EIGHTY bowlers from 10 BaptistCare retirement villages will take to the greens at Mount Lawley Bowling Club on Friday, November 6, for the organisation’s 21st Inter-Village Lawn Bowls Carnival.

Teams will travel from across WA, including Bunbury, to compete for the championship trophy in a contest where friendly rivalry is as much a part of the day as the bowling.

• BaptistCare bowlers are going head-to-head on the rink for an inter-village carnival.

Four-time champions BaptistCare The Pines Village will be out to reclaim the title after being dethroned by Parkland Villas Ellenbrook in 2025.

The Pines captain Ian Wilkinson, 76, is determined to wrest the trophy back from defending champion Ross Kelly, 82, with the two Ellenbrook villages maintaining a spirited rivalry that extends beyond the annual carnival.

The villages have even established their own competition shield.

Wilkinson’s team, which won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024, has been training for six weeks in preparation for the showdown.

Among the competitors will be 90-year-old Arthur Kirkpatrick, who will make the trip from Bunbury with his Woodstock West Village teammates.

A lifelong sportsman who played cricket until he was 60, Kirkpatrick took up lawn bowls at 70, valuing the friendships, laughter and enjoyment of the game over the final score.

First held in 2003, the carnival continues to bring older Western Australians together through competition, physical activity and social connection.

Bowls will begin at 10.45am, with afternoon matches from 1pm before presentations and the announcement of the winning team at 2.45pm.