At or about this date a committee was formed to approach The County Council and appeal to them to allow the club
to use a portion of their grounds as a basis on which to commence our club activities. The delegation received unanimous approval and granted the grounds on the Graham Street side of the County Court House.
The first meeting of the Woodstock Bowling and Lawn Tennis
Club was held at The Molson’s Bank, the S.E corner of Dundas
St. and Perry St. The first club executive consisted of the following:
President – James Canfield
Vice-President – D.W. Karn
Secy. Treasurer – W.C. Rhodes
Executive Committee – A.E. Longmore, C.W. McCuaig,
C. E. Stewart, Dr. A. B. Welford, W. A. Grosset, F. Millman
Moved and passed to adopt the constitution & bylaws of the Canadian Lawn Tennis & Bowling Assoc.
The first mention of money was the sum of $150.00 to be used in putting the grounds in shape. The executive committee was authorized to purchase supplies, poles, nets etc. both for both clubs.
Costs they were working with: 7 cents a sq. yard – unsure what this was for, 25 cents per load of earth, $4.25 to scrape the surface of the green, level it and put the surface soil back in place.
The club was opened of June 19th, 1894. How they managed to get all this done in 3 months remains a mystery.
Club Dues
Membership fees were set at $5.00 per year and $2.50 for non-residents. The greens keeper received $11.00 per month.
Club Opening
June 19th the club opened and lemonade and ice cream was supplied by the club and served by the ladies, who also provided the necessary cakes.
Ladies
The ladies would have afternoon teas at the club but the rules stated they were not to be elaborate affairs – lemonade or tea or both and bread and butter and cake were all that were to be served.
First Inter City Match
The club was closed August 10th and 11th so as to prepare
the grounds for at match with Brantford. 4 chairs were purchased
for the referees of the tennis courts. No records were found for
the results of that day.
General Information
The first borrowing of the club was arranged on September 24th 1894 in the amount of $200.00. Benches were purchased for the club
1895 to 1900
Minor changes only, a roller was purchased for $25.00
Patronesses were elected – Mrs. H. J. Finkle, S. B Fuller
W. Higgins, D. W. Karn, J. White.
The Club joined W.O.B.A. (Western Ontario Bowling
Association).
There was close co-operation between the Lawn Bowling Club, Lawn Tennis Club and Curling Club. Curling was done on the same grounds.
1900 – 1925
A Chaplain was added to the roster – Rev. R. B. Cochrane –
apparently some members needed some spiritual guidance.
The club won their first trophy(1919) O.B.A. Skip A. N. Longstreet,
Fred Karn, Alex Watson and lead Dr. Weston Krupp.
The word tennis was dropped from the name.
Dr. Krupp wet to Britain as part of the Canadian team.
1926 – 1952
Too many changes to mention.
In 1952 the search for new facilities as the county advised that they were building a
new Registry office and the club would have to move. The current site was chosen and
the lease was arranged.
Mr. P. L. Canfield donated the lumber for the new club house and Dr. Krupp advised that he would match dollar for dollar what the membership raised for the new facilities.
1955
July 20 1955 the new club opened.
More About the Woodstock Lawn Bowling Club
Throughout the years the club has had many members who have gone on to become not just club and provincial champions but Canadian, British Empire, American Lawn Bowling Association and World Champions.
Just to mention a few who have been excellent ambassadors for the Woodstock Lawn Bowling Club, and in no specific order:
Dr. Weston Krupp Mr. Roy A. Bigham Jack and June Bell Dr. J. J. Williams Dr. Jupp and the list goes on. I cannot list them all!
I wish I could list all the names that have paid such a part in the growth of the club. Names that show up such as Canfield, Awde, Harrington, Karn. Families that got into the sport for several generations.
This club has played host to teams from Britain, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia dating back to the early 1900’s and onward.
The Woodstock club has been widely known for quality of greens and willing and generous hosts to the Lawn Bowling Fraternity. Hosting District, Provincial, Canadian and World Championships.