History

May 25, 1925 marked the official opening of Mayfair Lawn Bowling Club.  The club was formed by early Saskatoon settlers of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh ancestry. It began operation as a men’s club and a few years later a women’s section was begun but they were permitted to bowl only in the afternoon.  The women were instrumental in raising funds for a new club house in the late 20s.  Originally the north green was installed, however, with the increase in membership, a second green was required.  Ditches and bank boards replaced string around the greens in 1956. Through a grant from the Government of Saskatchewan matched by the City of Saskatoon, a new clubhouse with attached equipment shed was built and officially opened in 1982. Recently a prefabricated tool shed has been installed to house our bowling and greens equipment.

Maintenance of the greens has been provided by members who are reimbursed for their service. Due to declining membership we have had to apply to the City of Saskatoon and to Bowls Saskatchewan for grants and do fundraising projects in order to maintain our club.  The Learn to Bowl program for high school students provides substantial income but also introduces the sport of bowling to hundreds of youth every year.  We are grateful for our business sponsors who are recognized on our new score boards.  The Medicine Shoppe has sponsored our Victoria Day pancake breakfast for many years, and The Bill Edwards Family Centre sponsors our New Zealand 5 season opening tournament which has become very popular attracting participants from other clubs in the province.

In the early years membership grew steadily reaching an all-time high of 125 in 1929. Mayfair has a majority of seniors as members, but has always had a mixture of age groups including children over the years. For the past ten years our membership has remained stable at 30 to 35, but in recent years more employed people in the 30 to 50 year age range are becoming interested in bowling. To accommodate those who may not be able to commit to regular attendance we now have jitney bowling on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, drop-in bowling on Wednesday mornings, and family bowling on Wednesday evenings. Some Mayfair members also enjoy competitive bowling and have won bronze, silver and gold medals in competitions at the provincial and national levels throughout our 90 year history as a club.