Retired Nurse Has Prescription to Win Lawn Bowling Tournaments

When Doreen Collins found that she could not keep up with her nursing job and her lawn bowling, she quit--the job.

Collins, 62, has devoted all her time to the sport since she left Long Beach Memorial Medical Center 10 years ago. “It is an addiction,” she admitted.

Since then, she has competed in lawn bowling tournaments throughout the world, picking up more than 100 awards, trophies and ribbons. Her lawn bowling pursuits have taken her to such destinations as Toronto, Seattle, Buck Hill Falls, Pa., and Papua, New Guinea. In 1985, she was chosen top bowler at the national tournament in Seattle. She picked up her most recent award at Buck Hill Falls, where her four-woman team took top prize at the American Women’s Lawn Bowling Assn. national open.

Collins competes in weekend tournaments all over the Southern California area, from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

Even though she has been slowed a bit by injuries to her back and leg from a recent car accident, Collins continues to participate.

Most days of the week, from 1 to 3 p.m., she can be found lawn bowling against the men and women at the Long Beach Lawn Bowling Club. The 50-year-old club, which is at Recreation Park on the city’s southeast side, has about 200 members.

The players, who dress in white clothing, compete on three greens, each with 126 square feet. Each player has four matching bowls, which are made of hard plastic and weigh 3 1/8 pounds. Points are awarded for bunching the most bowls nearest a small white ball called the jack. A game can last as long as two hours.

Although most of the players in the United States are senior citizens, people of all ages participate in other countries, Collins said. The sport is particularly popular in Australia, England and her native Canada, she said.

She is the only member of her immediate family who participates. “My husband just works,” she said. Her husband, James, 63, is an assistant purchasing manager for Jorgensen Steel and Aluminum Co. in Lynwood.

Her parents, Harold and Gladys Marshall, were avid lawn bowlers in Toronto. When the Marshalls visited her, Collins took them to the lawn bowling club in Long Beach. After watching them play, Collins became interested. Her father died several years ago, but her mother, now 86, still runs a lawn bowling tournament in Toronto.

Collins also teaches and gives seminars on lawn bowling.

And on Mondays, when the local club is closed, she relaxes at her Long Beach home and uses the time “to wash my whites.”

For the seventh year, bus driver Bill Reid has won the Long Beach Transit’s annual “Bus Roadeo” driving skills championship.

Reid finished first among 51 Long Beach Transit bus drivers competing in the recent daylong contest at Long Beach Veterans Stadium. To be eligible, drivers could not have any accidents or traffic tickets for the year.

The event, which is designed to sharpen bus operators’ driving and safety skills, included maneuvering a 40-foot bus through a series of hairpin turns.

For his first-place win, Reid won $200 and a plaque. The 53-year-old Long Beach resident also got a chance to travel to Houston and compete in the national bus-driving contest last month. More than 200 drivers from the United States and Canada competed in the national contest.

Javier Mora, 27, finished second in the local contest. Mora, who has driven a transit bus 2 1/2 years, won $100. Don Drone, 36, who has been with the company two years, won third place, and $50. Mora and Drone live in Compton.

* Lynwood Unified School District administrator Trinidad Garcia has been named principal of Lugo Elementary School, succeeding Armando Rocci, who retired after 26 years with the district. Garcia was the coordinator of bilingual education. He joined the Lynwood district in 1973 as a math and science teacher at Hosler Junior High School. Garcia has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Texas, Austin.

* Gloria Reynaga is the new principal at Hawaiian Elementary School in Hawaiian Gardens in the ABC Unified School District. Reynaga, who has been with the district since 1981, replaces Harvey Hoyo, who becomes principal of the district’s Faye Ross Junior High School in Artesia. He replaces Joe Baird, who retired after more than 27 years with the district.

* Maryllyn Hargrave has been named director of volunteer services at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center. Hargrave was the director of volunteer services at St. Paul Medical Center in Dallas.

* Lauren Freeman has won the Young Careerist award of the Douglas Aircraft Co. in Long Beach. Freeman, 24, a technical training instructor, received her award at the company’s annual Women’s Awareness Conference in Long Beach. Women employees under 30 years old are eligible for the award. Freeman, who joined the company in 1988, has a master’s degree in administration from Pepperdine University.

Material for this column may be mailed to Lee Harris, Los Angeles Times, 12750 Center Court, Suite 150, Cerritos Towne Center, Cerritos 90701 , telephone 924-8600.