Share your Croquet & High Tea experiences
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Dalby Croquet Club's comprehensive outreach—newspaper ads, posters, invitations, and Facebook—proved highly effective, attracting 21 visitors, 15 of whom were new to golf croquet. Ten dedicated members volunteered to host a lavish high tea and provide expert instruction, while others ensured comfortable seating and shelter. This successful event, even catching the eye of a curious daytime possum, has already spurred immediate interest, with one new member returning for lessons and others scheduled. The club is now exploring a new playing day to accommodate potential players with weekday work commitments.
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@blanagan This absolutely fantastic. What a great result for your club.
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Eildon Croquet Club held its rescheduled event on Saturday 5 April. Despite predictions of showers, the afternoon was wonderful, if a tiny bit humid for the time of year. Thanks to our members for making guests feel so welcome, for showing them the basics of the game, and then for treating them to a sumptuous afternoon tea. Special mention goes to Louise, who made 80 cupcakes!
We are planning a low-key followup where we thank our guests for coming along, and invite them to get in touch if they would like to learn more.
We were also very pleased to welcome our State member, Kerri-Anne Dooley, MP for Redcliffe. Kerri-Anne spoke about the importance of celebrating women in sport, a special theme behind this Qld State Government grant-funded initiative.
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What Windsor did for the High Tea, Come & Try?
Upon hearing from CAQ about the High Tea, we had 3 people assigned to coordinate the event. Judy, Julie and Jenny - yes the three Js.
We discussed how the day would run, time, helpers and what food we would provide.
An email was sent to members asking for help with baking, setting up, teaching and anything else that was required. We had a fantastic response.
When the banners arrived for the posters, we added our information to this. At a suggestion from my daughter, reference was made to both Bridgerton and Alice in Wonderland in the flyer. Maybe that was the secret to getting so many responses. Who knows?
The flyer was emailed to all members with a request that they forward onto any of their contacts. Flyers were printed off and were posted in the local shopping centre, local library and a few were letterbox dropped in the surrounding streets.
As well as the Windsor Croquet Club Facebook page, the flyer was also published on the local page for the Windsor area.
The event was planned for Saturday 8 March and we had 32 registered guests (we can only take that many on the courts) and 15 people on the waitlist. Cyclone Alfred changed all that!
The event was rescheduled for Saturday 22 March. An email was sent to all those who had registered first, giving them first dibs at the new date. We then sent the email and flyer to those on the waitlist as well as re-advertising on Facebook. Thirty one people were registered to attend and 28 turned up on the day.
The day before the event, we cleaned the club house and set the table up so there was minimal work to be done on the day. Commencement time was 10:00am
On the day, we had 2 people greeting the guests. Guests were asked to sing in, then ushered to another member who gave them a mallet and assigned them to one of the instructors. It was a hot day but everyone enjoyed themselves. They played for an hour and then came in for high tea.
The tables were set out with the fanciest cups, saucers, plates and teapots. As well as some beautiful cake stands, most were provided by members. We had flowers on every table. There was so much delicious food. Those who have a gluten free diet were not forgotten (because I am gluten free). Their food was set out on a table at the back of the room to ensure no cross contamination. I also made a list of ingredients for every gluten free food item.
There was more than enough food. The chatter and laughter in the room was fantastic.Everyone was really enjoying themselves. People complimented members on how much fun they had, how they enjoyed themselves and they also said that they felt so welcome. It really was a great day. Several people asked for membership forms and so far 4 returned the following week. Then rain has prevented them from coming again.
Reflections - The high tea, although successful and a lot of fun, was a lot of work and required a lot of input from the members. A morning tea is much easier and takes a lot of pressure off everyone. Maybe even limit the number of attendees.
WE held a second Come and Try today - next post has all the info.
Regards
Judy
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Windsor’s Second Come & Try 12 April 2025
So as not to deter those who were on the waitlist, it was decided to hold another Come & Try. This was held on Saturday 12 April. The event was advertised in the same places as the first one. The response was not as good as the first one. Twelve people registered for the second Come and Try. Everything was run the same as the first event, with the exception that we offered morning tea, not high tea.
Of course, rain was forecast and didn’t disappoint. An email was sent to all attendees the night before advising we would still be holding the event as only showers were forecast. Fortunately it didn't rain for the time out guests were on the lawns. Only 8 of those registered turned up. All of these 8 people were connected to members of the club.
Our guests had just as much fun as those at the high tea. I felt that with the smaller number, it was much easier to sit with the guests and tell them all about croquet. One person is going on holiday in May and vows to return after his holiday. Another couple were very interested and vowed to return soon. Two younger players enjoyed themselves and thought they would come back as casuals on Saturday.
Although the days require a lot of organisation and help from members, they were enjoyable and hopefully we can convert some of them into members.
One thing that was a key element was to communicate with members and guests. Emails were sent to members to keep them up to date with happenings and also setting out who would be doing each task. I also sent reminder emails to guests about the day and reminding them to bring a hat, water bottle and wear flat soled shoes.
Regards
Judy!
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ISIS CROQUET CLUB – CROQUET & HIGH TEA – SATURDAY, 22ND MARCH, 2025
Isis club held their ‘Croquet & High Tea’ on Saturday, 22nd March, 2025 between 2 & 4 pm.
Advertising was through Facebook, 2 newspapers, a Volunteer Day, posters in shop windows in Childers & Woodgate, and word of mouth.
We had 7 RSVPs and 6 attended. 5 were introduced to the game of Golf and Ricochet, (half an hour for each) while 1 was an elderly Life Member.
Everyone enjoyed their High Tea supplied by the Club members and also attended by 7 of our members. Although the number was small, it was more personal and everyone could join in the conversations.
At the end of the afternoon, one attendee indicated that they would be back the following week and two
more would return when the weather was a little cooler.That one attendee has since been back and enjoying her free lessons and indicated that she will stay on.
All in all it was considered a great success. Thankyou CAQ for giving us this opportunity.
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Moreton Bay Gateball Club held our Gateball and High Tea at Deception Bay on Saturday 10 May at 2pm. It was a very successful afternoon with 38 people in attendance. Only 10 of those were members. We loved the idea of promoting women in sport and ended up with 29 of our attendees being women.
We shared the flyer on Facebook, put one up in the local shopping centre and gave to members for distribution to their contacts.
The weather looked pretty bleak early on, but fined up beautifully about 3pm and we got to show our visitors how much fun you can have playing Gateball. There was lots of laughing and cheering, and it was a really lovely afternoon.
The afternoon tea was delicious. We chose to purchase a lot rather than have our volunteers spend a lot of time baking, and I think that was a good idea.
The only thing we'd do differently next time is not call it a High Tea as that involved a lot of work, with the beautiful crockery and teapots etc. We'd simply have an afternoon tea. We probably didn't have to go to as much effort as we did, but our volunteers really got into the spirit of it.
During the day. we had 2 people enquire about the cost of membership, and many others saying they intend on returning, so all in all, a very successful day.
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Moreton Bay Gateball Club held our Gateball and High Tea at Deception Bay on Saturday 10 May at 2pm. It was a very successful afternoon with 38 people in attendance. Only 10 of those were members. We loved the idea of promoting women in sport and ended up with 29 of our attendees being women.
We shared the flyer on Facebook, put one up in the local shopping centre and gave to members for distribution to their contacts.
The weather looked pretty bleak early on, but fined up beautifully about 3pm and we got to show our visitors how much fun you can have playing Gateball. There was lots of laughing and cheering, and it was a really lovely afternoon.
The afternoon tea was delicious. We chose to purchase a lot rather than have our volunteers spend a lot of time baking, and I think that was a good idea.
The only thing we'd do differently next time is not call it a High Tea as that involved a lot of work, with the beautiful crockery and teapots etc. We'd simply have an afternoon tea. We probably didn't have to go to as much effort as we did, but our volunteers really got into the spirit of it.
During the day. we had 2 people enquire about the cost of membership, and many others saying they intend on returning, so all in all, a very successful day.
@MargoPorter Sounds like a very successful afternoon Margo. That's a lot of guests. So pleased that the weather fined up for you. Have you some photos to share?
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Range Croquet Maleny Report
Prepared by David KerrOur Hoops and High Tea event last Saturday was a sweet success thanks to people from groups including the showground dog walkers, Zonta, a local church, and family and friends. Few if any had tried croquet before and many later commented on how it is a joyful challenge. Some will be coming back to take advantage of the six free lessons that our club offers. That offer is always open to others should you like to give it a go. The day also featured a morning tea worthy of a royal visit. This was supplied by club members who also participated in setting up for the day on and off the courts. Thanks to those ladies!
Our club players are doing well in the Sunshine Coast regional Ricochet competition, where Maleny leads after five matches. Ricochet players are Dianne Horsman, Sarah Widin and Sam Oaten. In the Association Croquet, club champion Donna Manning recently competed in a Croquet Queensland event at Toombul, the “eights and the sixes”, coming a close third – well done Donna.
Our winter playing hours are as follows: coaching from 8:00am to 10:00am on Saturdays, Association on Thursdays and Sundays from 1:30pm to 4pm, Ricochet on Tuesdays (8am for an 8.30 start) and Golf Croquet 8am (as arranged). To find out more about learning croquet or how our club could provide a fun activity for your group or work team please contact President Sarah Widin on 0417640704.
