LOCALS have rallied around Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club, helping it to get back in the black, and rescuing it from the brink.
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New staff and modern initiatives, including regular entertainment and a customer courtesy bus, have helped to turn the venue around.
And locals have embraced the changes.
"We got new staff in with modern thinking and modern procedures, and things really started to happen," the club's vice-president Paul Jacka said.
"It's terrific. There's a buzz about the joint now."
It was a different story in 2014.
In July last year, officials at the historic club turned to the Lakes Mail to make a desperate plea for patronage.
The simple message to the community was: "Please come down and support us, because if you don't, we won't be here."
This week, the club revealed the community had responded in droves.
Mr Jacka said the club's annual operating profit of $55,000 for the 12 months to March 31 (the end of the club's financial year) represented a turnaround of $120,000 on the previous 12 months.
Club director Glenn Carruthers said the transformation was particularly evident every Sunday afternoon.
"We always have a lot of young families here with kids running around in the beer garden. It's great," Mr Carruthers said.
Vice-president Di Dawes said live music at the club every Sunday afternoon, and on the last Friday night of the month, was a crowd puller.
"The entertainment has been received really well, and the courtesy bus has been reinstated on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays," she said.
Experienced hospitality managers Peter Blundell and Leanne Jones, and caterers Donna McGrath and Trent Koppman, had brought expertise, professionalism and enthusiasm to the club, which was now also a popular venue for functions, she said.
Good times ahead
THE Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club board is now planning to build on the venue's success, with proposals to expand its beer garden in time for summer, and to possibly increase its operating hours during daylight saving.
It is also saving to fund ongoing maintenance, and the replacement of a bowling green.
Historic surprise
THE bowling club building is heritage listed and owned by Lake Macquarie City Council.
It was originally the officers’ mess for the RAAF’s flying boat base at Rathmines from 1941.
It is adorned with memorabilia from the Catalinas and defence force personnel who were based there.
In wartime, the base was a military secret. For at least some locals, that low profile has endured.
‘‘After the story in the Lakes Mail last year, we had some local people coming here who said they never knew the place existed,’’ vice-president Paul Jacka said.
The club has since set about raising its profile.
It advertises in the Lakes Mail, has a website, and a Facebook presence.
Mr Jacka said the Lakes Mail article had proved the catalyst for the club’s transformation.
‘‘Membership just went ‘wooshka!’ after that article,’’ he said.
The council had played its part in the club’s revival by providing rental relief, and boosting signage to the club in Rathmines, Mr Jacka said.
