Shamrock Club looking to recruit new members

By Bill Kilpatrick

On Sept. 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the Shamrock Club held an open house at the Dungannon Recreation Centre in L'Amable where those who were interested in joining, or who were simply curious about what happens at the Shamrock club, could come out talk to members and partake in some of the activities. Those who attended the open house were treated to a free lunch and could play pool, do some lawn bowling, or just check out the many activities that the Shamrock club has to offer. The membership fees are $10 for the year and include a potluck meal on the last Thursday of the month and a catered Christmas meal as well.
Local couple Ron and Lorraine Way decided that it was time to sign up. Lorraine is relatively new to the Bancroft area, but Ron has lived here since the early 1970s. When asked about how they heard about the Shamrock Club Ron quipped jokingly that he drives by it every day as the couple live just down the road. For Ron it was the chance to play pool that made his decision to join really easy, and for Lorraine she signed up because she wants to meet some new people. And she no doubt will meet lots of people with varied interests as she signed up for euchre, carpet bowling, and body maintenance, but these are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many activities that the Shamrock Club has to offer.
The club began back in 1992 as a seniors' club for those 50+ with a meagre membership of 23 people, but now, three decades later, their membership has grown to almost 200 members who vary in ages from their mid-20s to their mid-40s and beyond. Pebbles Boumhour, the media person for the club and the contact person for the Cue'Ts Women's Billiards Club, explains that they have taken the seniors out of their title as they are recruiting new and younger members. “We used to be the seniors' club,” explained Boumhour, “and before that we were the 50+ club, but in the last few years we've dropped the seniors out of it,” because, she says, they have been attracting younger people to the club, but, she adds, it is still a club for adults and not children.
No doubt their new recruitment of younger adults has to do with the many and varied club activities such as men and women's billiards, Tai Chi, line dancing for beginners and those who are experienced, ballroom dancing, Spanish classes, and carpet bowling. They also offer bridge, body maintenance classes, and euchre. One of the two body maintenance classes are run by Connie Sutherland who says that those who come to her classes can expect to get a good over all work out that includes a warm up, stretches, deep breathing, some light weights, light aerobics, yoga, followed by a cool down. “I try to cover all aspects,” says Sutherland, “from top to toe.” The body maintenance is for people of all abilities and runs for a little over an hour on Fridays, “We also use a chair,” explains Sutherland, which helps those who may need a little extra help to balance or they can choose to do the exercises in the chair. Sutherland wants to stress that there is no pressure to keep up with her, she does not want to see anyone pushing beyond their means or partaking in an exercise that causes them pain, “There's one thing that I'm strict about,” says Sutherland, “If you can't do it, sit down or do something else and if it hurts, don't do it.”
While the yearly fee is only $10 some of the activities, such as the women's billiards, also ask that those who sign up give a non-mandatory $10 donation per month says Boumhour, half of which goes to the club and half of which goes to the community. Along with the activities, many of the members get together for outside social activities such as dinners at the local restaurants among other things. Bill Kafka, the member who organizes the carpet bowling, says that they love to just have fun in a non-competitive environment adding that they are hoping to add horseshoe pits next summer, which will no doubt entice even more people to become members. The open house, according to Boumhour, resulted in approximately 17 new members signing up and for those who may be interested in becoming a member of the Shamrock Club, or to find out about the activity schedule they can contact Ria Johnson at 613-334-9691.