 1, and Tatura became the headquarters for this Association for many years.
The Tatura Bowls Club has continued playing Bowls on this same site, without a break for one hundred years, from 1904 to 2004. The year 2004, also celebrates 50 years in which Lady Associates have been part of the club’s activities.
In the year 2016 lawn bowls in many towns and associations is in severe decline and this is unfortunately now being reflected in the limited number of particpants at the Tatura Bowls Club. The survival of two clubs in the town with a population of around 3600 is unsustainable in the future.
The Greens: Excessive wear on the playing ends of only one six-rink green was recognized, and in 1948, an extension was carried out to the western end of the green, making the green of equal length and width, thereby permitting play to be both north-south and east-west. In 1954 Bowling was proving to be popular and the decision was made to construct a second green. This green with it’s English grass proved to be an excellent surface and was considered to be the best and fastest green in the Association. These were the days prior to the advent of Couch grass for bowling greens. Following the building of the new clubhouse and the need to renovate the two existing greens, it was felt that the Club could not afford to have only one green playable for a long period of time. The decision was made to grade a temporary green on the site of the former “pumpkin patch” which was a fund raiser activity on the defunct Croquet Greens. The green consisted of six rinks and was built with an absolute minimum of expenditure. The “Pumpkin Patch”, however became the best of Tatura’s greens, and consequently by far the best in the Goulburn Valley. It hosted Division 1 finals, and for a number of years, in the mid 1960’s, the “Jack High” Television series featuring Goulburn Valley bowlers competing in a televised series of matches. With the success of the “Pumpkin Patch”, the Maskell and Dunlop greens were then in turn converted to Tift Dwarf a new type of grass. A fourth green, now named the “Tennant” Green was constructed in 1991, but with the gradual decline in numbers the club now manages with just the two greens Maskell and Dunlop.
The Clubhouse: The original Clubhouse was an open timber framed building previously the property of the Tennis Club. A larger weatherboard building was later built on the Service Street frontage and served as a clubhouse for both the Bowls and the Croquet Clubs, this building was later removed to its present site and use as the Clubhouse for the nearby Tatura Netball Club. In 1969 a new brick Club house was built under contract at a cost of $20,000 to plans drawn up by club member Steve Asboth. The main room in the building was of sufficient size to accomodate four indoor bowling mats. The project was fully funded by club funds and debentures taken out by Members. Later expensions included the provision of an office and the enlargement of the kitchen area, and in 1979 the building was further enlarged to include a large bar room and improved toilet facilities. A brick plant and storage shed was also provided.