St Kilda club life member Henry Hollander has been involved
in bowls for more than 50 years. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
The nation remembers Henry Hollander's wedding day- the
day Don Clarke kicked the All Blacks to an 18-17 win against
the Lions at Carisbrook.
Every sports follower can recall Clarke's six penalty goals
but only a handful of people know that Hollander married June
Crawford of Tapanui on the same day, July 18, 1959.
"We held the wedding in the morning so that the guests could
go to the rugby in the afternoon," Hollander recalled.
The year was significant for Hollander (79) on two other
counts. He started playing bowls and became a member of the
Royal Arch Freemasonry.
He started playing bowls when he was a police constable at
Milton.
"I was friends with the station master and he took me over to
the green one day to watch a game of bowls," Hollander said.
"I was fascinated by the way the bowls took the bias and
curled around behind the jack. I was hooked."
Hollander bought his first set of second-hand standard 5
bowls for 5.
A new set today would cost between $500 and $800. A country
policeman, Hollander changed clubs when transferred in his
job.
He was a member of the Milton (1959-64), Cheviot (1965-73)
and Palmerston (1973-84) clubs.
When he retired from the police he joined Leith in 1984 and
St Kilda in 1997.
Hollander never had claims of being an elite bowler, but he
won four Eastern District sub-centre titles and represented
the Dunedin Centre from 1976 to 1980 and Eastern Districts
from 1974 to 1984.
It was in administration that Hollander first made his mark
and he was at various times president of the Cheviot,
Palmerston, Leith and St Kilda clubs.
He was made a life member at St Kilda last year.
Hollander joined the Bowls Dunedin Umpires Association in
1981 and qualified as a badged umpire six years later.
He became secretary-treasurer of the Dunedin Bowling Umpires
Association in 1989 and held the position for 18 years.
It is an an umpire that Hollander has made his biggest
contribution.
He was co-ordinating umpire when the Asia and Pacific Bowls
championships were held in Dunedin in 1995 and was chief
umpire for the national championships at Dunedin in 1996-97.
He was made a life member of the New Zealand Umpires
Association a year later.
That is the aspect of bowls he has enjoyed most.
"I enjoyed teaching bowlers the laws of the game and have
done that for many years," he said.
At a glance
The Hollander file
Age: 79.
Wife: June (nee Crawford)Occupation: Retired police
officer.
Bowling clubs: Milton, Cheviot, Palmerston, Leith, St
Kilda (life-member).
Honours: QSM (1979), Life member NZ Bowling Umpires
Association (1998) and St Kilda Bowling Club (2009).
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