Before the bowling green was installed at what is now Gyro Park, bowling was done at residences such as the Mahler home pictured here in a photo taken around 1947. In the foreground is Albert Murphy. (Osoyoos and District Museum and Archives)

By Richard McGuire

Osoyoos Times

The sport of lawn bowling has been popular in Osoyoos since the time the community was incorporated as a village in 1946.

Eleanore Dempster, an active member of the Osoyoos Lawn Bowling Club (OLBC) and an avid historian, recently put together an illustrated booklet about the club’s history and the history of lawn bowling in general.

Dempster says the sport of bowls is believed to have originated in Egypt with rocks and wooden cones more than 5,000 years ago. The modern game started in England in the 12th century, evidence suggests.

In 1946, a small group of lawn bowling enthusiasts began playing on a single rink at a private residence. After forming a club in 1947, they played the next three years on rinks at the homes of Harry Mahler and F.L. Goodman.

In 1947, the club began negotiating with the village parks board and board of commissioners to obtain the use of dormant land in the local park, now Gyro Park, to level off for a bowling green.

From left Les Topliss, Frank Barry and Harry Mahler lean over lawn bowls in 1948. (Osoyoos and District Museum and Archives)

While the men bowled at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry P. Mahler to wind up the 1947 season, the ladies of the club served a sumptuous dinner.

By the end of the 1947 season, membership in the OLBC exceeded 50 people as play continued on private greens. Considering the village population was fewer than 900 people, that’s an impressive number.

The clubhouse and a four-rink green were finally finished in 1949.

The sport remained popular, but in the 1960s membership declined and the club announced in 1966 it was disbanding. Four years later, the clubhouse was demolished to allow the seniors centre to be built. The green remained, but was neglected.

In 1972, the Senior Citizen Association decided to restore two of the four rinks and create a Senior Citizens Lawn Bowling Club.

Lawn blowing in Osoyoos experienced a revival and in the 1980s, the bowlers resurrected the Osoyoos Lawn Bowling Club as an autonomous organization.

In early 1993, Osoyoos town council agreed to double the size of the green to eight rinks, which opened in 1994.