Bill Winter, Dawn Britten and president Kerry Bovey with their Bowls Waikato awards.
Central Bowling Club’s well-kept gardens are the envy of Cambridge and now the woman who keeps them looking that way has been presented with a prestigious Bowls Waikato award.
Dawn Britten has been a member of Central Bowling Club since 1983 and two years later she started cleaning the club rooms and doing the gardens.
That contribution saw her named Waikato volunteer of the year, one of three awards the club picked up.
The others were the prestigious club of the year and greenkeeper of the year to the hard-working Bill Winter.
That means when the club holds its 75th anniversary over Labour Weekend, there will be plenty to celebrate, says club spokesperson Frank Broekmans.
Dawn, who is a life member, opens and closes the club rooms every day, has served on the board and runs the popular Thursday afternoon roll up with Trevor Risbridge
“Our gardens always draw attention from passers-by and Dawn keeps them immaculate and colourful,” says Frank.
“At our club we have one natural and one carpet green which enables our club to play year around.
“Maintaining the natural green is no mean feature as it involves a great knowledge of chemicals, mowing techniques etc.
“So, we can count ourselves lucky to have Bill looking after them.”
“You can spot Bill on the green daily to make sure that we have the best playing field.
“This is also recognised by players of visiting teams as well as Bowls Waikato who regularly choose our club green for centre events.”
The club has accumulated many awards over its 75 years including two entries in the Guinness Book of Records.
The first was for the longest marathon in- and outdoor bowls in 2016 and once again for outdoor bowls marathon in 2018.
Club member Jesse Russell has represented New Zealand while he and Taylor Horn have picked up national titles.
The 75th anniversary celebrations kick off on Friday 22 October with a social gathering followed by a tournament the next day and a festive dinner on Sunday.
“Covid has caused some havoc with the original plans and might still dictate a change in planned activities,” said Frank.
Dawn Britten has been at work in the garden since 1985.
