Our Honour Boards

It started with a meeting in a church hall.

On a spring evening in 1952, a group of East Lismore locals gathered at St Stephens Presbyterian Hall with a shared idea — to build a bowls club for their community. Less than a year later, on 24 July 1953, East Lismore Bowling Club was formally constituted, with 37 foundation members putting their names to it and a new chapter beginning on Nielson Street.

More than the game

More than seventy years on, those 37 names have grown into a club woven into the fabric of East Lismore. Competitive bowls has always been at its heart — the club plays through the Northern Rivers District Bowls Association and hosts the annual Great Northern June Carnival, drawing players from across the region. The honour boards in this kiosk are the record of it: every champion and every committee, going right back to those early seasons.

But The Easty has always been about more than the rink. Barefoot bowls, raffles, bingo, live music, a courtesy bus and a genuine welcome — it’s a place for family, friends and fun on the green.

Through the floods

When the 2022 floods — the worst in Lismore’s recorded history — upended the Northern Rivers, the club picked itself up and reopened, and has since been a gathering point for the recovery, hosting community and SES sessions for East Lismore and Girards Hill residents.

A growing home for local sport

In 2025 the club welcomed the Norths Bears — the Far North Coast’s oldest baseball club, founded in 1948 — as a clubhouse partner, and lodged plans for a new covered deck and playground: the next chapter for a club that’s been part of East Lismore for more than seven decades.

A short history drawn from the club’s records and public sources. Spotted something we’ve missed? Let us know at the bar — we’d love to add it.