Cooperative Living March 2024 - 4

OUR COMMUNITIES
Cooperative Living
ISSN 1529-4579
VOL. 79, NO. 3 ●
OUR MISSION
To inform you about your cooperative and
its eff orts to serve your energy needs; how to
use electricity safely and effi ciently; and the
people who defi ne and enhance the quality of
life in communities served by electric co-ops.
GREGG MACDONALD * Executive Editor
LAURA EMERY * Deputy Editor
JOHN GROTT * Creative Services Coordinator
SONJA KINNEY * Advertising Account Representative
JIM ROBERTSON * Manager of Member Services
TOMMY CAMPBELL * Digital Producer
NINA JACOBS * Production Coordinator
Published by the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware
Association of Electric Cooperatives
C. MICHAEL SANDRIDGE * Chair
GEORGE N. GOIN * Vice Chair
FRANK W. BACON * Secretary/Treasurer
BRIAN S. MOSIER* President & CEO
Board of Directors: Christopher D. Bott, Belvin Williamson Jr., A&N;
C. Michael Sandridge, Bill Buchanan, BARC; George N. Goin,
Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E. Arnold, Micheal E. Malandro,
Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett, Steven A. Harmon, Community;
James E. Huff man, Jeff M. Ahearn, Craig-Botetourt; Patricia S. Dorey,
Rob A. Book, Delaware; Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee Jr., Mecklenburg;
Russell G. Brown, Brad H. Hicks, Northern Neck; Wade C. House,
David E. Schleicher, Northern Virginia; David T. Kindle, M. Brad Coppock,
Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick, Sarat K. Yellepeddi, Prince George;
Sanford Reaves Jr., John D. Hewa, Rappahannock; G. Todd Van Horn,
Greg S. Rogers, Shenandoah Valley; Frank W. Bacon, Jason C. Loehr,
Southside.
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Association of Electric Cooperatives. POSTMASTER,
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with these standards, they are asked to inform the Association.
Ireland, 1803
On the Road Again
Irish Road Bowling is a St. Patrick's Day tradition
by Gregg MacDonald, Staff Writer
WANT TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND TRULY IRISH THIS ST. PATRICK'S DAY?
How about getting together with three of your closest friends and each taking turns
throwing a 2-pound ball made of steel and iron down a road about a half-dozen
times? In Staunton, Va., they have been doing it every St. Patrick's Day for the last
decade and loving it.
decade and loving it.
It's called Irish Road Bowling and its history is as interesting as the game, which is
scored pretty much like golf but played with a 28-ounce metal ball, or " bowl, " thrown
underhand by each player.
According to avid player John Byrer who brought the game to Staunton from West
Virginia, the sport of Irish Road Bowling can be traced back to 1600s Ireland, when it
was originally played with military cannon balls.
" One story is that Dutch soldiers brought the game with them when William of Orange
came to Ireland in 1689, " he says. " Another legend says that it started when Irish patriots
robbed English cannonballs one fateful night and rolled them down a country lane by
the light of a full moon. "
Irish immigrants eventually brought the game to America and are believed to have
played it during both the American Revolutionary and Civil War.
" Irish troops have traditionally played road bowling wherever they were stationed
around the world, usually between battles, " says Dave Powell of West Virginia Irish Road
Bowling. " We have been playing it here since 1995, when on March 18 of that year, the
fi rst offi cial Irish Road Bowling match since the Civil War was played in West Virginia. "
Byrer left West Virginia in 2014 and moved to Staunton, bringing the game with him.
He introduced it to Steve Taetzsch of Staunton Parks & Recreation Department, who
began holding annual matches on St. Patrick's Day in Staunton's Montgomery Hall Park
beginning in 2015.
" People love it, " Taetzsch says. " They generally play in threesomes or foursomes,
like golf. Some teams decorate their metal bowls with their team colors. "
Players take turns standing behind a mark and throwing their bowl as far as possible
down a road. Their teammates are stationed 20 to 30 yards ahead of them to note where
the bowl eventually stops. If it lands on the road, that spot is marked with chalk. If the
bowl lands off the road, it is brought back to the road at the same distance and marked
there. The goal is to reach the 1.5-mile marker with the fewest throws.
This year's match will be held on Saturday, March 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
at Mongomery Hall Park in Staunton.
*
Please recycle.
2 * Cooperative Living * March 2024
For more, call the Staunton Parks & Recreation offi ce at 540-332-3945.
co-opliving.com
Irish Road Bowling
in Staunton, Va.
PHOTO COURTESY STEVE TAETZSCH
INSET PHOTO COURTESY DAVE POWELL

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Cooperative Living March 2024

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