Goondiwindi’s late bloomer
Fred Robertson is a true gentleman and still an active player at the Goondiwindi Bowls Club at the age of 96.
Fred was born in Ballan, Victoria in 1924. His father had a soldier’s settlement block of 320 acres in 1940 when all the work was done by draft horses. He lived in Victoria for 60 years before relocating to Queensland in 1984 with his wife and children. He still lives on the land and his property, Banaba, is 70km north-east of Goondiwindi. At first he ran mainly sheep but nowadays it is primarily cattle.
Fred said he could never understand why his father played bowls as it seemed a strange game to him! Now he has caught the bug and bowls has become the mainstay of his life. His neighbour saw him down the main street in Gundy one day and said that as he had flat sole shoes on he may as well come down to the club and have a go.
So Fred got into bowls and is a late bloomer. Fred’s weekly bowls means that he’s become quite skilled at competitions, as he reached the Men’s “A” Singles Semifinal in 2017.
He travels 70km into town every week with that same neighbour to have a rollup and enjoys nothing more than playing bowls with his mates and the social atmosphere at the club.
Contributor: Jill Hankins
