By Dan Marshall

Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club hosts an open house on National Bowls Day in Canada

May 30, 2017 | 7:55 PM

NANAIMO — Many people don’t know exactly what lawn bowling is.
 
This weekend you can learn about the game and try it for yourself at a special open house.
 
The Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club is hosting a five hour session starting at 10 a.m. as part of National Bowls Day in Canada.
 
June 3 lawn bowling clubs across the country will be holding similar events.
 
It’s also a tie in to Canada’s 150th anniversary.
 
Participaction has highlighted the sport by putting lawn bowling on their 150 Playlist as event number 50.
 
That list of 150 sports has been determined to ‘define our land and our people’ with Participaction encouraging Canadians to try all of them.

Nanaimo club president Bernice Urbaniak says they have a number of events planned and they’ll be looking to gain some new members along the way.

“We’d like to see people come out and try this activity. We’re going to have some fun games. We’ll have people on hand to show people the basics of lawn bowling, we’re going to have prizes and a barbeque,” said Urbaniak.

While lessons this weekend are free, there is a fee if you’d like to join as a member.

The club has members as young as nine years old and they also have some amenities to help those with mobility issues.

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Member Gus Thorne is a Canadian champion in the visually impaired category who plays out of Nanaimo Lawn Bowling Club.
 
He and his director Donn Sherry brought some notoriety to the club and the sport by competing in the World Championships in South Africa this past spring.
 
Previous open houses have brought out anywhere from 50-60 people wanting to find out more about lawn bowling.
 
Nanaimo has about 120 members and Urbaniak would love to see that number grow by 20-30 this weekend.
 
There is a definite similarity to bocce but Urbaniak notes a key difference is the use of a bowl which is weighted on one side.
 
“You can’t just roll it directly towards the jack, which is the little white ball that you’re rolling towards,” said Urbaniak. “You have to find out what the line has to be in order for that bowl to curl around to get to that spot.”     
 
The game can be played by singles or in pairs and it can be determined by specific number of shots, ends, or a pre-arranged time period.
 
Saturday’s open house is at the club in Bowen Park with all of the details available online at nanaimolawnbowling.com.