Sydney Stars Deaf Tenpin Bowling Club

Newsletter - July 2014

PRESIDENTS REPORT:

Hi Everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the last National Deaf Championships weekend! I did. I want to say thanks to both Board and Committees members for doing their hard work during the weekend. Now we are looking forward to Ballarat next year. It was snowing in Ballarat recently hope we will have cold and snow there during Easter weekend! Who knows! We may find gold there as well!
I was told, up to 30 bowlers and fans from Sydney already booked their accommodation in Ballarat! I hope others from other states do the same about booking the accommodation, just remind you a lot of people go to Ballarat for the Easter weekend and it may be hard to find accommodation there. One motel which is on the list from VDTBC is already booked out! I just booked the last family room in a different motel, whew!
I am looking forward to spring and summer! I know the winter weather is not too bad for Sydney but not good for Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne!

Regards,
Bruce Shaw.
President,
NDTBA.

SYDNEY STARS DEAF TENPIN BOWLING CLUB.

Hi everyone,
Phew, what a big event we had last National Deaf Championships. Now it is all over, everyone has gone back home and we are now organising for 2016 in Newcastle. We hope you all enjoyed the last Championships at Blacktown.
I know many of you had a wonderful time meeting the Argentina and New Zealand deaf bowlers. This is the first time ever event that we have had a National Deaf Championships like that. The Argentinean bowlers and fan all had a wonderful time. We have had American bowlers with us in Alice Springs before under NDTBA but this time was a special event.
Argentina bowler trips.

Saturday: The day they arrived in Australia we took them around the harbour to visit the Opera House and Lady Macquarie’s Chair in the Botanical Gardens. Even though it was raining it was still a lovely afternoon. 7 bowlers stayed at Bruce and Odette’s house, the other bowler and fan stayed at Michael Cullan’s home.

Sunday: Today we caught the Rivercat from Parramatta to Darling Harbour. We visited the Wildlife Zoo and Aquarium at Darling Harbour. The Argentineans loved looking at all the different Australian animals especially the koalas.

It was raining very hard so we had lunch under the freeway at Darling Harbour. People were walking past us staring at us eating pita bread and rolls filled with cold meats and salad and eating fruit. Yummy. After lunch we went to Centrepoint Tower.

Luckily the weather cleared up and there were not too many clouds and we could see as far as the Blue Mountains.

Monday: We headed off to the Blue Mountains. We went to Echo Point then caught the Scenic Skyway across the valley. After that Bruce came and picked us up and we had a lovely BBQ lunch then we caught the Scenic Railway down to the bottom of the valley. We walked the 1½ kms around on the boardwalk and saw how the miners dug for coal in the mines and looked at all the different plants and trees. At the end we caught the glass cable car back up to the top.

Tuesday: We headed off early to go to Canberra. After a 3 hour drive we arrived and toured the Parliament House. The Argentineans have always been very interested in Government buildings etc. that is why Canberra was on the list of tours. After a lovely lunch of chicken, cold meats and salad we visited the War Museum. There was so much to see and we stayed for a special ceremony that was held in memory of a soldier who died in WW1.

After that we visited Black Tower (Telstra Tower) it was very windy and the wind almost blew us all away!! We couldn’t understand why there were so many people with cameras on tripods and when Odette asked them what they were doing they told us that it was the passing of the moon in front of the sun. On the way home we kept looking for it and finally saw it. Most of the Argentineans were asleep by now but were wide awake when we arrived home at 9.30 pm to find a lovely meal of lasagne and potato bake (cooked by Bruce and Odette’s daughter, Jara.) the Argentineans like to eat their meals very, very late. We remember when we were in Buenos Aires on the last night of our stay, their Presentation Night (at the Deaf Society) and we were all still eating homemade pizzas at 2.30 in the morning!!!

Wednesday: The highlight of the trips was the Bridgeclimb. We had lunch of pita breads filled with meats and salad then everyone geared up and climbed to the top of the Harbour Bridge. It was a perfect day for a Bridgeclimb. Everyone was so excited when they came back down and couldn’t stop talking about the wonderful experience they had.

The Welcome Night on Thursday was enjoyed by many bowlers and visitors.
I hope you all enjoyed the Championships. I know the Sydney Stars Deaf Tenpin Bowling bowlers did. For many of them it was their very first time to attend the Championships and a lot of them will be there next year in Ballarat because they enjoyed it so much. It was a new experience for them.
A big thank you to Allan Quick who made our beautiful Tri Nations cakes, many thanks Alan.

A huge thank you goes to the Management and staff of Blacktown AMF Tenpin Bowling Centre. They did a wonderful job trying to please everyone. Thank you to Blacktown AMF, Auslan Services, Nabs, NDTBA, SADTBC, VDTBC and Gloria Jeans for their kind donations. Without all of you we could not have made this possible.
On Tuesday after the Championships a BBQ was held at Bruce and Odette’s home for the Argentineans, New Zealanders and also the Australian bowlers who were representing Australia in the Tri Nations in New Zealand. Everyone enjoyed themselves after a big week and a half of National Deaf Championships tours and competition. Then it was off to New Zealand.

New Zealand National Deaf Championships.
Auckland was cold this time of year but the bowling Centre was even colder!! The results were given out last newsletter. Hope you all read it. We all enjoyed our stay there.

The Welcome Night and Presentation Night were both held at the Auckland Deaf Society. Both nights were enjoyed by everyone.
The Argentineans stayed an extra 5 days in New Zealand for tours.
They arrived back in Sydney on 3rd May, 2014, for one night before they went back to Argentina. Bruce, Odette and Michael took them to Koala Park in Castle Hill on the way home from the airport. I wish you could have seen their faces when they saw the kangaroos. They sat there and didn’t want to leave. Also with the koalas, patting them and kissing them.

For me to watch their faces it gave me goose pimples to see them all so excited.
Everyone stayed at Bruce and Odette’s house that night and we enjoyed talking about the past 3 weeks and the great time they had here in Australia. I am so glad they all had such a wonderful time and met all of you and made wonderful friends with many of you. I hope one day we can do the same for them again or even for another country to come here and enjoy our National Deaf Championships. What wonderful memories we can all share.

VALE: It is with sadness that we say farewell to Nicolas Duczynski from Argentina. Nicolas died suddenly from a heart attack in July, 2014. Many of you may remember him. He was a fan not a bowler from Argentina. We are so grateful that he had a wonderful time when he visited here for the National Deaf Championships. His lovely smile and sense of humour will be sadly missed.

Gossip:
*** Congratulations to Michael and Mark Cullan’s father who just turned 90. Mr Cullan had a small party with family and a few close friends.
*** Congratulations to Cody Moolenaar and his fiancée, Josie, who were married in England earlier this year. We hope you both have a wonderful life together here in Australia.
Love is definitely in the air at the moment!

Josie and Cody.
*** Cathy Lees’ parents, Margaret and Barry celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations to both of them.
*** Sandra Sweeney had a double hip operation. Sandra is now up and about and doing very well. Not surprised if she will run in the next Olympics !! She is now the bionic woman !!

Until next time, keep up your strikes.
Odette Shaw.
S.S.D.T.B.C.
Secretary/Treasurer.

Return to NDTBA screen

Return to 'Newletter'