Fry’s brought the curtain down on a successful season, which also came with some sadness with the passing of two members who have both made a significant contribution to the club.
In June we lost the Club Chairman, Peter Fiedor. A popular figure at the club, Peter took over as Vice Chairman in 2021, before stepping up to Chairman in 2023. Peter spent considerable time developing the club’s relationship with St Monica’s Trust, which helped the club receive the funding to get the clubhouse exterior re-clad over the winter, with future renovations in the plans. Peter passed in June following illness. A memorial bench has been purchased, with a donation from St Monica’s Trust.
Also in June we lost Life Member and the club’s longest Brian Hill. Brian joined the club in 1959 after playing in the chocolate factory’s interdepartmental competition. Over the years, Brian gave countless hours to the club in various roles, along with the maintenance on the clubhouse. Brian was elected as a Life Member in 1997. In 2019, the club held a celebration match to celebrate his 60th year of club membership. A lasting memorial was made in 2023 when the bar was named Brian Hill’s Bar. The club held an evening to remember Peter and Brian in July with tributes made by Eric Jones and Roger Loader.
Triples League Cup:
On the green, Fry’s rounded out the season with the Triples League Final. St Anne’s Park was the venue for the match against last year’s winners and local rivals Keynsham. Having lost to Keynsham in the league a few weeks earlier, Fry’s went into the game as underdogs. Fry’s started well on two rinks, but a poor start on the third rink saw Keynsham pull out a 15-shot lead, leaving the game in the balance. A change in tactics saw Fry’s get back into the game, cheered on by the spectators, closing the gap to a single shot at the end of the game. This gave the other two rinks confidence as Fry’s pushed on to wrap up a 55-41 victory, taking their first Triples League cup title. Scores: Rink 1: 17-9; Rink 2: 19-12; Rink 3: 19-20; Fry’s 55-41 Keynsham.
Club Competitions:
Fry’s internal competitions came to close at the start of September during the club finals day. The pairs final saw last year’s winner Eric Jones paired with last year’s runner up Barry Smale play Jeff Budd and Dean Thomas. The pairing of Eric and Barry took the title, with Eric picking up his second title of the day, having earlier won the Over 70’s taking a comfortable win against Roger Loader. Two former Bristol St George players in Wednesday Captain Bob Eales and Graham Jury played out the Novice Final. Bob would see off a comeback from Graham as Bob took his first title at Fry’s. For the second year in a row, a triple crown was up for grabs as Jonathan Day took part in 3 finals. This was completed with relative ease with wins in the Two Wood and Handicap over last years triple crown winner Stephen Day, and victory in a short-lived match in the championship final against Dean Thomas. Earlier in the season, Andrew Nicholls, Steve Nicholls and Graham Sheppard won the annual Triples Competition.