Elder Electorate Bowling Clubs

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (15:24): Today, I am pleased to rise to speak about two vibrant and energetic clubs in my area, being the Ascot Park Bowling Club and the Edwardstown Bowling Club. Both clubs run on dedication, vision and pure hard work, driven by its volunteers who know that at the heart of all they do is community, building connections and friendships. Their belief and commitment to community is remarkable and I congratulate them.

Ascot Park Bowling Club's story began in 1957 when residents in the Ascot Park area organised the very first meeting with the shared vision of inaugurating a bowling club. A site on Marion Road, where the club is today, was chosen. The opening of the Ascot Park Bowling Club was held in 1960. The club has three greens, all of a very high standard, allowing bowls to be played all year round. The facilities are very modern with an extensive windowed view of the greens from the main dining area.

The club has pennant and night owl teams as well as indoor bowling. While pennant bowls is not played during the winter months, there is still a very vibrant social bowling group on Wednesdays and also on Saturday afternoons. The introduction of indoor bowls saw the club grow rapidly and there had to be a limit of 220 applied to membership, I am told. As the membership reached 135 ladies and 250 men, it was necessary to extend the clubhouse to accommodate everyone. At present , the club has mixed membership, ranging from teenagers through to those in their late 80s. Over the years, the club has been very successful, winning pennants, state titles and championship titles.

I was delighted and privileged just recently to present the annual volunteer of the year award that I sponsor to this year's recipient, Tracy Crane, who, like last year's recipient, Bob Johnston, works above and beyond, doing whatever is required to ensure that the club and fellow members and visitors have an enjoyable time. Tracy has also done all of this while battling personal health issues. It is an amazing personal story of commitment and passion for the club. Well done, Tracy, and well done, Bob, on being the awardees for this year and last year. I always feel very welcome at Ascot Park Bowling Club. It is truly a very friendly, welcoming club.

Secondly, I want to highlight the Edwardstown Bowling Club, which was established more than 50 years ago. Today, it has a membership of around 180 active and committed participants. The club has a remarkable team of hardworking volunteers. Those who are current members make sure they spread the word and put considerable effort into maintaining membership and attracting new local members. The club has a growing night owls competition which, on last count, had around 130 players taking part. Night owls has proven to be a very popular competition and one that is great for fun and camaraderie.

The club is very progressive and always thinking of how to engage with and meet its members' needs and, to this end, not so long ago I was able to assist them with securing eight computers by way of the Smart State PC Donation Program. I was at the club the other day and saw the bank of computers ready to go, so there will soon be community computer courses on offer. And on this particular occasion, I was visiting the club for another good reason—to award the volunteer of the year award to the chosen club member.

It was a great privilege and pleasure to present to Trevor Gasmier this award, which I also sponsor. Trevor is currently the house manager for the Edwardstown Bowling Club and he was chosen by his fellow members for his ability to assist and do a full range of odd jobs as required around the club—a man of many talents. Congratulations, Trevor! It was really humbling to present him with his award because he was visibly quite overcome and overwhelmed as well as really surprised.

I would like to close by making mention of National Volunteer Week which was celebrated recently. It is in its 27^th year and it is always a great opportunity to recognise and reflect. It gives us an opportunity to say thanks and to recognise those volunteers within our community who give freely of their time. Thank you to both Ascot Park Bowling Club and Edwardstown Bowling Club and the volunteers who are at the hub and heart of both clubs and, indeed, the community. Thank you for all you do.