Barbara Harsant Memorial Day Sunday 8th August

The death of our President Barbara Harsant in August 2020 was made all the sadder by the fact that none of us could attend her funeral whilst we were in the grip of Covid 19. As we all gathered to ‘see her on her way’ as she came back to beloved club for the last time, we vowed to hold a memorial for her when things improved.

On Sunday 8th August 2021, we all gathered at the Club, firstly to play bowls, and then to enjoy a Cheese and Wine lunch together and remember our dear departed friend. Barbara’s son Neil, his wife Helen and daughter Amy joined us, along with some old friends who played with Barbara and her late husband Roy way back in the early days. It was great to have them back at our Club and great to see so many of our ‘senior’members reminiscing with them. Amongst the guests were two founder member s of SMBC , Jeannette and John Douglas, it was such a pleasure to welcome them in this our 50th Anniversary Year.

Chairman, Pam Pooley welcomed the guests and spoke fondly of Barbara and what she had meant to the Club and this was followed by words from our own Rt. Revd. David Carr. David summed up Barbara perfectly, a fun lady, who was also a very brave lady having lost not only her husband but also one of her sons.

Barbara was a presence and we shall never see her like again.

Now, in the words of Captain Mo Tuckett we had a great day bowling as well:-

Dressed in casual bright coloured clothes, and some with coloured blue hair, to highlight Barbara's sense of fun, the day commenced:-

We started off with a Spider, where we stand all around the green and simultaneously play a bowl towards the jack, whilst having one foot in the gutter. The person with their bowl nearest the jack at the end wins a prize. This was a bit of fun with some of us saying "my bowl was right on the jack until another bowl came and knocked it right out". The winner was Roy Sheridan. Cheers Roy.

This was followed by a triples Bonanza of 2 x 6 ends before the lunch. Afterwards we played the final six ends. The winning team was Bob Barnes (who at the last minute had stepped in for an injured Ken Osborne - to whom we wish a speedy recovery), Pat Sheridan and Doug Bott.

Thank you to all involved with this memorable day and to everyone who helped in some way to make it special for a very special lady. She would have loved it. God Bless you Barbara.