The Croquet Club has formally opened its recently completed building adjacent to the Exeter Croquet Courts.
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The club president welcomed representatives of Croquet NSW, of Wingecarribee Council as well as past members who had contributed to the creation of the Exeter courts in the 1990s.
Committee members, Helen Coventry and Sandy Alsop outlined the history of the club. They told of the fund-raising efforts, ranging from cake stalls to quiz nights and culminating with a generous gift from the late Jim Skillen, who was a regular player of golf croquet.
Jim's contribution is recognised in the naming of the building.
Special thanks were extended to the group of women from Berrima Correctional Centre who assisted members in painting the building.
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The club was founded in 1991 in Bowral and in 1993, Council agreed to provide land at Exeter Park. The lawns were created largely by the efforts of members, notably Roy Heyhorn, whose earth moving skills were important in shaping the lawns.
The Jim Skillen Shed provides equipment storage and shelter for players and guests.
Southern Highlands Croquet Club plays golf croquet on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday mornings. Association croquet, another form of the game, is played on Mondays.
Completion of the building makes Exeter an attractive venue for competition matches played between visiting teams from Illawarra and Canberra.
HISTORY: A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
The first meeting for a Croquet Club in the Southern Highlands was held at Craigieburn in July 1991 and attended by ten persons.
The group played croquet one day per week at Craigieburn for a year, then transferred to the Mittagong Bowling Club, and in 1993 moved to Exeter Oval following decisions to create a croquet lawn in Exeter Park.
Members of Chatswood and Cheltenham Croquet Clubs came to Bowral to coach and encourage the new club. NSW Croquet Association provided a $400 grant for purchase of balls.
From its inception the members had envisaged their own croquet lawns and club house and worked tirelessly towards this goal.
In 1992, sites at Welby and at Exeter were under consideration. Wingecarribee Shire Council (WSC) agreed to investigate use of Section 94 funds (the levy paid by developers) towards a croquet club site.
Joanna Gash (then a Wingecarribee Councillor) was helpful to the relentless efforts of Nancy Dane and others. Members regularly attended WSC meetings dressed in croquet whites, and 'armed' with their mallets.
In 1993, the present site at Exeter Park was agreed by WSC and the process of creating the lawns started. The total estimated cost to develop the site was $42,000 of which the then members' volunteer labour component was estimated at $13,000.
Council granted $12,000 towards the project and subsequently provided a loan of $4,000. At that stage, the club transferred its weekly games from Mittagong Bowling Club to Exeter Oval.
The club logo, designed by Audrey Thompson, represents the flower of a tulip tree In the development of the Exeter site, members provided much heavy labour, and photographic records show Roy Heyhorn's grader at work over weekends in 1994.
A fence was erected by Council, and attracted unfavourable and angry comments, as reflected in the Southern Highland News.
Progress was slow, and in late 1994 the members were still playing and picnicking on Exeter Oval.
Finally, play commenced on the new courts in February 1995. The Official Opening of the courts was by Joanna Gash (then Federal MP for Gilmore) on 30 March 1996, which was the 5th Anniversary of the club.
Membership of the club declined and in 2003 seven members resigned leaving only seven members.
Cost cutting measures had to be introduced and as a consequence the lawns suffered. All fund-raising efforts during this time were directed towards the continuation of the club for its members.
From the first meetings, members have wanted and worked towards obtaining a club house. Fund-raising towards such a building has been a priority. In 2006 Council was asked if additional land could be allocated for the use of the croquet club.
The land sought would need to be of sufficient size to accommodate a club house, and in the interim would be used for seating and a picnic area. The preferred site was along the eastern fence, centred between the two courts. That site was not acceptable to Council as it was thought to interfere with the vista from the village to the oval.
The club, out of desperation, explored hiring the Exeter Village Hall, the CWA building (since demolished), or the kitchen of St. Aidan's Church for our use as a club room during the colder months.
Joanna Gash, MP on Opening Day Fund-raising is constant and has been an essential part of financing the club. In the 1990s it helped finance the development of the grounds. In the early 2000s with low membership it enabled the club to survive. Then the funds were needed for the purchase of a mower, the marquee, and the court seating.
WSC donations have amounted to $5,653 in addition to the initial $12,000 grant. WSC has provided 4 loans, totalling to the club $23,000 over the 15 years of development and building. The club has not received state or federal grants and with the completion of our building has now expended over $150,000 on improvements to the Exeter Park site.
In 2016, Jim Skillen had made a generous donation which made the building project feasible. The club's resources were bolstered further by several very successful quiz nights, a series of 'sausage sizzles' and sale of life memberships.
By 2017, the club had accumulated sufficient funds to embark on more detailed development of a club building for storage and shelter. Several plans were considered, but the club was constrained by lack of funds.
Building costs were daunting, and the construction was finally made possible by a loan from Council.
The club has always been responsible in planning its finances, recognising the continuing expense of maintaining the lawns, the need to repay loans and the likely fluctuations in the number of members.