On September 3, for Labour Day at Norwood, the afternoon game was a version of the River game introduced at the Corn Roast at Tuxedo. For this version, two rivers were defined and 28 players performed a Portage (pronounced por-TAJ) between them. As well as being a break from regular bowls, it practised the weight control needed for a short end.
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| The two closest rinks have the river (pink mason lines) behind them and are bowling to the next river.
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| In the foreground, left, the rinks are bowling to the next river, picking their bowls from the river behind them. The lady (right) gives body English as her bowl approaches the camera. The jack is just off-camera. |
| In the background skips and team exchange positions. Centre, Alan prepares to deliver. Bottom, the jack has yet to be pushed into river but many of the bowls are already in the river...(Unless the jack is hit another four inches before the last bowl has come to rest, it will be a dead end.) Note that the jack has already been moved and has been marked by a coin (much as in golf during putting session). |
| Players (right) minding the head will remove a bowl that falls short of the river or overshoots the river--both being out-of-bounds. Although not visible in the photo, the jack is buried within the front cluster just over the front bank of the river. The danger is that the jack may be bounced back out of the river.
No player was drowned during the filming of this game.
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