FOXLEY BOWLS CLUB

During to school summer holidays Short Mat Bowls sessions were held, each Tuesday afternoon, for the teenagers of Foxley Village. About 12 attended, with numbers varying each week due to holidays and other commitments. Most of the teenagers had not bowled before but the progress they made during the 6 week period was remarkable. In the last week they decided they would like to challenge Foxley Bowls Club members to a match and this was held on a Wednesday evening. It was a great event with the competitive instinct thoroughly enjoyed by all. Whilst the members moved up and down the mats at their normal ‘measured tread’ they marvelled at the kangaroo like jumps that the youngsters performed – oh to be young again!

We want to thank the teenagers for showing interest and coming along. Special thanks also to the various parents who, we suspect, were pointing their youngsters towards the Village Hall.  Members of the Bowls Club involved thoroughly enjoyed this unusual experience

Gordon Whitmore
 

On Saturday 26th July  Foxley Bowls Club members and friends enjoyed a Hog Roast, with entertainment by Keith Loads. Tickets sold out early, so maybe this is a sign to 'do it again!'.  A large raffle with almost 50 prizes meant as well as an enjoyable evening, a lot of people had a prize to take home as well.   £194. 38p profit went to the Bowls Club.
Many thanks to everyone who helped and made the evening go "with a laugh"

Carole Mears
 

The Club found a way to relieve the summer heat by choosing to read Snow Falling on Cedars for its August meeting.  As usual there was a diversity of views on this interesting and many faceted novel by David Gutterman. 

The main action is set on an isolated island north of Seattle, that has been settled by migrants from different countries over the centuries.  The economy is based on fishing, itself an isolating occupation, with land acquisition for strawberry growing as a goal to which to aspire.  The extreme weather conditions prevailing during the period of a murder trial enhance the remoteness of the place and heightened the intensity of the events on the lives of the people connected with them.  The reader really gets the feeling of claustrophobic tension from the isolated lives that are led there and the descriptions of the weather.
The quick arrest and subsequent trial of a seemingly obvious murderer with motive, who was trained to kill with one hit, and who could be placed at the scene of the murder, is surely meant to remind us all that the obvious may not necessarily be the true fact.
On one level this novel is a murder mystery, but there are many other themes.  The latent racism of the community and State affected the characters, which are mostly first generation Americans with family allegiances to other nations.  They were greatly affected by the 2nd World War and the novel flashes back to how individual character’s lives were changed.  Japanese and those of German descent made up a large proportion of the population and the Japanese particularly were identified with the enemy, but this was also convenient for the local community.    The cultural identities and the difficulties of adjustment to and acceptance by the majority, is one of the themes, as is their own consciousness of this predicament. 
David Gutterman gives his characters depth and the reader feels he/she has a fairly good understanding of “what makes them tick”.  It is a thoroughly good read and is recommended;  the history is worth knowing and the cultural/racial tensions we can all relate to in today’s world.  A film of the story has been made which evidently moves much faster and is also recommended by those members of the Book Club who have seen it. 
Marietta Menzies