Bluewater councillors were happy to receive a presentation from the Bayfield Croquet Club at their last meeting, partly because the request was only for support, not money.
Croquet Club Facilities Manager Jerry Selk explained they have three courts and they have steel and plastic temporary shelters between the courts to protect spectators from rain and sun.
"They get weather-beaten, they don't stand up and every season we have at least one of the canopies get blown apart and blown off the court and then every season we have a bunch of old guys, like myself, going out and lifting these 70-pound anchor blocks and constructing these shelters that protect you from the rain and sun.”
They are proposing to build three permanent shelters, made of wood and to do that they're going to have to raise some money and get some grants and they need an endorsement from the municipality to do that. Selk also points out the croquet courts get more use in a season than most people realize.
“We actually run an international tournament. We get people coming from Victoria, B. C. and Australia and the U. K. and Portugal, but without taking that into consideration, we have internal tournaments and we played more than 700 games in the tournament this year.”
Selk says it cost about 40-thousand dollars to do the main shelter and about 80-thousand dollars to do three. Council agreed to write a letter of support.