8 — THE BULLETIN — Thursday. July 29.1982
inSTORIC PHOTO was takm InTthe sim^ Country Ouby the firet Jewish golf club located in West Vancouver ndirt^^ mouth o^Hoiwe Soiiiid;^^
a 70-acre luhe^iole golf coiurse.^^^^^
|n«sident;Myer Brown, first vice-p^^ » (From ffonf^ri
• Be
Rwhmond Goffqnd Cqun^
from
RUBY FOOD
650 Industrial Ave.
687-1611
Congratulations Richmond Golf and Country Club
from
DESIGNER FURNITURE GALLERIES INCORP.
901 Homer St
7-1246
Richmond Golf and Country^^C^^
Suppliers of Metal Lockers, Toilet Partitions and WasHrooin Accessories
SHANAHAN'S LTD.
8400- t24tli Street Surrey. B.C. 591-5111
Cpngntul9Uon8 and Best Wishes Richmond Goli and
Country Cluh
on f our Giand 0/»nlng
Manufacturers of custom contract
(Continued from I^g^ 7)
lower amoutit^hd would thelextra-'mpn^ '-r .     - ■
One of the best ti^surere the club was fortunate to bbtam tinie was long til^ Golf Pro, Ben C^^ known as-tjte d«»^ ELC^
Colk spei# hoiire ^rganiang the golf cdui^ and
t)articular tiiM the system was being constructed and he devel-ojJed a^tapi>p^ ?with^^ s^^ foremen building the highway system. Subsequently, many trees were salvaged and mbyed to the golf course, where they iare magnificently displayed to this day.
Richmond Country. Club was beginning to be; recognized as a competent -facility/ It joihed the PNGA and David Sears was honored for his work in prdmoting the sport of golf by being fliade a director of that association. Another barrier was filially broken when Sears was also welcomed as a member of the B.C. Seniors Association, which had never had a Jewish member up to that time.
So in 1957, Richmond Country Club was bom, encompassing almost 140 fine acres. It was truly a tremendous accomplishment.
The first clubhouse was constructed by Alviri NarOd of Narpd Construction. It was recognized as an outstanding structure for its time and membership began to flourish for several years.
During the sixties, the Canadian economy was in fair shape and more Jewish faniilies were immigrating to, beautiful British Coldmbia. However, the Jewish population was far less in numbers than other Canadian cities, and it was difficult to maintain the club*s identity. ^
The membership enjoyed some memorable times at theclub, with an abundance of social events and tournaments. The membership^ children were growing up which led to expansion of the clubhouse to
- . V
furniture
5971 R«g«inf St.
North BufiHibyi, B.C
291-7551
First Jewlsli golf club opened summer 1952
include a swimming pool and three outdoor tennis courts. Although the club experienced some fmancial turbulence during these eariy days, it was still the central core for many of the Jewish families within the community.
As the seventies arrived, Richmond Country Club ;emered a period of serious decline in its membership. The children were indeed growing up and were not as imerested in the facility as their parents had been.
In addition, the state of the ecohomy contributed to making times difficult for many. Membership drives were not totally successful, but the membership continued to make their facility a very pleasant and relaxing place to bring their families. Many members will always l^emember the Bar-Mitzvahs and weddings of their children, as the cliib was used extensively for sim-chas.
And then — on October 22, 1979 — a disastrous fire followed one of the best social evenings the Club ever held — the 1979 President's Ball.
Richmond Country Club membership was in shock. It was hard for members to believe that after so much work the entire clubhouse
facility could be wiped out in a few hours.
However, this was the time for strong and organized leadership. Emergency board meetings were called following the disaster. David Stuart, president at that time, began to organize the game plan with helji from the board of directors and board of governors.
The golf course was still operational, as were the swimming pool and outdoor tennis courts. But much had to be done so that some sort of club could continue to operate until plans were formulated for the future.
With the hard work of both membership and staff, a temporary facility was initiated. After months of dealing with insurance companies and other legal and operational problems, it was time to decide. Rebuild? Of course — but what ^should be built? Funds were insufficient to rebuild what had existed, and to compound the problem, average age of the male membership was in the sixties. -
The answer was clear. If Richmond was to survive, it would have to encourage younger families, to join or else face a tremendous financial burden on the existing membership. Even to construct a (Continued on Page 9) See: AFTER FIRE
Congratulations to tlio Richmond GbtfancI Country Cliib
NELSON'S ACME LINEN and INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY
5 West 4Ui Ave. 876-3272
ENGINEERING CO. LTD, Consulting Professional Engineers
Congratulations Richmond Golf and Country Club
214 - 545 Clyde Ave., West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V7T 1C5 Phone (604) 926-3207 •Cable: Keeneng
J'
To
Richmond Golf & Country Club on the opening of theirnew facilities
From
PAINTING AND DECORATING LTD.
Supplier of:
PAINTING DESCO RACQUET BALL COURT INSTALLATIONS SPECIAL WALL COATINGS
6750 JuUlee Avenue
Bumaby, B.C. V5H 3GS 437-9494