HISTORY OF OXNARD-JOSLYN LAWN BOWLS CLUB

1986

The Oxnard-Joslyn Lawn Bowls Green was dedicated March 21, with the combined efforts of the City of Oxnard and a grant from the Marcellus L. Joslyn Foundation for $40,000. Alex Mackie was the first President Pro Tem. The Oxnard team won first place in the Senior Olympics. There were 15 members.

        Written by Marie Ecton

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

2007

The Officers were:  Ron Zenone-President, Bob Smith-Vice Pres., Bill Livingston/Norm Palladino-Secretary, Bert Kessler-Treasurer.
The Board of Directors were: Armand Escalante, Jordan Austin, Dick Gibson, Ray Anderson and Pinky Palladino.

Note: Ron Zenone became too busy with his duties on the Ventura County Grand Jury so starting July 1st Vice Pres. Bob Smith took over the day to day operation of the Club as Acting President.

Note: Bill and Pat Livingston moved to Santa Rosa to be nearer to their family leaving a vacancy for Secretary.  The Board appointed Norm Palladino to fill the unexpired term of Secretary.

The Club ended the year with about 75 members.

Due to the poor condition of the green,  in February it was decided we would limit our bowling to only two days a week, Wednesday and Saturday. To fill the time several of the members played horseshoes at the horseshoe pits adjacent to the green.  We learned that throwing horseshoes doesn't improve your lawn bowling game.  

Once again Amador Martinez organized the two SWD Tournaments we sponsor each year.  On April 14th we held the Amador Martinez Triples Tournament.  It was won by the team of Jim Morton, Bud Viard and Bob Smith.  On July 14th we held the Ralph and Marie Ecton Memorial Triples Tournament.  This was won by the team of Barry Pickup, Bud Viard and Tom Dion.  Both tournaments were well attended and the food was delicious.

There were 8 In-Club Tournaments organized by Jordan Austin.  Following are the tournaments and the winners.
  03-02  Novice Singles - Rich Purcell
  03-31  Vet - Novice Pairs - Doris Sneddon and Sharon Gibson
  04-30  Mixed Novice - Dick Gibson
  06-15  Men's Pairs - Armand Escalante and Doug Dow
  08-29  Mixed Triples - Armand Escalante, Doug Dow and Doris Sneddon
  09-28  Men's Singles - Doug Dow
  11-02  Women's Singles - Patty Berry
  12-14  Mixed Pairs - Armand Escalante and Doris Sneddon

The Gold Coast League was handled by Bert Kessler for Oxnard.

Visitations were organized by Bob Smith.  Around June Dick Gibson took over the duty for visitations with the help of Pinky Palladino.  Nine visitations took place at home and away with Holmby Park LBC, Santa Maria LBC, MacKenzie Park LBC, Santa Barbara LBC and Friendly Valley LBC.

Fun Day Events were organized by Pinky Palladino.  April 21 was International Day, May 18 was Military Day, July 4 was Independence Day, September 3 was Labor Day and October 31 was Halloween.  Each event was lots of fun and Pinky always showed lots of imagination with each of them.

Norm Palladino continued to do an excellent job maintaining the club website and club newsletter.

We finnished off the year with our Christmas party  which was organized by Rosalie Hutton  with the help of Pat Zenone.  It was held at the Wedgewood Banquet Center in Ventura.  About 70 members and guests attended.  Door prizes were handed out after the meal.

Written by Bob Smith

2008

The Officers were: Amador Martinez - President, Bob Smith - Vice Pres., Norm Palladino - Secretary, Bert Kessler - Treasurer.
The Board of Directore were: Jordan Austin, Armand Escalante, Dick Gibson, Hans Mehner and Pinky Palladino.

Sal Mollo was membership chairperson:  The club ended the year with 73 regular members, 4 associate members and 4 honorary members for a total of 81 members.

Improvements to the club this year were:
        1.  The City of Oxnard replaced our old plinth that was rotted and warped with new 4 x 8 pressure treated lumber.  This was much needed and will last for many years to come.
        2.  Bob and Carol Smith contributed 28 new folding chairs for the clubhouse.  The old chairs were hand-me-downs and were in poor condition.

The Gold Coast League was handled once again by Bert Kessler for Oxnard.  Our teams finished the league in third place.

Very sorry to report that we lost two of our very good friends this year.  Bill Taschek and Jim McVey both passed away.

There were 8 In-Club Tournaments organized by Jordan Austin.  Following are the tournaments and the winners.
        02/06  Mixed Novice Singles - Mike Newton
        03/17  Vet - Novice Pairs - Armand Escalante and Mike Newton
        04/30  Women's Pairs - Sharon Gibson and Juliet Watson
        05/28  Men's Pairs - Hans Mehner and Sal Mollo
        06/23  Mixed Triples - Raul Perez, Dick Gibson and Dixie Tennow/Edith Dowsing
        07/30  Men's Singles - Jordan Austin
        08/27  Women's Singles - Juliet Watson
        10/03  Mixed Pairs - Wes and Ann Johnson

Fun Day Events were organized by Joe and Gloria Brown.  They were: 02/13 Valentine Fun Event, 03/19 Hawaiian Day Fun Event, 05/23 Military Day Fun Event, 07/02 Independence Day Fun Event, 09/01 Laborless Day Fun Event, 10/31 Halloween Fun Event.  The games were played by non-standard lawn bowling rules to add a different element to the games.  The food that Joe and Gloria prepared was delicious and the decorations were fantastic.

Pinky Palladino did all the organizing for the visitations for the year.   Nine visitations took place at home and away with Holmby Park LBC, Santa Maria LBC, MacKenzie Park LBC, Santa Barbara LBC and Friendly Valley LBC.
       
Once again Amador Martinez organized the two SWD Tournaments we sponsor each year.  On April 26th we held the Amador Martinez Triples Tournament.  We had a full green with 16 teams participating.  On July 5th we held the Ralph and Marie Ecton Memorial Triples Tournament.  Even with the holiday we still had 12 teams participating.  Our own team of Amador Martinez, Armand Escalante and Doris Sneddon took first place.

The club held its annual Christmas Party December 3rd.  We had our party at the Wedgewood Banquet Center in Ventura again this year.  Approximately 67 members and guests attended.  At the conclusion, a drawing for gifts was held.  We owe our thanks to Rosalie Hutton and Dixie Tennow for organizing the event.

Written by Bob Smith

2009

Elections were held for Officers and Board Members:
        Officers were: Bert Kessler - President, Sal Mollo - Vice President, Barbara Parkhurst - Secretary, Dina Bongiovanni - Treasurer.
        Board Members were: Joe Brown, Gloria Brown, Doug Dow, Dick Gibson and Richard Purcell.

The club had a party for Edith Dowsing and Ron Hines who were celebrating their 90 plus years birthdays.

Very sorry to report that we lost three of our very good friends this year.  Lee Combs, Jacob Ziv and Norm Palladino.  Norm was our very good webmaster for the club website as well as publisher for the club newsletter.  They will all be missed.

Doug Dow stepped in to take over the duties of webmaster for the club website and did a very good job.  We were fortunate because Doug had some previous webmaster experience.  Bob Smith later took over the webmaster position and worked diligently bringing it up to date as well as publishing the club newsletter.

Gloria Brown was membership chairperson.  We ended the year with about 75 regular members plus several associate and honorary members.

Eileen Morton from the Santa Barbara LBC and Bert Kessler started a Novice League involving the Oxnard, Santa Barbara and MacKenzie Park Lawn Bowls Clubs.  About 8 new members from Oxnard participated in 3 tournaments in the summer.  It seemed to work out well with most of those members becoming more active in our daily and weekly competitions.

The Gold Coast League was handled once again by Bert Kessler for Oxnard.  There were 9 days of competition.  Santa Maria didn't participate.  MacKenzie Park LBC added two extra teams to keep the schedule going. Our teams finished the league in third place.

Once again Amador Martinez organized the two SWD Tournaments we sponsor each year.  On April 26th we held the Amador Martinez Triples Tournament.  We had 14 teams participating.  2nd place was won by the team of Amador Martinez, Bert Kessler and Jordan Austin.  On August 22nd  we held the Ralph and Marie Ecton Memorial Triples Tournament.  Once again we  had 14 teams participating.  Our own team of Amador Martinez, Armand Escalante and Vince Sepich took 2nd place.

There were 9 In-Club Tournaments organized by Jordan Austin.  Following are the tournaments and the winners.
        02/25  Novice Singles - Jerry Overmyer
        03/25  Vet-Novice Pairs - Wes Johnson and Mike Newton
        05/11  Women's Pairs - Ann Johnson and Dina Bongiovanni
        06/15  Men's Pairs - Jordan Austin and Jerry Overmyer
        06/29  Mixed Triples - Armand Escalante, Juliet Watson and Conrad Bilodeau
        08/19  Men's Singles - Jerry Overmyer
        09/16  Women's Singles - Gloria Brown
        10/23  Mixed Pairs - Amador Martinez and Dixie Tennow
        11/16  Men's Triples - Raul Perez, Rich Purcell and Warren Stanhope/Conrad Bilodeau

Dick Gibson did all the organizing for the visitations for the year.   Eight visitations took place at home and away with Holmby Park LBC, Santa Maria LBC, MacKenzie Park LBC, Santa Barbara LBC and Friendly Valley LBC.

Fun Day Events were organized by Joe and Gloria Brown with the help of many others.  They were: 02/20 Valentine Fun Event, 05/22 Memorial Day, 07/03 Independence Day Fun Event, 09/04  Hawaiian Day Fun Event, 10/30 Halloween Fun Event.  The games were played by non-standard lawn bowling rules to add a different element to the games.  The food that Joe and Gloria prepared was delicious and the decorations were fantastic.

The club held its annual Christmas Party December 15th.  We had our party at the Wedgewood Banquet Center in Ventura again this year.  Approximately 48 members and guests attended.  At the conclusion, a drawing for gifts was held.  Sandy Rankin and Marie Moore did all the purchasing and wrapping of the gifts.  We owe our thanks to Rosalie Hutton and Joann Digneo for organizing the event.

Written by Doug Dow and Bob Smith


2010

2010 officers and board members
Rear L-R:  Warren Stanhope, Marie Moore, Gloria  and Joe Brown, Doug Dow
Front L-R:  Sal Mollo, Dick Gibson, Barbara Parkhurst, Vince Sepich

Elections were held for Officers and Board Members:
        Officers were: Joe Brown - President, Vince Sepich - Vice President, Barbara Parkhurst - Secretary, Marie Moore - Treasurer.
        Board Members were:  Gloria Brown, Doug Dow, Dick Gibson , Sal Mollo, Warren Stanhope.


Very sorry to report that we lost one of our very good friends this year.  Angel Ochoa passed away.  He was one of the very first club members and  was quite active for meny years. He will  be missed.

Gloria Brown was membership chairperson.  We ended the year with about 80 members including associate and honorary members.

The Gold Coast League was not active this year due to a shortage of available teams.

Once again Amador Martinez organized the two SWD Tournaments we sponsor each year.  On May 2nd we held the Amador Martinez Triples Tournament.  We had 16 teams participating.  First place was won by Armand Escalante, Richard Purcell and Mike Newton.   On August 22nd  we held the Ralph and Marie Ecton Memorial Triples Tournament.  Once again we  had 16 teams participating.  Oxnard didn't place in the top five winning teams.

There were 11 In-Club Tournaments organized by Jordan Austin.  Following are the tournaments and the winners.
        02/15  Mixed Novice Singles:  John Op de Coul
        04/02  Vet-Novice Pairs:  Bob Smith and Denny Ryan
        04/28  Women's Pairs:  Sandy Rankin and Beryl Feller
        05/10  Men's Novice Singles:  Denny Ryan
        06/07  Men's Pairs:  Doug Dow and Ray Anderson
        07/16   Mixed Triples:  Armand Escalante, Bob Smith and Sunny Glessner
        08/11  Men's Singles:  Joe Brown
        09/13  Women's Singles:  Gloria Brown
        09/24  Cutthroat:  Armand Escalante
        11/03   Mixed Pairs:  Armand Escalante, Dixie Tennor/Haji Cat
        11/19  Men's Triples:  Mike Newton, Jose Rodriquez and John Op de coul

Dick and Sharon Gibson did all the organizing for the visitations for the year.   Eight visitations took place at home and away with Holmby Park LBC,  MacKenzie Park LBC, Santa Barbara LBC and Friendly Valley LBC.

Fun Day Events were organized by Joe and Gloria Brown and our group from Thousand Oaks (Vince Sepich, John Op de Coul, Denny Ryan, Gregg Schrott  and Earl Watz) along  with the help of many others.  
        02/26   Valentine Day Fun Event
        03/17   St. Patricks Day Fun Event
        05/21   Memorial / Veterans Day Fun Event
        07/02   Independence Day Fun Event
        10/29   Halloween Fun Day  (Always fun with the many different costumes).

  The games were played by non-standard lawn bowling rules to add a different element to the games.  The food  was delicious and the decorations were fantastic.

The club held its annual Christmas Dinner Party December 16th.  We had our party at the Wedgewood Banquet Center in Ventura again this year.  Approximately 38 members and guests attended.  Rosalie Hutton took care of the banquet room reservations while Joe and Gloria Brown hired a D.J. to provide music and entertainment.


Written by  Bob Smith


2011

Board 2011
Rear L-R: Dick Gibson, Joe Brown, Vince Sepich, Doug Dow and Sal Mollo
Front L-R: Teri Komatsu, Marie Moore, Barbara Parkhurst and Gloria Brown

Elections were held for Officers and Board Members:
        Officers were: Joe Brown - President, Vince Sepich - Vice President, Barbara Parkhurst - Secretary, Marie Moore - Treasurer.
        Board Members were:  Gloria Brown, Doug Dow, Dick Gibson , Sal Mollo, Teri Komatsu.

Gloria Brown was membership chairperson.  We ended the year with  82 members including associate and honorary members.

The Gold Coast League was brought back to life this year but with a different format.  Oxnard and MacKenzie Park were the two participating clubs.  Each club fielded four triples teams and met for a total of eight times.  Games were played alternately at the two clubs for a total of eight play days.  The final standing was Oxnard 67 pts and MacKenzie Park 53 pts.  Oxnard formed two triples teams to go to the All League Waterbury tournament, however Oxnard was not lucky enough to place in the final standings.

Once again Amador Martinez organized the two SWD Tournaments we sponsor each year.  On April 4th  we held the Amador Martinez Triples Tournament.  We had 16 teams participating.  First place was won by Armand Escalante, Richard Purcell and Mike Newton just like in 2010.   On July 24th  we held the Ralph and Marie Ecton Memorial Triples Tournament.  Once again we  had 16 teams participating.  4th place was won by Amador Martinez, Joe Brown and Gloria Brown.

There were 11 In-Club Tournaments organized by Jordan Austin.  Following are the tournaments and the winners.
        01/17  Vet/Novice Pairs:  Raul Perez and John Op de Coul
        02/04  Mixed Novice Singles:  Sherry Creager
        02/28  Men's Novice Singles:  Jose Rodriquez
        04/04  Women's Pairs:  Sandy Rankin and Sunny Glessner
        05/11  Men's Pairs:  Joe  Brown and Sal Mollo
        07/08  Mixed Triples:  Sandy Rankin, Teri Komatsu and Tory Smith
        07/18  Men's Singles:  Amador Martinez
        08/15  Women's Singles:  Sherry Creager
        09/21  Mixed Pairs:  Jordan Austin and Doris Sneddon
        10/28  Men's Triples:  Doug Dow, Bob Smith and Mike Basler
        11/16  Cutthroat Tournament:  Doug Dow

Dick and Sharon Gibson did all the organizing for the visitations for the year.   Six visitations took place at home and away with Holmby Park LBC,  MacKenzie Park LBC, Santa Barbara LBC and Friendly Valley LBC.
        03/02  Oxnard at MacKenzie Park
        03/12  Oxnard at Holmby Park
        06/20  MacKenzie Park at Oxnard
        07/30  Holmby Park at Oxnard
        08/05  Friendly Valley at Oxnard
        08/30  Oxnard at Santa Barbara
        Note:  Two attempts were made to visit at Friendly Valley but were rained out both times.

Fun Day Events were organized by Joe and Gloria Brown, several of our members from Thousand Oaks, a group of our novices and another group of our long time members.
        02/14  Valentines Day
        03/18  Spring Festival
        05/27  Memorial/Military Fun Day
        07/01  Independence Day
        09/05  Labor Day
        10/31  Halloween
 The games were played by non-standard lawn bowling rules to add a different element to the games.  The food  was delicious and the decorations were fantastic.

The club held its annual Christmas Dinner Party December 15th.  We had our party at the Wedgewood Banquet Center in Ventura again this year.  Approximately 46 members and guests attended.   Joe and Gloria Brown took care of the banquet Hall reservations and  hired a D.J. to provide music and entertainment.

Written by Bob Smith