Greens keep 90-year-old bowler busy and challenged
"I'm going to keep playing until I can't play anymore because it keeps me going."
IF ONE should know anything about bowls, it is that there is always room for improvement, no matter how many years of playing experience one has.
One such bowler is Yuleen ‘Kitty’ Schafer, née Kidwell, who has played bowls for most of her adult life.
“I really enjoy playing bowls and my other half, Steve, has also been playing for many years. The thing with bowls is that you always strive to be better,” she said.
“I’m going to keep playing until I can’t play anymore because it keeps me going. If you have never played bowls before, try it, it is good exercise and even if you are not good at it in the beginning, just do your best, you will get better as time goes by.”
As a long-time member of the Wentworth Bowling Club, Kitty won the trips for women and the fours for two consecutive years and received certificates for both events.
As a Bluff resident for more than 40 years, she is well-known throughout the area. She owned a pet shop back in the day, which was situated on Lighthouse Road, and that is how she came to know most of the townsfolk. Kitty was also an honorary life member at the Dutch Club back then.
“I’ve been a resident on the Bluff ever since I had my pet shop. I had the shop for more than 20 years, this is why they call me a legend on the Bluff because everybody knew me. A lot of people still recognise me,” she said.
Judging by some of the stories she remembers from the shop, it is safe to say owning the business was one of her life’s highlights. She recalled a hilarious story of meeting a man she had chased away from the shop years ago at the bowling club.
“He greeted me and told me that he recognised me. He told everybody that I chased him out of the shop. I said, ‘Do you know why? He used to come in every second day to buy a mouse. And one day I asked him what he did with all the mice and he said he fed them to his snakes and I chased him out immediately,” she said.
She described herself as a lifelong career woman. The many jobs she had included working for a sewing and knitting machine company as well as being in the property business on and off. Speaking on the changes on the Bluff, she said, “There is a big improvement in the area since then. There was a movie theatre in my day.”
To keep busy, Kitty crochets bath mats and makes macramés. She also sews a lot of clothes with the two industrial sewing machines she owns, which she then sell.
“I keep myself busy. I can’t be idle, even if I’m watching television, I have to do something, like crocheting. I can’t just watch TV without keeping my hands busy. I’m not scared to try anything new, even now,” she added.
