The Rita Plant Trophy was competed for on June 23 when Frensham RBL Bowls Club held their annual bowls competition in memory of Rita Plant, who died in 2016.

President Chris Bonner opened the afternoon with a warm welcome to Rita’s family and club members on this special day in the club’s calendar.

He outlined Rita’s involvement with the club over many years, as a very competent bowler and a committee member who was always very keen to have the wellbeing of the club and its members in her heart.

Rita campaigned for the introduction of club shirts and many members wore the ones she instigated many years ago. Chris was sure she would have approved the new shirt design introduced this season.

The competition format was a triples match, with the four highest scoring teams progressing to the semi-finals and the four lowest scoring teams competing for fifth to eighth places.

Rita’s family were represented by her daughter Sarah and grandsons Elliot and Samuel (Team A), and her son Gavin and grandsons Joe and George (Team B), with husband Gordon and son-in-law Kevin as reserves.

Team B reached the semi-finals but lost to the team who went on to finish as runners-up. Team A gave a very good account of themselves but ended up in the play-offs for fifth to eighth places.

The eventual winners were Bert Pharo, Sheila Haytree and Wendy Edwards, all seasoned bowlers, who were presented with the trophy by Gordon Plant at the end of the afternoon, after which a traditional bowls tea was served and a raffle raised £180 for Macmillan.

Gordon thanked Chris for organising the event and he in turn thanked Gordon’s family for taking part and all the club members who had helped with the raffle and preparation of the tea.