From left: Noble Park lady bowlers Gwenda Johnstone and Marj Gissing with lady president Lynne Nicholas, front, and examples of the handcrafted items lost in last month’s clubroom fire.By Shaun Inguanzo
NOBLE Park’s lady bowlers are devastated after a fire engulfed $3000 worth of handmade craft items that were to be sold to raise vital funds for the bowling club.
A fire erupted at the Noble Park Bowls Club at 12.30pm on Friday 17 August and caused serious internal damage to the clubrooms.
It also threw the opening of Noble Park’s lawn bowls season into disarray.
But the greatest damage was not to that which can be repaired.
Noble Park Bowls Club ladies president Lynne Nicholas said handcrafted items the bowlers had made as a labour of love for the club’s fundraising stall, available each Tuesday to coincide with pennant competition, were destroyed in the blaze.
Knitted coathangers, soaps, cards, plush teddy bears and tea towels made by hand as the ladies met each Monday for two hours over a period of 10 months were damaged in the fire.
Furthermore, a Melbourne Cup Day bowling event at which the club normally raises upwards of $2000, with most of that coming from craft item sales, is unlikely to raise the money this year, she said.
“We’re hoping to be up and running but the problem is we won’t have the craft stock,” Ms Nicholas said.
“We were holding about $3000 worth of craft stock and this time of year is the highest our stock level is.”
Ms Nicholas said the ladies met each Monday between 10am and noon.
