Brookton is a small town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, 138 kilometres from Perth via the Brookton Highway.
Just east of town, there lies a small country bowling club which has made a name for itself in recent times and, as a sponsor of the club, we thought it worthy of note in this month’s newsletter.
Firstly, a little bit of history. The Brookton Bowling Club relocated from their old club rink west of town to the current facility in 2008 and have just enjoyed their second season with a new green, as the first one was well worn out. The club boasts a membership, in the bowling side, of well over 50 active members, comprised of both men’s and ladies’ teams. The general atmosphere is one of fun, camaraderie, and good old-fashioned country hospitality. Our Sales Manager, Wayne Manoni, spent some time there earlier in the year at the Men’s Invitation Day, of which Milne is a sponsor, and saw this first-hand. He was overwhelmed by the food, beverage and general welcome he received.
It was so pleasing to see the club recognised for its efforts this year by taking out the prestigious WA Bowls “Small Country Club of the Year” award at the recent WA Bowls awards night, held at the Royal Perth Golf Club on Friday 3rd June.
WA Bowls Operation and Communications manager, Aaron Delaporte, recently explained that, “Bowls WA Small Country Club of the Year Award takes into account on-green performance of the club and its members, participation in state and country events, as well as off-green performance in administration, governance and community engagement”.
The Small Country Club of the Year is for clubs with 70 members or less and the award was accepted by Brookton Bowls Club President Trevor Allington.
Trevor made note that country clubs really come into their own through their volunteers, and every member contributing to the club, something which Brookton epitomises.
Notable projects for the club included a new 12 rink green, which was paid for by members’ fundraising. A local farmer donated a field for three years of harvest, which raised over $200k to pay for the surfacing. The club also has realised the construction of a new store shed, 60 feet long by 15 feet high, which was painted with an amazing mural depicting the character of the town.
A small club indeed but showing such a big heart!!
A couple of other notable recent achievements include: the club was also successful in winning the Men’s 1 Division Competition in the Upper Great Southern Bowling League this year and, with news just to hand, the Men’s 4 team, that journeyed all the way to Queensland to compete in the Australian Open this week, managed to get right through to be runners up in their division. Well done lads.
We managed to get them to pose for a photo depicting the famous “Milne Feeds” logo on their backs - some might say the very best angle to take their photo!
So, from Milne Feeds a big “Well Done” to one and all and we look forward to being a part of the club through our sponsorship for many years to come.
