Opening of The John Rouse Memorial Green
On Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, The John Rouse Memorial Green was officially opened. In attendance were John's family, who are pictured beneath the unveiled plaque with our Vice President Michelle Dodson and President Sharon Gibbs. Despite a day of rain, our members showed unwavering support. Alisdair Smith delivered the opening speech to commemorate the occasion (a copy of the speech can be found below). After enjoying a few warm cups of tea and coffee, a brief respite from the rain allowed us to complete a few ends, marking the official opening of The John Rouse Memorial Green.
Bellow is the speach Alisdair Smith gave to open the green
John Rouse was a foundation member and a life member of our club, having been elected onto the foundation committee at a public meeting in 1983, where his skills as an engineer were instrumental in getting the club off the ground.
John was responsible for the layout of the whole site and designing the building, which, during these formative years needed constant amending and altering to meet the needs of a host of Government authorities and to appease issues raised by objectors. He was dealing with the CFA over fire regulation, the Liquor Control Commission, Board of Words, gas and electricity, drainage and sewage, soil testing, structural engineering issues, the Planning Appeals Tribunal etc etc … you have no idea how much work that entailed.
He served the club in many capacities, including president, green director, maintenance, and especially in a role we called project manager, as the club developed and evolved.
For instance, this green we are standing on. John was part of a committee that investigated switching to synthetic ... and worked closely with the contractors during its installation. Look around and you’ve got the club house, you’ve got the accessibility ramp, the bitumen on the front car park, the construction of the rear car park, the electronic gates, the original lights and new lighting system, and the electronic scoreboards. He was involved in them all.
There’s even an odd one in that John’s membership of the Southern Indoor Bowling Club enabled the club to receive around $80,000 when that club wound up and distributed its excess funds. Among the things that was spent on were new tables for the clubhouse, and brand new unform which we were able to give to members for free.
He was a key player in the forward planning of the club, which appeared on the monthly agenda of the board, as “the wish list”. It was a mish-mash of idea, really. some of them seemingly quite crazy and out of reach, but the idea was that if a Grant of any sort came up, we had the plans in place to immediately apply for it. Not only did John draw up the plans and do the costing, he was frequently responsible for submitting the grant application or liaising with people within the Government department. Put our solar panels in that category.
I should also mention John’s role in helping hold the club together during covid.
He was, of course, also very successful as a bowler. He was runner up in our first singles championship, and went on to win several, he was skip in our first rink to win an eight (I only mention that because I played with him that day) ... He skipped a rink that won by 40 shots. He skipped in our first Grand Final, and in a stint at Heathmont to test his ability, he skipped in Premier Division. Just check the honour boards and the pennant flags around the clubhouse.
To sum it up. Everywhere you care to look around this club probably had the hand of John Rouse in it. Everywhere you look you will find John’s legacy.
So It’s fitting we should honour that
