50 years on the greens earns honour
Reflecting on more than half a century spent on Goldfields lawn bowls greens, Betty Lamotte summed up her love affair with the sport in a simple manner.
"I really can't imagine my life without my interest in bowls," she said.
Lamotte has been a stalwart of the sport in the region since 1964 when she joined the Kalgoorlie Railways Ladies Bowling Club.
Her more than 50 years of service was formally recognised last month with life membership of the Kalgoorlie Bowling Club, which her club merged with in 2010.
Joining Railways as a 34-year-old, she said the choice to head down was one of the best decisions she ever made."
"My husband Jim was always a bowler … so he was spending a lot of time there so I decided I would give it a try," she said.
"I had never been involved with any sports since I left school, but I had a friend across the road at the ladies' club who was a member."
Despite her husband passing away in 1986, Lamotte continued her love affair with the local game.
She became arguably the most loyal servant of the ladies' club, holding almost every role imaginable, including a stint as president.
The decision to amalgamate with the Kalgoorlie Bowling Club was made in 2010 after the KBC secured a grant to upgrade to synthetic greens.
Lamotte said there were mixed emotions about the move.
"It's been a wonderful club and we still will be a wonderful club- all we're doing is shifting across the road," she said at the time.
"It's held so many happy memories for me - I've had a little cry, but we're getting past that now.
"I think everyone is excited in their own way and I'm sure once we settle in, it will be just the same."
Almost five years later, with the club settled in on the other side of Maritana Street, Lamotte said the shift had been for the best.
"I was very unhappy about it, because I had been there for 47 years, but it turned out to be the best thing we've ever done," she said.
The ladies' club has gone from strength to strength at its new premises, with membership numbers rising along with interest in the sport.
Despite the countless ends played to go along with the wins and losses, the 84-year-old said it was the people she had met over the years she would cherish the most from her time in the sport.
"The companionship you get over the years and the many, many friendships I've formed with the ladies is what I treasure the most," she said.
"I consider all the ladies down at the club some of my closest friends."
