It has been said that “Every Cloud has a silver lining”, and so when a visit from a touring ream was cancelled, there was no other option but to celebrate US Independence Day in an appropriate manner by dressing accordingly.
The usual club colours were dispensed with and it was decided to hold a Red, White and Blue Day on the July 4. As the picture shows, everyone entered into the spirit of the afternoon - perhaps it should be said that never in the history of the club has such a disparate rag-bag of attire been seen on the bowling green.
It was also decided to use the afternoon to remember a much-loved club member who passed away last year.
Maureen Phillips, together with her husband Harold, joined the newly formed Ottery St Mary Bowling club in the 1990s, and together they went on to become qualified club coaches.
Many of the members who have now achieved their County Badges were trained by Maureen and she would have been delighted at the high level of success achieved as a result of her faithful mentoring and coaching.
It was noted that her favourite post-match tipple was “a small glass of ginger wine”, and this saying will undoubtedly go down in the annals of the club. It was wonderful to see Harold and members of Maureen’s family present at this celebration of her life.
In true British style, the rain held off almost long enough for all the games to be completed, and just to show that the Red, White and Blue are also “Our” colours, the afternoon was finished off with a traditional English High Tea, and yes, the scones and were correctly laden with jam and cream!