1987
In May, we were very fortunate to have Palmer and Dorothy Vea from
Santa
Barbara come to Oxnard to give instruction in lawn bowling. This
wonderful
start for the Oxnard Greens was through the untiring efforts of
Recreation
Supervisor, Karen Burnham and Oxnard- Joslyn Lawn Bowls Club members
Ralph
Ecton and Angel Ochoa.
On
August 8, Ralph
F. Ecton was elected the first President of the Club. The
Oxnard team
won 3rd place in the Senior Olympics. There were 28
members.
Written by Marie Ecton
1988
Ralph F. Ecton was reelected President of the Club.
On
January 9, our
Club placed 6th
in the Senior Olympics.
There were 43
members.
Written by Marie
Ecton
1989
Angel Ochoa was elected President. On
April 26, Angel
and Ralph Ecton
went
to the Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting to explain that we
needed
a Club House.
We
entered the Gold
Coast League along with Cambria. Santa Barbara, Mackenzie
Park and Santa Maria. We placed 4th.
Our
Club placed 1st
in the Senior Olympics.
We
received the
first of ten like checks for $11,044.25 from the Marcellus
L. Joslyn Foundation. There were 52
members.
Written by Marie Ecton
1990
Angel Ochoa was reelected. Meetings
were held discussing the Club House. The Oxnard team won third place in
the Gold Coast
League. We placed 1st and 3rd in the Senior Olympics. We received our
2nd check for $11,044.25
from
the Marcellus L. Joslyn Foundation. By the end of 1990, there were 57
members.
Written by Marie Ecton
1991
Jess Sportelli was elected President. Several meetings
were held discussing the Club House. Our
team won 3rd
place in the Gold Coast League. We
placed 1st in
the Senior Olympics. The
3rd check was
received for $11,044.25. We
had 53 members.
Written by Marie Ecton
1992
Earl Kersey was elected President. The
Restroom/Shelter Facility was approved in August, to be completed
in 10 months. We
again placed
3rd in the Gold Coast League. Our
Club placed
2nd in the Senior Olympics. The
fourth check
for $11,044.25 was received. There were 63
members.
Written by Marie Ecton
1993
Earl Kersey was reelected President.
The
final
configuration of the Club House/Recreation Building was established
and included more than the Restroom! Shelter concept.
The
Ralph Ecton
Memorial Tournament was held on August 18, in memory of
Ralph who passed away in April, 1992. The Oxnard team won first place.
The
tournament will be held each year.
We
again won 3rd
place in the Gold Coast League.
The
Oxnard team
placed 2nd in the Senior Olympics.
Our
Club received
the 5th check for $11,044.25 from the Foundation.
There
were 57 members.
Written by Marie Ecton
1994
Rob Hutton was elected President.
Under
the able
direction of Recreation Supervisor Laura Mosqueda, the
Club House/Recreation Building bid was awarded by City Council on
January
11.
May
10, was ground
breaking for the Club House and it was completed on
December 2nd.
The
Ralph Ecton
Memorial Tournament was played and Oxnard placed 2nd.
For
the 1st year
our team placed 2nd in the Gold Coast League.
We
took 2nd in the
Senior Olympics.
We
received our 6th
check for $11,044.25 from the Marcellus L. Joslyn
Foundation. We
had 65 members.
Written by
Marie Ecton
1995
Rob Hutton was reelected President. The dedication of the new Club
House-Wilson
Recreation Building was January 31, 1995. It is a beautiful building
and
will be used as a Club House by the Oxnard-Joslyn Lawn Bowlers also
other
City of Oxnard Personnel will be holding events there as well. We have
been
told it is the nicest Club House in the Southwest Division.
The
City of Oxnard
paid $167,800.00 and the Oxnard-Joslyn Lawn Bowls Club
members paid $46,079.00. The Club also donated an additional $6,465.00
to
complete and improve the inside of the building, including purchasing
appliances,
office equipment, storage units, tables and chairs. The 1440 square
foot
building was started May 11, 1994. The building includes an all purpose
room,
kitchen, office, storage and two bathrooms.
The
first Novice
Tournament was held this year. Adam Woznicki won first
place.
Our
Gold Coast
League placed fourth.
Edith
Dowsing, Bill
Taschek and Marilyn Taschek placed second in the Ralph
Ecton Memorial Tournament.
The
Oxnard-Joslyn
Lawn Bowling Club team placed third in the Senior Olympics.
We
received our 7th
check for $11,044.25 from the Marcellus L. Joslyn
Foundation.
At
the end of the
year, there were 91 members.
Written by Marie Ecton
1996
Marie Ecton was elected President for this year.
We
publicized our
Club with Secure Horizons as a benefit to health, and
many new people came for scheduled lessons in February and March, with
several
Club members serving as teachers.
With
greatly
increased use, the condition of the green deteriorated. Despite
efforts of the members who volunteered to ameliorate the problem, we
had
to suspend bowling during part of April and all of May. A green
renovator
contracted with us to solve the problem for $3300.00. The green
reopened
for play in June.
An
auxillary
building for our equipment was completed by June.
Our
President,
Marie Ecton was seriously ill twice during Spring and Summer,
and Vice President Bill Taschek took over her duties in her absence.
In
November, 1996,
Marie Ecton and Amador Martinez met with Jocelyn Salas
and the Senior Services Team to discuss some financial assistance from
the
City of Oxnard to hire Amador Martinez as greenskeeper. Amador had
maintained
the green four years with volunteer help who could no longer help. The
City
took it under advisement.
The
Oxnard team
placed fourth in the Gold Coast League. Many
"fun
tournaments" were held during the year for our Club members.
Our
Club placed
first in the Senior Olympics.
We
received our
eighth check for $11,044.25 from the Marcellus L. Joslyn
Foundation.
By
the end of the
year, there were 117 members on the roster.
Written by Fylis Robertson
1997
Armand Esclante was elected President.
After
much
discussion and input from everyone (finance, budget officer,
etc.) the Senior Services came to a conclusion concerning Amador
Martinez
being placed on the City payroll as the Greenskeeper for our Club. The
pay
will start in January 1997. The amount will be $6,000.00 a year - $3500
from
Lawn Bowls and $2,500 from Senior Services budget (97/98). We
placed second in
the Gold Coast League.
The
fifth Ralph
Ecton Memorial Tournament was played. The team of Amador
Martinez, Rob Hutton, and Earl Kersey placed third.
Amador
Martinez,
Rob Hutton, and Earl Kersey won the silver medals in
the Senior Games.
We
held the "fun
tournaments" throughout the year.
The
Club received
the ninth check for $11,044.25 from the Marcellus L.
Joslyn Foundation.
By
the end of the
year, the Club had 102 members.
Written by Marie Ecton
1998
Ed Otoupalik was elected President.
The
Club acquired a
new flag pole and flag. Installation was done by Ed
Otoupalik and Bill Taschek.
The
Gold Coast
League was tied for third place with Santa Barbara.
The
sixth Ralph
Ecton Tournament was played. Edith Dowsing, Audrey Barnden
and Anita Delfs won sixth place.
The
team of Ron
Russo, Bill Scott and Wilma Redard won the gold medals
in the Senior Games.
"Fun
tournaments"
were held throughout the year.
The
Club received
our last gift for $11,044.25 from the Marcellous L.
Joslyn Foundation.
The
Club had 90
members by the end of the year.
Written by Marie Ecton
1999
Amador Martinez was elected President.
This
year the City
of Oxnard set up funding to replace the rotting backboards
on the lawn bowls green. The funding established was about $25,000.
The
Gold Coast team
tied 2nd/3rd with MacKenzie Park.
The
seventh Ralph
Ecton Memorial Tournament was played. First place team
was Moses Rachemaninoc, David Hallman and Doris Sneddon.
The
bronze medals
for the Senior Games were won by the team of Amador
Martinez, Ed Otoupalik and Ron Russo.
"Fun
tournaments"
were held throughout the year.
The
Ways and Means
committee chairman, Bob Bond, held the first garage
sale at his home. There were many volunteers to help. The Club made
$602.75.
Bob Bond had surgery so Marie Ecton, co-chairman, had the second sale
at
the Club parking lot. We had many Club members to volunteer. The Club
made
$552.00.
We
had 84 members
at the end of the year.
Written by Marie Ecton
2000
Amador Martinez was re-elected President.
In
April of 2000 a
plan was proposed to replace the wooden backboards
with a neoprene faced concrete curb. The Parks Department decided on an
alternate
plan to use "Structural Plastic Lumber". This new technical approach
was
welcomed by our Club as a very good and workable plan.
This
year the City
hired Roy Martinez to clean the bathrooms. The club
members were all very pleased.
The
Gold Coast
League placed 2nd this year.
The
eighth Ralph
Ecton Tournament was played. The first place team was
Barry Pickup, Tom Dion and Emily Jaquez.
The
Senior Games
were played. The silver medals were won by Amador Martinez,
Armand Escalante and Pauline Escalante. "Fun
tournaments"
were played throughout the year.
Doris
Sneddon and
Emily Jaquez placed second in the fifth flight at the
AWLBA National Open. Amador Martinez placed first in the third flight
at
the ALBA National Open.
The
Ways and Means
committee chairman, Dave Jones, held the third garage
sale at his home. Many volunteers were present to help. The Club made
$430.00.
The
Club had 83
members at the end of the year.
Written by Marie Ecton
2001
Officers elected were: Ken
Barrabee President, Diane
Edging Vice President, Dave
Jones Secretary and Rosalie
Hutton Treasurer. Board
members elected were Lee Combs, Edith Dowsing, Marie Ecton, George Love
and Pat Pollock. ALBA
and AWLBA, Lawn Bowling's national
organizations, merged. Merger of the men's and women's group of The
Southwest Division does not seem to be imminent. Visitations
with Santa Barbara, McKenzie, Friendly Valley and Santa Maria were
scheduled on a home and away basis. After
many months of planning and with
all the city requirements met, a contract was signed to replace the
disintegrating backboards. The City of Oxnard contributed $27,000 and
the club contributed $9,400. for this project. We lost a month of
bowling during construction, but the final results were excellent. Bill
Taschek headed up this effort.
A
bridge group was formed to play once a week in the clubhouse.
Marie
Ecton, active in many positions
within the club since its inception, resigned her duties for health
reasons. Marie was subsequently voted an Honorary Club Membership in
recognition of her services.
New
name tags were ordered and
distributed to members with five or more years tenure. Each tag
included the year the member first joined. We hope to continue this
custom as each member reaches their fifth year of membership.
“Fun
Tournaments” were played throughout the year.
A
very successful garage sale was held on Oct. 6 at Dave Jones' house.
The club netted $900.
Our
oldest member, Fran Biddle, passed away at the age of 90. Memorial
donations of $750. were made to the club in Fran's name.
As
of April 1, 2001 we had 78 active and associate members.
Written by Ken Barrabee
2002
Officers elected were: Ken
Barrabee President, Diane
Edging Vice President, Dixie
Tennow Secretary and Dave
Jones Treasurer.
Board
members elected were Lee Combs, Edith Dowsing, Sal Mollo, Beth Ross and
Pat Pollock.
January
16th
was a very exciting
day as the Olympic torch was
carried down “C” Street past our club.
Our
annual Oxnard Triples and Ralph Ecton Tournaments were successfully run
by Amador Martinez.
Fun
Tournaments on St. Patrick's Day,
Fourth of July, Labor Day and Halloween were run by Sal Mollo. Support
of these activities was terrific, and they were anxiously anticipated
by all the members.
Harry
Saperstein contributed funds to
help cover the cost of flyers inviting prospective bowlers to a two day
open house. The flyers were distributed in 35,000 utility bills
throughout The City of Oxnard. Through the efforts of Dave Jones and
many others 25 people signed up for lessons and subsequently became
members.
Amador
Martinez and his son, Roy,
continued their outstanding work in maintaining the bowling green.
Amador
and Roy
became city
employees and the Club reimburses the city
for a substantial portion of their wages.
On
November 11th
we had a
special tribute to veterans. All members were asked to bring a photo of
themselves in their “younger” years. Many oh's, ahs
and laughs were
heard as we tried to identify our friends.
Saturday
morning and Sunday afternoon
bowling were added to our schedule to accommodate members who are still
working. Saturday seems very popular with many of the weekday bowlers
also in attendance, but Sunday has been slow to develop.
Membership at the end of 2002
was 96 which included 12 Associate and Honorary
Members.
Written by Ken Barrabee
2003
Harry Saperstein celebrated his 90th birthday at the clubhouse during a
party given by his family. Club members were invited to join the
celebration. Harry just gets better with time. Hope we can celebrate
number 100 together.
The club was the subject of a major article in the Star Newspaper. The
article focused very favorably on the club and its many activities. We
sure enjoyed the publicity and the several new members that it brought
us.
Our quarterly Newsletter was started in early 2003 by the outstanding
work of our editor, Joseph Whittaker. With contributions from the
members, he hasn’t missed a deadline yet.
Norm Palladino established a website that includes everything you would
ever want to know about the club. Current events are posted within 24
to 48 hours accompanied by pictures and all the latest dirt. Thanks for
your hard work, Norm.
A full schedule of visitations took place through the fine efforts of
Ron Zenone. Visits were made to Santa Barbara, MacKenzie Park, Santa
Maria, Holmby Park and Friendly Valley. Each of these clubs made a
return visit to our green in Oxnard.
Once again Sal Mollo organized a series of holiday fun tournaments that
were well attended. Lunch was provided for all participants. Events
were held on Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July,
Labor Day
and Halloween.
Our Gold Coast League team, headed by Raul Perez, won the league
championship. Representing the league, they won the Waterbury
All-League
Championship that was bowled at the Sun City Lawn Bowls Club. This was
a first for the Oxnard team. CONGRATULATIONS to all who participated.
Club championships (men’s and women’s singles and
doubles, novice
singles,
mixed triples, et al) were conducted throughout the year. Diane
Edging did a great job organizing these events. First place winners
were:
Singles:
Men:
Charlie Ciummo
Women:
Rosalie Hutton
Doubles:
Men: Armand
Escalante and George
Love
Women: Doris Sneddon and Pauline Escalante
Novice Singles:
Men: Bill
Livingston
Women:
Paula Sharpe
Mixed Triples:
George Love,
Lee Coombs and Dick Doyle
Vet-Novice Pairs: Amador Martinez and
Norm Palladino
Our annual Christmas Party took place on Friday, December 5th at the
clubhouse. The catered lunch, which followed our regular bowling, was a
huge success with over 60 members and guests in attendance.
Our president, Dave Jones, gave
awards to a number of members who made
special contributions during the year.
Written by Dave Jones
2004
The year started off with Dave Jones
continuing as
president, Ron
Zenone as vice president. Bill Livingston and Bert Kessler continued as
secretary and treasurer. 91 members had signed up for the year and
several new
members joined through the year.
One highlight or maybe lowlight was the poor condition of the green.
primarily around the outer perimeter. In March, greenskeeper, Amador
Martinez, Roy Martinez and many members removed 1500 square feet of sod
and replaced
this with sand and new sod. The green was down for several weeks when
the process occurred.
The Oxnard Triples Tournament was renamed the Amador Martinez Triples
to honor Amador for all his contributions to tournament play and
efforts on the green maintenance. The event occurred on May 8. Winners
of the event were
Barry Pickup, Ton Dion and Norm Wiles. The green did not recover well
and so subsequently the club canceled the Ecton Tournament and Gold
Coast Tournament play
at our green.
Visitations are popular club events and under the direction of Ron
Zenone nine occurred during the year with our club journeying to five
clubs and we reciprocating. One enjoyable event was a visit by the Mann
Park Bowling
Club from British Columbia. Thirty-five Canadians joined us in Sept. on
a great day - good bowling, good lunch and great fellowship.
Our Gold Coast League team, under the leadership of Raul Perez, played
in all of the scheduled events, but the club was not as successful as
last year when they won the District Championship. This year they
placed 4th.
Fun events were under the chairmanship of Sal Mollo, who headed up
these events for the two prior years. They were great as usual, with
interesting games, SPIDERS, and great luncheons.
The board recommended, and the CLUB membership approved, making Angel
Ochoa an Honorary Member and he was given a certificate to show
appreciation of his many contributions to the club.
Special CLUB celebrations were held: To honor Edith Dowsing and Jimmie
McVey on their birthdays; Past President, Earl Kersey, and his wife,
Ellen, on their move to Oregon; Ken and Libby Barrabee on their 50th
anniversary. Bill
& Marilyn Taschek hosted a Mixed Australian Pairs Club
Tournament
in celebration of their 55th anniversary and presented each participant
with a towel
embroidered with a kangaroo and "2004 Australian Pairs".
Early in fall the club, with the city’s cooperation, sought
the means
to replace our current natural grass green with artificial. This
process is still ongoing.
On a sad note, four members (Harry Saperstein, Charlie Ciummo, Marie
Ecton and Paul Whittaker) passed away during the year. Harry Saperstein
and Marie Ecton’s families hosted memorial services at the
club
and
Harry
bequeathed $20,000 to the club.
In November, elections were held and Ron Zenone was elected president
and Bob Smith vice president. Bill Livingston and Bert Kessler
continued as secretary and treasurer.
Written by Dave Jones
2005
Ron Zenone was elected President, Bob Smith Vice President, Bill
Livingston Secretary and Bert Kessler
Treasurer. The Board of Directors consisted of Armand Escalante, Ken
Barrabee, Doris Sneddon, Sal Mollo and
Norm Palladino.
The club ended the year with 76 members, 65 regular (35men & 30
women), 7 associate and 4 honorary.
The condition and expense of maintaining the green was still a growing
problem. Ron Zenone, Bob Smith and Amador Martinez had several meetings
with Oxnard city officials, including Mayor Holden, about replacing our
grass green with artificial turf at a cost of approximately $100,000.
In October, we were told that the City was committed to our getting the
artificial turf and they were seeking the funding for it. Club members
had pledged $55,000 for the turf if we needed it.
Despite a very rainy first 3 months of the year with 40 days of rain,
we did have many good tournaments at the
Club including the Amador Martinez Triples in May which was won by
Neville Sacks and Anne Barber of the
Beverly Hills Club and Brian Studwell of Holmby Hills. Our Oxnard team
of Amador Martinez, Armand
Escalante and Randolf Wollgiehn came in 2nd.
In August we hosted the Ecton Triples and our team of Amador Martinez,
Armand Escalante and Bert Kessler came in 2nd. Lost by one point.
Doris Sneddon’s team was runner up in the 2nd flight of the
2005 U.S National Open Women’s Fours in
September. Doris was also a runner up in the Women’s Pairs
with Eileen Morton from Santa Barbara in the 3rd
Flight and was runner up in the Women’s Singles 3rd Flight.
Amador Martinez won the 6th Flight of the SWD
Men’s Pairs with Stan Bloom from Santa Barbara.
Other Club Tournament winners were:
Mixed Triples: Armand Escalante, Randolf Wollgiehn, Pauline
Escalante
Men’s Singles: David Rankin
Men’s Pairs: Armand Escalante & Hans Mehner
Vet Novice: Armand Escalante & Mark Volkov
Women’s Singles: Diane Edging
Mixed Novices: Jordan Austin
Novice Men: Jordan Austin.
Bob Smith did a terrific job of setting up wonderful visitations of
which 5 were away and 3 were at our Club.
We were at Holmby Park, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, MacKenzie Park, and
Friendly Valley. We entertained
MacKenzie Park, Holmby Park and Friendly Valley at our Club. Great food
& fun all around.
Gold Coast team under the supervision of Raul Perez placed 2nd in the
league.
Sal Mollo did an excellent job of recruiting by setting up displays at
the Pacific View Mall in March and the Ocean View Pavillion in June
which got us 6 new members.
Norm Palladino continued to do an incredible job maintaining and
updating our website.
The club By-Laws were rewritten by a committee headed by Bill
Livingston and including Bob Smith, Armand
Escalante and Bert Kessler. The committee labored for about 20 hours
within 2 months to simplify and clarify the
Club’s By-Laws. The committee also devised a Policies and
Procedures document that made it easier for the
Board to make changes without general approval.
We had 6 exciting fun events (Presidents Day, Earth Day, Memorial Day,
Independence Day, Labor-Less Day, Halloween and Xmas Party) of which
Pinky Palladino was in charge with the help of 5 other event directors.
The most memorable was the September 5th Labor-Less Day when we were
not allowed to wear all whites. The penalty was you had to sing for
your lunch if you did wear all whites. Well we got to hear Becky Turner
and Armand Escalante sing. After that I don’t think we
enjoyed lunch too much. Halloween we were treated to a
“sumptuous lunch” mastered by Ken Barrabee and
Pinky Palladino. There were 5 different kinds of chili and lots of
other goodies plus many wonderful costumes and prizes. The Ventura
County Star came and took photos of our costumed bowlers and published
a half page article about us in their Monday Oct 31st edition.
Christmas we had a FABULOUS FESTIVE FEAST. Ken
“HAMMED” it
up as usual with tremendous help from Pinky Palladino and Dixie Tennow,
There were 60 members partaking of sumptuous side dishes, contests,
swapping gifts etc. The Laser Level won first prize as the most wanted
gift. Lots of fun!
All the current Officers were re-elected for 2006 and Sandy Rankin and
Jordan Austin replaced Doris Sneddon and Ken Barrabee on the Board of
Directors.
Sadly we had 5 Club members pass away in 2005. They were Paul
Whittaker, Rob Hutton, Bill O’Brien, Bill Scott and Fylis
Robertson. We also lost former members Ed Otoupalik and Bob Bond.
If you ever want to know how to fall off a ladder and break your ankle
in 10 places speak to Dave Jones. Dave was in a 6 month recovery
session in a wheelchair.
Written by Ron Zenone
2006
Ron Zenone was elected President, Bob Smith Vice President, Bill
Livingston Secretary and Bert Kessler Treasurer. The new
Board of
Directors consisted of Armand Escalante, Sandy Rankin, Jordan Austin,
Sal Mollo and Norm Palladino.
The club ended the year with 82 members, 71 regular (39men & 32
women), 6 associate and 5 honorary.
A special Club celebration was held to honor Edith Dowsing on her 90th
birthday. Many of her family members attended.
The condition and expense of maintaining the green continued to be a
problem. Ron Zenone, Bob Smith and Amador Martinez had several meetings
with Oxnard city officials and prospective contractors about replacing
our grass green with artificial turf. We believe that the City is
committed to our getting the artificial turf.
We again had many good tournaments at the Club including the Amador
Martinez Triples in May which was won by Houdini Ho, Kay Tong and Frank
Tang from the Alhambra LBC. The Ecton Triples Tournament had to be
cancelled this year.
Club Member Tournament winners were:
Mixed Triples: Armand Escalante, Bob Smith, Pauline Escalante
Men’s Singles: David Rankin
Men’s Pairs: Raul Perez & Bert Kessler
Women's Pairs: Maryilyn Taschek & Jane Brewster
Vet Novice Pairs: Wes Johnson & Doug Dow
Women’s Singles: Ann Johnson
Mixed Novices Singles: David Rankin
Novice Men's Singles: Doug Dow
Novice Women's Singles: Sharon Gibson
Bob Smith again did a terrific job of setting up visitations.
Gold Coast team under the supervision of Bert Kessler placed 1st in the
league.
Sal Mollo again did an excellent job of recruiting with a mass-mailing
in the City's Utility bill resulting in an Open House at the Club. This
brought many new prospects to the Club for lessons
Norm Palladino continued to do an excellent job maintaining our website
and took on the additional task publishing the Club Newsletter.
We had 6 exciting fun events (Valentine's Day, Fabulous 50's, the
Club's 20th Anniversary, Independence Day, Labor Day and Halloween).
Pinky Palladino was in charge with the help of some event directors.
The club had an interesting CPR and AED training program. The training
was presented by Bob Ashley, a resident of Ventura and active member of
the LAFD. Everyone seemed to think it was very worthwhile. The members
from the club that received the training were: Sal Mollo, Ron and Pat
Zenone, Bob and Carol Smith, Raul Perez, J.W. Wilkes, Dave Jones, Bill
and Pat Livingston and Dick Gibson.
The club again held its annual Christmas Party, but broke tradition and
had our party at the Edgewood Banquet Center. Approximately 70 attended
including three from the Oxnard City Senior Center.
All current Officers were re-elected for 2007 and Dick Gibson, Ray
Anderson and Pinky Palladino replaced Sandy Rankin, Sal Mollo and Norm
Palladino on the Board of Directors.
Sadly, Irene Davy a long-time and beloved member passed away in 2006.
And, Jimmy and Jean McVey have moved out of the area but continue to
pay the visits to the Club frequently.
Dave Jones started bowling again after a very long period of recovery
from an unfortunate fall which severly broke bones in his ankle. We
were all glad to see him back bowling.
Written by Ron Zenone