It’s going to be a sad day . . . the funeral of former League secretary, president and life member Jeff Hutchinson finally takes place tomorrow – Friday 5th May – at 3.30pm at All Saints Parish Church in Wellington.
It will be followed by cremation at Telford Crematorium at 4.30pm and then a wake at the Sir John Bayley Club, where Jeff spent many happy hours with his many bowling friends.
The Bayley’s A and B teams have called off their Friday games, as many of their players want to attend the funeral, and the club’s Premier League side have reversed their fixture and will now travel to face Burway in Ludlow.
As a mark of respect to this legend of Mid Shropshire and indeed county bowls, the League have requested that all teams hold a minute’s silence before their games on Friday night as a final tribute to Jeff.
It is the very least we can ask for to mark the funeral of a great servant of our game. RIP Jeff.
And in a fitting twist, the No.1 green at the Bayley will be the venue for the first finals of the new Monday Night Merit on 8th May, starting at 6.30pm.
An encouraging 40-plus bowlers entered qualifying sessions at Sinclair, Madeley CC and Trench – and the list of finalists can be seen under Competition News.