CREXIT
It has been all quiet in the blogosphere for some time. Either there has been nothing to report or
there has been nothing that could be reported.
In short, Dubbo City Croquet Club has upped hoops and moved
on. The upping of hoops was not of our
doing but the moving on has certainly been done under our own steam.
Members with longer memories than mine will swoop to correct
me but my grasp of these matters is as follows. There are records of croquet being played in
Dubbo and against neighbouring towns in the 1890’s, and of croquet being established
at the Dubbo City Bowling Club in 1906 with the lawns being laid down in
1908. The impetus for this effort seems
to have been altruistic in that the men bowlers wanted their women-folk to
enjoy the same benefits of companionship and sport.
It was not until 1921 that the Croquet Club was formally
established as a section of the Bowling Club.
Mrs T. D. Palmer was the inaugural president and held that position for
an unbroken thirty-three years. A clubhouse
for croquet was built alongside the bowling club, facing the two courts and
looking across Victoria Park to the fountain.
For almost a century this has been a venue of skilled play,
strong friendships and of aesthetic appeal.
Anniversaries have been observed at the usual chronological points as
well as – unusually – the ninety-fifth (reported elsewhere, click on the 95th Birthday tab above).
Although we had been looking towards our centennial bash,
events beyond our control and definitely beyond our influence – through no lack
of our own efforts – have led to our seeking another venue. A number of possibilities were investigated by the
executive, with consultation with the club’s membership, over the past
year and a half. Some of these were not
suitable, others were strong possibilities but financially beyond our reach,
and there were some potential solutions that fell into the “you’re dreaming!”
category.
In the meantime and unbeknownst to us, the Muller Park Tennis
Club had reached the point of closure.
MPTC is the successor of the Catholic Tennis Club which was established in
1924, and had long been a tower of strength in Dubbo’s considerable tennis
community and a pillar of support for oncology services support and – more
recently – for Camp Quality (https://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/5684151/muller-park-tennis-club-raises-thousands-more-for-camp-quality/) with fifty thousand dollars raised over the years.
After brief
negotiations, MPTS voted to include croquet as a sport to be played and
promoted at their site in Brisbane Street.
And so it came to pass.
The preparatory work of packing and sorting lead up to the
final move on Monday, 10th December, thanks to the efforts of
members (some were more able to be involved than others) and Michael of
‘Michael’s Moves’ (https://www.yellowpages.com.au/nsw/dubbo/michaels-moves-1000002082143-listing.html).
