A group of residents at Arvida Waimea Plains Retirement Village wanted to play croquet, so they got a digger and scraped a site, shifted soil, levelled it and sowed the grass to create their lawn.
It’s their third croquet ‘lawn’ at the village, if you include the patch of turf beside Borck Creek that they mowed for a while, but this one is the biggest effort so far for the group of residents.
Now, about 10 players meet for a couple of sessions every week and none of them had ever hit a ball with a mallet before living at the village.
Judy Martin says the previous patch beside Borck Creek was “pretty rough to start with and had a huge puddle”, so this one – even though there is the odd little bump – makes it easier to hit the ball in a straight line.
They’ve built a small shed for their gear and Roger Denton says “the only thing we’re missing is the bar”.
“Not sure whether we’re playing by the rules or not!”
Village manager, Kerryn Tasker, says she was pretty keen on getting the players off the “wetland” beside Borck Creek and found them a space at the front of the village.
“Then some of the residents got together and made it happen.
“They’re just loving it and it’s popular,” Kerryn says
“It’s getting more people involved that we didn’t see around.”
It’s at the edge of the area designated for the future care centre, so the residents are hoping they will get to keep their patch of lawn when the centre is built.
