The open day on Tuesday went off very well with 13 extra players turning up to bring the total to 41. We will have a full report in next week’s paper.

Saturday 26th March: 29 players for Aussie Croquet with 5 winners of 3 games: John Browne, Colleen Liebich, Joan Littlejohn, John Farah and Barry White.

Big Winners: 14—7 Joan Littlejohn and Jeff Liebich; 14—8 Colleen Liebich and Geoff Coles, Colleen Liebich and Neville Spry; 14—9 Marie Spry and John Browne, Elvy Quirk and Geoff Coles.

Close games: Kevin Rubie 14 – Lorraine Todd 13; Elvy Quirk and Bruce Field 14 – Anne and Harley Stewart 13; John Allegri and Bill Scott 14 – Lorraine Todd and Sandy Hepburn 12; Colleen Liebich and Bruce Field 14 – Alex Todd and Carolyn Neilsen 12; Cherylin Cole and Jane Hanbury 14 – Lorraine Todd and John Allegri 12; Cheryle Toohey and Barry White 14 – Bob Murray and Kevin Rubie 12; Robin Pols and John Farah 14 – Neville Spry and Marie Spry 11; Dorelle Scott and Bob Murray 14 – Cheryle Toohey and Alex Todd 11; Colleen Liebich 14 – Elvy Quirk and Robin Pols 11; Cheryle Toohey and Alex Todd 14 – Dorelle Scott and Geoff Coles 11; Lyn Simmonds and John Farah 14 – Bruce Field and Marie Spry 11; Sandy Hepburn and Bill Scott 14 – John Allegri and Robin Pols 11; Jane Hanbury and John Allegri 14 – Lyn Simmonds and Carolyn Neilsen 10; John Browne 14 – Bill Scott 10; Joan Littlejohn and Barry White 14 – Jill Rubie and John Cole 10; Bruce Field 14 – Lyn Simmonds 10; John Farah and Barry White 14 – John Cole and Bob Murray 10; Joan Littlejohn and Neville Spry 14 – Dorelle Scott and Jill Rubie 10

By Pegging Out

Forbes turned on an absolutely beautiful day for the second invitational regatta with more than 100 paddlers from nine different clubs making it an extremely competitive day of racing on Lake Forbes.

The day consisted of heats and finals in six different categories. The Forbes Dragon Boat Club’s Lachlan Dragons won two of the finals wearing their brand-new club shirts. They doggedly tried to defend their Bridge to Bridge title over 230m, but missed out by 0.03 seconds to Colour City in an epic final race of the day with Outback Dragons finishing 0.78 seconds behind Forbes.

“All the visiting teams were impressed by the fantastic venue and how well organised and executed the event was,” said Chris Favell of FDBC.

A large number of volunteers assisted, while the local SES and Rural Fire Service were helped out as first aiders and water safety crews.

“All in all the day was a wonderful example of competition, social interaction and camaraderie for our western dragon boat community.”

The day’s results were:

• Sports Women 200m: 1 Colour City 72.16; 2 Lachlan Dragons 74.22; 3 Parkes Endeavour Dragons 77.35

• Sports Open 200m: 1 Lachlan Dragons 66.66; 2 Outback Dragons 70.71; 3 Colour City 71.94

• Dash for Cash 100m: 1 Lachlan Dragons Lightening 39.45; 2 Colour City Purple 39.76; 3 Outback Dragons Blue 40.41

• Sports mixed 200m: 1 Outback Dragons 71.33; 2 Colour City 71.44; 3 Lachlan Dragons 71.47

• Bridge to Bridge 230m: 1 Colour City 74.81; 2 Lachlan Dragons 74.84; 3 Outback Dragons 75.62

• Sweep Event: Colour City 33.37

Raffle major prize winners: 1st 200L of fuel Alex Riley; 2nd Canvas Artwork Wendy Nelson; 3rd Picnic Hamper Nicole Williams; 4th Oztrail change room Ally Hetherington; 5th Chill Float Session Wendy Nelson; 6th Toaster & Kettle Luke Byrne; 7th $50 Ampol fuel card Jane Burley; 8th 2x $25 Ampol fuel cards Rachel Samuels.

Over 100 dragons from all over the Central West and further afield will descend on Forbes this Sunday, 20th March for the second invitational regatta hosted by the Forbes Dragon Boat Club at Lake Forbes.

Teams from Parkes, Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst and Wagga Wagga along with paddlers from Mudgee, Lithgow and the newly formed Blue Mountains Club will be participating in what promises to be an exciting day with some serious racing and lots of fun.

The day’s program starts at 9am with women’s, opens and mixed heats getting underway. “The events will continue through the morning with the finals, novelty events and the iconic Bridge to Bridge classic following soon after,” said Chris Favelle of the Forbes Dragon Boat Club.

“Spectators are encouraged to come along and support the local Forbes team who are keen to have a strong showing at the regatta, and to defend their Bridge to Bridge title.”

The community is invited to bring a chair and picnic rug and make it a great day out to experience the thrill of dragon boat racing. A coffee van will be on-site, while CanAssist will be providing a barbeque.

“We would love to see lots of Forbes locals getting into the action and supporting the local team,” said Chris. Volunteers and officials from across the western region along with the local State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service will all be there to ensure the event is once again a great success for the community of Forbes.

The Forbes Croquet Club again hosted the Boys to the Bush earlier this month. The boys arrived all eager to get started as some were in the group who played with us in February, while others were new to the game.

It was suggested that the boys be given two shots at the ball each time to the members’ one shot. This resulted in the ball landing in front of the hoop many times which enabled their next shot to go through the hoop for a winner, and some of our members were outplayed by the boys. The boys were indeed all smiles as it made for quite a fun day.

The boys showed great respect on the day and I am urging other sporting groups to host them so they can have more activities to enjoy.

I would like to commend Tim West and

Nathan Corliss on the way they manage the boys in their day-to-day activities. We hope we can enjoy another day in the near future.

By Elvy Quirk

 

CROQUET RESULTS

There were 27 players for Aussie Croquet on Saturday, 12th March.

There was a high number that won three games: Colleen Liebich, Dorelle Scott, Elviy Quirk, Tony Thomson and Bob Murray.

The big winners were: 14—8: Bob Murray and Merv Langfield; 14—9: Dorelle Scott and Bob Murray; 14—10 : Alex Todd and Joan Littlejohn, Ray Burridge, Harley Stewart and John Farah, Colleen Liebich and Tony Thomson, Dorelle Scott and Alex Todd, Colleen Liebich, John Browne and John Allegri, Bruce Field and Tony Thomson.

There were 27 players for Golf Croquet on Tuesday, 15th March.

There were four winners of three games: John Cole, Evelyn Mahlo, Kevin Rubie and Neville Spry.

The big winners were: 11—2: Evelyn Mahlo and Bob Murray; 10—3: Kevin and Jill Rubie ; 9—4: John Farah and Neville Spry, Carolyn Neilsen and John Farah.

There will be an open day for Seniors Week on 29th March. Come and join in for some fun and to learn the game.