Social Activity

There are few sports that are played with a stronger social element than lawn bowls. Bowls clubs are often thriving communities where close friends are made and members get to know one another through both competitive bowling and informal social occasions. Somerton & District Bowls Club aims to offer a friendly environment where both serious bowlers and those with less ambitious sporting aspirations can fulfil their requirements. 
In order to promote the social aspects of the Club, a number of informal events are organised throughout the year, some of which are regular annual occasions and others are arranged on an ad-hoc basis. Among the regular events intended to attract all members are the following:-

Pre-season Coffee Morning (catch up with fellow members after the winter break)
Season Opening Match (President’s Team vs Captain’s Team) – who cares wins!
Cider/Cheese Fun Day (prepare to be surprised)
Candlelight Evening (well lit members continue to enjoy some fun as the nights draw in)
Bowls Tour (4 day coach tour to a different venue each year with the opportunity to bowl or just explore a new location).
Season Closing Match (Men vs Ladies) (a bit of fun with an edge)
Presentation Dinner (a social occasion accompanies prize giving)
Skittles Evening (a winter get together).

As an example the recent Cider/Cheese afternoon (August 2018) attracted a good attendance, with over half of Club members being present, nearly all being dressed informally. Dave & Mary prepared a number of unusual bowling challenges, depicted in the following photographs. After the event, members and visitors enjoyed well lubricated ‘ploughman’s style’ refreshments, kindly arranged by Pam & Lynn with several other members helping out in preparing and distributing the food. Everyone present had a wonderful time. 
 

An example of an ad-hoc social event was the Musical Soiree (August 2019) that took place in our Clubhouse where two of our musically inclined members laid on entertainment for the Club. 

The first half of the proceedings was performed by the recently formed, Shepton Mallett Smugglers, led by Ray Smith. These troubadours certainly looked the part, appearing as if they had recently been plying their trade. They performed a wide variety of songs ranging from folk songs, popular music and even threw in an old George Formby hit. They got the audience singing along in good heart.

The second half of proceedings comprised a musical quiz, hosted by Ray Kelly that asked quiz teams to identify features of songs that Ray ably performed on his keyboard. Inevitably some of the clues to the words of songs were disclosed by the audience who were unable to contain themselves and sang along to the tunes. Ray also provided a number of humorous anecdotes between sections of the quiz that amused the audience.

Between the sections, Pam, Lynn and co-workers produced hot dogs and beef burgers in great quantity for the edification of those present.  

All in all this event was a great success and those involved in organising, performing and assisting behind the scenes were afforded a hearty vote of thanks.