HISTORY OF THE BROCKVILLE LAWN BOWLING CLUB 

 

                                                     Information compiled by Dorothy Flanigan and Emma Bond

 

 

 

    The first lawn bowling green was started at the Brockville Rowing Club located on Ferry Street. The starting of the club was talked about at their annual meeting in September of 1906. At their meeting of September 1909 it was reported that lawn bowling had been a success.

    In 1910 the Eastern Ontario Lawn Bowling was formed and the first tournament was held on the grounds of the Eastern Hospital, now called the Brockville Psychiatric Hospital. Our new bowling green was considered one of the finest in the province.

In 1913 club members from the Brockville Rowing Club participated in tournaments held at the Eastern Hospital green and also in Ottawa. In 1915 tournaments with both Brockville clubs were held in Prescott. In 1919 B.R.C. sent teams to Ottawa and Kingston. They won the Higgins cup from the Eastern Hospital. The last year that the B.R.C. bowled was in 1927.

    Our present clubhouse was once the top of a boathouse which was salvaged from its location on the St. Lawrence River and relocated to the hospital lawn bowling green. New windows have since been installed and the kitchen has been remodeled.

On June 4, 1993, the club received a grant from New Horizons, a branch of the Federal Government. The grant was presented by the Honorable J. L. Jordan, M.P. for Leeds and Grenville. Mr. Jordan also presented the club with a Canadian flag from the Federal Government.

    For several years the club games were held in memory of John Howison and given by his sisters, Marion and Helen Howison. They donated prizes of wool blankets and supplied the refreshments.