Club History from 1923
Feb 1, 1923
A group of 10 men with a vision to create a lawn bowling club met in the Horticultural Hall at 23rd Street and Lonsdale Ave. It was decided that a notice be inserted in the North Shore Press to advise interested parties to meet the next week with the express purpose of forming such a club. These are the handwritten minutes from this meeting.
Feb 8, 1923
The North Vancouver Lawn Bowling Club was formed, and consisted of one green on land leased from the Horticultural Society, now the site of the upper green on Lonsdale. The entry fee was $5.00 until March 15, 1923 and $7.50 after. In the spring and summer of 1923 the men dug, levelled, seeded, weeded, rolled, watered and cut the green.
Sept. 8, 1923
Official opening day of the club. Mayor D. Donaghy and representatives from some of the Vancouver lawn bowling clubs declared the green open and the first games were played.
1924
The wives of the members formed an auxiliary to assist the men at their inter-club games and social events. A renovated "shed" became the first clubhouse.
1925
Lights were installed on the green.
1926
The ladies' auxiliary became the North Vancouver Ladies' Lawn Bowling Club. Mrs. F. Stewart was its first president.
1932
A new clubhouse was designed and built at the north end of the green.
1938
Reeve Joe Leyland of West Vancouver donated a Challenge Cup (the Leyland Cup) to be competed for yearly between the North and West Vancouver men's clubs. The Leyland competition continues to this day.
1941
"Open" Sunday bowling was allowed from 12 to 6 pm, but competitions were not permitted. The Christmas Whist Drive and Dance was changed to Whist and Bingo. The proceeds of $125.49, went to the "Lord
Mayor's Save the Children Fund."
1942
Mrs. Miles of the West Vancouver Ladies' Lawn Bowling Club donated the Rose Bowl trophy for an annual competition between the ladies of the West Vancouver and North Vancouver Lawn Bowling Clubs, with the same rules that govern the men's Leyland Cup. It was a no-no for ladies to wear slacks, shorts or culottes. Dresses were the uniform of the day. The Rose Bowl competition is still going strong, but the style of dress has vastly changed.
1948
25th Anniversary of the Club. Celebrated in Horticultural Hall on Sept. 11, 1948. This was quite an attractive building with porches all round, situated on the south side of 23rd St., approximately where the overpass is now.
1953
Novice competition started.
1962
The club was registered under the Society's Act in order to obtain a lease with the City of North Vancouver.
1964
The new south green was ready for use on opening day.
1965
The new Recreation Centre took in part of the bowling club land at the north end. To compensate, the City moved the Clubhouse to an area east of the upper green.
1966
Heavy snowfalls collapsed the clubhouse roof and the building was condemned. George Henderson and Tom Holness met with the City Architect to present and discuss plans for a new clubhouse, which was ready for use in November. During the bowling season of 1966 activities were carried on from a tent.
1967
The official opening of the new clubhouse took place on opening day. There were 76 paid-up members recorded for this year.
1968
New lockers were made by students of Carson Graham School and installed for a total of $144.15 (no labor charges.) A piano was donated by Jim Wallace.
1973
50th Anniversary of the Club. Special opening day celebrations included banners, flags, floral displays, a high school band, luncheon, special guests and bowling, of course.
1974
Muriel Holness won the Canadian Singles Gold Medal.
The North Vancouver Men's Triples Tournament was named the "Dick Williams Triples," in honor of the late R.L. Williams. The area, around and including the bowling club, was named by the City as "Rodger Burnes Green." Rodger Burnes was a well-known old-timer and a friend of many bowlers.
1976
The first edition of the Club's newsletter, "The Toucher" was issued in April, with J. Terry as editor.
1978
The enlarged North green opened, giving the club two regulation-sized greens.
1983
60th Anniversary of the Club. Club membership totaled 197 members (ladies and men.) Stella Jo Dean donated a drinking fountain to commemorate the anniversary.
1984
Two of our members, Nell Hunter and Bob Scullion, both won honors as Canadian Singles Champions
"The Pony League" for first, second and third year bowlers was formed.
1986
Bob Scullion and Dave Brown captured the Canadian gold medal in pairs.
1988
The Mens' and Ladies' Clubs amalgamated.
1989
A Casino night netted the club $9,227.50 which went towards new lighting.
1990
Audrey Brown became the 61st President in 67 years of the club's existence and the first female President of the club.
1993
70th Anniversary of the Club. Membership totalled 246. The District of North Vancouver gave the club a new flagpole.
April, 1993
Maureen Johnston appointed editor of "The Toucher", the Club's newsletter.
July 1, 1994
First annual Canada Day Lions Gate Hospital Charity Cup competition, held July 1st and initiated by President George Blaker.
Sept. 12, 1998
75th Anniversary of the Club. Club membership now totals 319. 200 women, 119 men. Seven are life members, 23 are associates.
October, 2000
George Blaker was elected president for the seventh term, giving him the distinction of being the longest-serving president to date.
2002
Club flagpole was badly vandalized and was replaced by a new one through the auspices of Mayor Don Bell, District of North Vancouver, and Mr. Zack Bhatia of the Holiday Inn.
2003
A second balcony was added to the west side of the clubhouse, complete with matching awning to that on the south side of the clubhouse.
July 1, 2003
10th annual Lions Gate Hospital Charity Cup competition raised $1,600. This makes a total of $13, 639 we have raised for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, since the inception of the competition in 1994.
Sept. 14, 2003
80th Anniversary of the Club. Club membership now totals 317 members, including 20 Juniors, 32 Associates, 2 Honorary and 9 Life.
Sept, 2003
The Fall edition of the "The Toucher" went out to members via email, for the first time. Hard copies of the newsletter will continue to be printed and mailed to those members without computers.
2004
New backboards and plinths were installed to both greens, thanks to the generosity of club members who willingly donated to the "backboard fund".
North Vancouver's junior bowlers played host to the country's best juniors at the National Juniors Championships held on our greens.
June, 2005
First annual "Community Charity Challenge". Initiated by Anne and Ed Jackson, proceeds of $8,000 were donated to the Lookout Emergency Aid Society (North Shore Homeless Shelter).
2006
Bob Gandy takes over as President of the Club, from George Blaker - who served as president for a record nine years.
A motion passed at the AGM allows that the wearing of whites on non-tournament weekends is now an option at the North Vancouver LBC.
22 old benches were replaced with handsome new seats. Club members purchased a bench, with their name engraved on a bronze commemorative plaque.
2007
The City of North Vancouver celebrated its centenary this year, and our Club joined in the celebration with a Centennial Folkfest Tournament.
2008
85th Anniversary of the Club. Of the 50 registered lawn bowling clubs in BC, with a total of 4,602 bowlers, North Vancouver is the largest in the province, with 260 members.
2009
Dave Davey is new President of the North Vancouver LBC.
The clubhouse gets a facelift with new flooring in the office and kitchen, new window blinds, new carpets and fresh paint.
June, 2010
6th Annual Community Charity Challenge raises a record $8,500 for the Lookout North Shore Shelter for the Homeless.
July, 2010
17th Annual Lions Gate Hospital Charity Cup raises $5,000 for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation.
2011
Nannely Lawson named new Club President.
June, 2011
7th Annual Community Charity Challenge raises $7,425 - once again for the Lookout North Shore Shelter.
City and District Councillors competed, for the first time, in a contest on the greens.
July, 2011
18th annual Lions Gate Hospital Charity Cup brings in a record $6,600.
June 2012
8th Annual Community Charity Challenge, though not the highest in dollars raised for the North Shore's Lookout Shelter for the Homeless, was the best event to date and brought the total monies raised in the eight-year period to over $60,000. Ed and Anne Jackson, the event's organizers, threw a follow-up party for the volunteers at which they announced their retirement from the event. They also reported that the club's total contribution to the Lookout Emergency Aid Society over 8 years, has totaled approximately $120,000. The other $60,000 plus comes from the dollar value of volunteer time.
July, 2012
19th annual Lions Gate Hospital Charity Cup brings $7,000 - making a total of close to $50,000 since its inception 19 years ago.
July, 2013
20th annual Lions Gate Hospital Charity Cup celebrates its platinum year and tops its contribution to the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation in the amount of $10,000. In the past 20 years, the club has raised close
to $60,000 for the Foundation.
August, 2013
The Canadian National Lawn Bowling Championships come to
Vancouver's North Shore. The North Van and West Van Clubs co-hosted the week-long event, one of the biggest on record with the addition of Triples into the competition. Pairs, Triples and Fours Teams competed for the title of Canadian Champion.
Sept. 14, 2013
90th Anniversary of the Club. Membership now totals 284 members,
including 30 Associates, 1 Junior, 2 Honorary and 11 Life.
2014
Harry Carruthers named the new Club President.
2018
City of North Vancouver announces the sale of the NVLBC property. NVBLC has to move to a new location.
March 2018
Club Executive and CNV staff start design of new artificial greens and clubhouse.
2019
Bruce Murray named as new President
March 2020 - COVID-19 pandemic. Regular play at the club was cancelled. No membership fees were charged in 2020.
Limited practice and in-house games are permitted from July, under close scrutiny, to ensure member safety.
August 2020
Work started on the construction of two new artificial greens at the corner of 23rd and St Andrews, the new home location of the club. Building of the new clubhouse put on hold until a later date.
Club Presidents 1923 - 2022
1923/24 - Capt. R.A. Batchelor
1925 - W. Morden
1926 - J.R. Chapman
1927 - W.J. Robertson
1928 - R.L. Elliott
1929 - H.C. Wright
1930 - Alex Milne
1931 - Syd Gisby
1932 - D McMillan
1933 - F.S. Woodman
1934 - J.W. Henderson
1935 - Harold Cockrill
1936 - A.D. Maclnnes
1937 - R.L. Williams
1938 - J. Chapman
1939 - J. Loutet
1940 - G. Jones
1941 - W. Peters
1942 - J. Wardlaw
1943 - C.H. Lambert
1944 - R.S. Wright
1945 - A. Stewart
1946 - S.C. Gardiner
1947 - J. Elliott
1948 - R.D. Handling
1949 - J.A. White
1950 - G.B. Robertson
1951 - A. Hewett
1952 - J.S. Terry
1953 - W. Tompkins
1954 - R. Dunne
1955 - D. Mitchell
1956 - Jack Dalton
1957 - H. Sibbald
1958 - H. Woodward
1959 - G. Stringer
1960 - G. Meldrum
1961 - G. Henderson
1962/63 - J. Gault
1964 - D. Humphreys
1965 - T. Cousins
1966 - C. Dawson
1967 - A. Martinson
1969 - G. Seivewright
1970 - P. Milner
1971 - G. Saunders
1972/73 - Art Jones
1974/75 - Doug McDonald
1976 - Bob Scullion
1977 - Don Pollitt
1978 - Len Lebeter
1979 - Roy Blain
1980 - Dick Nelan
1981 - Norm Hunter
1982/83 - Graham Drew
1984 - Ron Clark
1985 - Jack Finchett
1986/87 - Bob Labron
1988 - Murray Cardno
1989 - Jack Bunting
1990 - Audrey Brown
1991 - Ian Leman
1992 - Henry Bellhouse
1993 - Cathy Jeanes
1994-97 - George Blaker
1998 - Peter Moffat
1999/00 - Isobelle Houston
2001-05 - George Blaker
2006-08 - Bob Gandy
2009/10 - Dave Davey
2011-13 - Nannely Lawson
2014-19 - Harry Carruthers
2020 - Bruce Murray
2023 - Pat McKenzie