The dinner format of the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s were considerably different than they are today. Roy McLaughlin and his wife were one of several caretakers that looked after our premises. At that time the club had numerous BBQ’d suppers. The club had both a beef & chicken BBQ. The chicken BBQ was under the roof of the storage shed while John DePape donated the beef BBQ to cook the beef roasts. Various members were “in Charge” of the menu and cooking from time to time. During this time frame members were responsible for the serving of the dinners. I recall that the last five arriving members were the serving crew for the evening. Roasts that were not consumed were auctioned to the attending club members. Palmer Hoem always paid three times the going rate but he said these excellent roasts kept peace in the family.
In the late 80’s the Rancho Caterers were contracted to cater our Wednesday meeting meals. They provided our “sit down meals” for many years.
In 1971 the shareholders decided that the Hole in the Wall shareholder and company structure should be revised. A committee chaired by Tom Branson proceeded with this project. Other committee members were Bill Simpson, John Peers,Fred Tunbridge, and Howie Carson. The extraordinary shareholder meeting to authorize the restructure was proposed by Tom Branson with Gerry McGaw as the seconder. This was approved in 1977. The resolution was officially recorded on October 28, 1978. The shareholders also decided that the that our club’s associate member number base should increase from 110 to 120. This remains to this day.
In 1982 our club held trap shoots that were organized and co-ordinated by Don Lobb. This trap shoot range was just south of the southwest corner of our lodge. Jim Lamson was a regular participant in these shoots. North of the club lodge was located the remnants of the clubs horseshoe pitch. Regular horseshoe pitching tournaments were held during the summer and took place prior to many Wednesday dinner meetings. Competition was fierce.
Evenings at the horse race track was organized by George Cruickshank. It consisted of dinner, drinks and horse racing. Eventually interest waned and this regular occurrence was discontinued.
A golf tournament was held every year with the Bull Swingers trophy being awarded to the best “club golfer” This tournament was a status event with the top guest golfer and best club golfer being fully recognized. In most years one of our club members was the “best golfer”. The retired Bull Swingers trophy currently sits on the fireplace mantle.