A historical fixture around Cambridge is presenting people with a COVID-friendly option for being outdoors and getting in some recreation and exercise.
The Preston Lawn Bowling Club, located on Queenston Road, is a 106 years old and still thriving, said David Allen, honorary past president of the club.
"It shut down for a few years in the 1990s as the membership got very small and old," he said, talking about the club that first started in 1915, and is currently housed in city-owned property. "Several neighbours atthat time got together and spent a year digging the green because it had gone to weeds and started it up again."
Back in 2019, the club had 55 members before COVID shut down everything and cut down the membership.
"Last year, with COVID, there were no national and provincial championships, no tournaments, so we said to our members you don't have to pay membership fees but come and bowl for $50," said Allen. "We had 35 come back."
This year, he said, he wondered if there were more people out there that might be interested in the game.
"I reached out to my Facebook contacts and put out feelers and I had over 100 inquiries," Allen said. "And right now, we're sitting at about 26 new members."
The new participants that have signed up include an 11-year-old and a 90-year-old, he said, as well as people in their 40s and 50s.
The club is currently open three weeknights: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and two mornings: Tuesday and Thursday.
"We're also running a league after we're in step two," said Allen, the club has the capacity to offer varying levels of play.
And the club has other advantages, too, he said.
"One, it's very social and recreational," Allen said. "But we do have play that play at the provincial level and go to championships and tournaments. There's an opportunity for members to play competitively. We have four certified coaches, we can make up teams for people, and we can get people involved at whatever level they want."
As well, he said, there are tools available to make accommodations for those that have varying abilities.
"We try to adapt our game for different abilities. And we can make accommodations for people with different needs," Allen said, adding, "We have a ramp and we have a wheelchair accessible washrooms."
The game itself, he said, is not rigorous in the aerobic sense.
"You do have to walk up and down the rink, 100 feet each way, and you make at least 20 trips up and down during a game," Allen said. Aside from that, he added, "You have to bend and get down really low."
The lawn currently has six rinks (100 feet in length) reduced last year from eight, because during COVID last year the rinks were widened to help people follow social distancing rules, he said. At some point, Allen added, the idea is to go back to eight rinks.
There are also six tournament-length rinks that are 120 feet in length.
