News / Articles

I would like to extend my thanks to all our BICC members  and volunteers this year. It has been a challenging year for the Club.

An overwhelming majority of members paid their dues without knowing if there would be any play this year. Thank you so much for your support. This allowed us to maintain the courts to the normal standard so that we could start up play as soon as Provincial guidelines allowed. Our thanks to the Turf Committee for their continued commitment - Lou Schenck, Brian Carrier, Cal Scotchmer &  Andrew Widdis. We are so fortunate to have Adriaan who goes far beyond caring for the courts - he cares for our Club and all of us. 

The Tournament Committee geared up quickly to offer block play and 2 tournaments. Yesterday was a great time at the Doubles Snake/Joe Beechie. It was so much fun. Thanks to Rob McCrea, Jerry Selk, Laurien Trowell, David Druiett, John Davies and Debbie Moulton for putting these opportunities together. 

We have grounds, seating, canopies, a storage shed,  a shed with our member facility and equipment storage, fencing, plantings, trees and fencing that all need to be maintained.  We are so lucky to have Jerry Selk who stepped down as Facilities Committee Chair at the AGM but will still be volunteering and supporting Peter Jeffers, who is the new Chair along with Terry Lazaravitch, Shelagh Sully and John Davies. Thanks to Jerry for his work and to the Committee for their hard work.

2020 was not a year to bring new members into the Club as we wanted to focus on maintaining health and safety by limiting access. We did not do any Club promotion this year such as the Lions Garden Show and the New Member Open House but Shelley Widdis continues to be available to Members. Shelley was responsible for the Pat Waters Day. What a great idea and we all wanted to support that in acknowledgement of Pat. Thanks Shelley.

Our Club was not able to offer the usual social activities.  Social Chair Margo Robeson is unable to come 'home' but worked remotely with Lynda Forbes who set up four Thursday play events. Thanks to volunteers who made is possible with COVID measures. Lisa Stewart and Pat Lewington provided Croquet without Coffee. Thanks for your work in this challenging environment. 

Finally, I would like to thank the Board for their hard work. You might think that there is not much to do after the season is over but the Board meets and works all year long. The Board members work with the Committees, support each others initiatives and each Board Members works hands on at whatever is needed.  This includes setting up tables & canopies, resetting hoops, cleaning, building, website maintenance, member communications, project management etc. etc. etc. No job is too big or too small - everyone digs in.  

Our Club is so lucky to have such committed, hard working volunteers. BICC has grown in the last few years and we hope to continue to grow in the future. Volunteering is so important to ensure the Club's facility is taken care of and to meet the needs of the Membership. Please consider volunteering in some capacity - there are lots of opportunities and it is so rewarding to help each other. If you would like to contribute by being a Committee member, please contact the Chairs. Volunteers are needed for events such as the Open Tournaments, social play such as Coffee & Croquet as well as Toonie Burgers and of course Thursday parties.  Please email or call me - I'm happy to get you started!

We don't know what 2021 will bring for our Club. Rest assured the Board will stay up to date with Provincial regulations and guidelines and will continue to be focused on your health and safety. Our goal will be to return to a full slate of croquet activities when it makes sense to do so.

Thanks again to all of you. 
Arlene