Generous turnout for barefoot event

Broome Bowling Club hosted Broome Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Barefoot Bowls fundraiser last week, raising $1820 from the greens to donate to the Lord Mayor's Distress Relief fund for bushfire victims.

The fundraiser, sponsored by Bankwest Broome, was held on Thursday, February 18, and featured 16 determined teams participating in three raffles, the bowling competition and an auction for a Willie Creek Pearls pendant valued at $1250.

Broome Time Accommodation player Dylan Elder led the auction from start to finish by bidding the initial reserve price of $500 and winning the auction with a bid of $710 for the 18-carat white gold Australian South Sea pearl pendent.

"It's for my mum, she lives in Brisbane and she helped me out throughout my early life," he said.

"I just want to give back to her".

In the bowling competition, the Kimberley Training Institute swept the field with their first team claiming the BCCI Cup and their second team secured the coveted last-place kangaroo scrotum on a stick.

Broome Bowling Club president Ivan Davie said the night was a success with about 80 players, a convincing win and two participating teams nominating to join the club's Corporate Challenge tomorrow.

"The eventual winner was KTI team one against KTI team two, beating them 21 to nil, which was a bit of a flogging," he said.

"The main aim is to have fun and so not be concerned with winning, so it was an exceptional night all round."

The competition was fierce, with attendance by the Shire of Broome, St John Ambulance, Roebuck Bay Medical Services, Life & Soul Fitness, Pindan Labour Solutions, Bankwest, Diver's Tavern, Broome Time Accommodation, Kimberley Training Institute, Kimberley Individual and Family Support Association and Goolarri as well as three regional police teams.

BCCI executive officer Jael Napper said the event had been a great success and there was a need for another bowling competition for those who could not register because it was being fully booked more than a week in advance.

"It's all for a good cause and there will be another bowling competition for the people that missed this event, I would suggest in April," she said.