Five brothers walked into a lawn bowls club in Shepparton.
It’s not the lead-in to a joke, but rather the story of a special moment for the Dickinson family at Shepparton Park Bowls Club last week.
The five Dickinson brothers — Phil, Kelvin, Bryan, Don and Reg — are spread across Victoria and even interstate, but Thursday last week they were all in Shepparton competing in a tournament together for the first time.
Don said it was a special moment to be there with his brothers, but it was a loss in the family that brought them all together.
“What prompted us to play together more than anything was we lost a brother 18 months ago and not one of us could get to the funeral because of COVID,” Don said.
“We thought, there are a few bowlers amongst the family and we are all registered bowlers, and we really enjoy it, let’s do it.”
The quintet had hoped to share the green together last year, but it couldn’t quite get all five together. This time, however, it succeeded.
Playing together was about more than bowls itself, however, with the Dickinson family doing plenty of socialising too.
There were 12 members of the Dickinson family there, with plans to make the gathering a family tradition.
“We had dinner out twice and we are having morning tea somewhere as well,” Don said.
“We had a friendly roll to see what each other was like, because we didn’t know how each other would bowl, so that was a bit of help. It has been really good.
“Now that we have found it works so well, we will be inviting the rest of the family to come here to celebrate.”
The brothers are five of 12 siblings, with the family growing up at Numurkah.
Don bowls for East Shepparton and Reg plays at Nagambie, while oldest brother Kelvin and youngest brother Bryan have their home clubs in Melbourne.
“I have been playing for about 18 years, I have been the longest player, but Phil has only been playing for four years, so it is a good mixture,” Don said.
“Reg has been playing down at Nagambie for 10 years and Bryan about six years.
“We all have a bit of sport in our blood. We are not real competitive, but we enjoy it.”
Phil clocked up the most miles to get to the rink, having travelled from Brisbane to play alongside his brothers, while sister Marie Wynack made the trip across from Ballarat as well.
“We have a special appreciation for Phil to fly down to Shepparton for three days, it is fantastic,” Don said.
“For Marie to come over from Ballarat too, that was a great effort.”
The brothers got off to a hot start, winning their first four games in a row. They lost the last game of the day, finishing fourth overall.