Nor'West News: December 03, 2020

6
Thursday December 3 2020
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NOR’WEST NEWS
Bowling greens dedicated to life members
JOHN FERGUSON feels
humbled that his name is
now formally linked with the
Morrison Avenue Bowling Club
that has been an enduring part of
his life.
The 92-year-old Ngaio Marsh
Retirement Village resident now
has a bowling green named after
him in honour of his 46-year
commitment to the club.
Recently the two natural playing
surfaces, known as number
one and two green, were named
after two life members – including
John, and Alan Hughes.
While John was both “honoured”
and “humbled” to have
one of the greens named after
him, he was earlier against the
idea of individuals within the
club receiving such recognition.
He argued there were “plenty
of people” that had also contributed
to club, but that “maybe
their fine efforts had either been
forgotten or never seen by the
newer members of the club,” he
said.
John uses both the village
green and those at the Bishopdale
club, where he is still a
regular face at the clubrooms.
He said at his age it was sometimes
a “wee bit harder” to get
to the green, but once he starts
playing, “all the aches and pains
disappear.”
FOR LIFE: John Ferguson now has a bowling green named after him at the Morrison
Avenue Bowling Club following a 46-year commitment to the club. ​
“It has helped me. It’s been
a great outlet for me, and the
beauty of it is I started off comparatively
young in my 40s and
I’ve been able to play to my 90s
and I’ve met many people in the
bowling fraternity,” he said.
The club was formed in 1959
and John eventually joined in
GROW YOUR BUSINESS
WITH ME
I have been successfully working with local businesses,
offering advice and effective marketing solutions across
a range of media platforms for over 25 years.
Call me to personalise a marketing plan
to grow your sales, today.
Phone Monique
DDI: 03 364 7474 Mobile: 021 372 481
Email: monique.maynard@starmedia.kiwi
1974 having moved to Christchurch
from Invercargill.
During the 1980s he hailed
as the club’s president for two
years and had a brief spell as a
greenkeeper, before becoming a
life member in 2000.
He remembers first being
drawn into the clubrooms in
search of friends, having bought
a home nearby in Bishopdale.
He received a written note
which said the committee had
approved his application, extending
him a “hearty welcome.”
“We lived in Bishopdale, and I
wanted to get to know people in
the area.
“So I went into this one at
Morrison’s Avenue one evening
and there were a couple of jokers
there playing and they said,
come and join up.
“I had a roll up (with my
bowls) there and then, with
them. That’s what introduced
me to it, and I’ve been there ever
since.”
John said his wife, Wilma, who
died in 2009, was also a “very
good bowler,” joining the club
shortly after he did.
“She even played for Canterbury
… she actually played
better bowls than me.”
John was originally a carpenter’s
apprentice in Southland,
which began in 1944.
He then became a building
overseer at the Ministry of
Works from 1960. It was during
this time that he met his future
wife, Wilma, in Gore, and eventually
married in 1954.
The couple had a daughter and
two sons who continue to live in
the South Island.
John said while he did not play
in club championships these
days, he was a competitive player
in his earlier years.
These days he normally plays
in triples and fours, still driving
to matches with his bowls in the
car boot.
www.bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz
Christmas gifts that will be
met by complete silence.
For days, and days,
if you’re lucky.
As we head into the Christmas season, you
might be starting to think about gift ideas.
Check out our range of gift and tech
in-store or online today.
smithscity.co.nz
SCWK32NN3