Light-hearted conversation and the sedate sounds of a few ends of bowls filled the air for probably the last time at the Millers Flat bowling green.
The sun shone, nearby bellbirds provided the musical interlude and about 30 people gathered on Tuesday for a last ‘‘roll-up'' followed by dinner at the Millers Flat Hotel.
There was laughter and ribbing as past and present bowlers came together but there was an underlying sadness to the occasion. The 92-year-old Millers Flat Bowling Club folded at the end of this season because of dwindling membership and the pending retirement of the greenkeeper.
Club president Jack Sheehan said it was a ‘‘sign of the times'' and some hard decisions had to be made after membership dropped to 12 and efforts to recruit more were unsuccessful.
‘‘We hoped for a miracle but it didn't happen.''
Phyllis Peek, who was born and brought up in Millers Flat, travelled from Balclutha to be at the gathering.
Although she played bowls for 58 years, she started the sport after she moved away from the Teviot Valley. However, she had strong links to the bowling club so wanted to mark the occasion, sad though it was, she said.
Her grandfather, Jack Sheehy, helped lay the green more than 92 years ago. Her father, Frank MacDonald, was a greenkeeper there and her mother, Glad, was also a keen bowler and received a gold star for 25 years' membership of the club.
‘‘I spent a lot of time here when I was a kid,'' she said, looking around the green and noting a few changes to the grounds.
The four life members were at the farewell - George and Rena Beel, of Roxburgh, and Forbes and Grace Knight, of Millers Flat. All have had a long association with the club.
Mr Knight served as secretary or treasurer for almost 40 years and has held other executive roles over the years.
‘‘This is a sad time for me after all those years, but that's the way it goes, I guess.''
Several of the club's neighbouring bowling clubs - Lawrence, Heriot and Waikaka, had also closed in the past few years, he said.
Mrs Beel also said it was a sad day ‘‘but you can't keep it going without enough members''.
The clubrooms were built by the club but are on a paper road. The majority of the greens are on reserve land and the future of the property has yet to be decided.
