Easton has grounds to celebrate 25 years at Boat Club

Easton, who lives in Harbury, received the award from club captain James Alty at the Mark Easton Triples tournament, an event he has sponsored for the past ten years.

“Mark has done tremendous work for the club over the past 25 years,” said Alty. “As well as mowing the bowling green six days a week in the summer, he maintains the 11 tennis courts, organises irrigation, and looks after the shrubs, flowerbeds and general maintenance of the grounds.

“Despite his workload he is always prepared to help with anything else that needs doing around the club. He knows everybody and how everything works – all of which helps us provide fantastic sporting and social facilities for our members.”

Easton said: “When I was first asked to take on the job I thought I’d do it for a couple of years to see how it went. Now it’s been 25 years and I’ve loved every minute of it - both the quiet times down by the river and the busiest tournament events.”

The former Harbury union rugby player said the idea of sponsoring an annual bowls tournament emerged from a conversation with former bowls section captain Stan Brophy.

“The triples tournament is unusual in that both men and women take part,” added Easton.

Vivienne Griffin skipped Richard Lee and Jean Thorne to victory in the keenly contested triples tournament which featured 11 teams from the club.