Located more than four hours from the nearest coast, it’s hard to imagine Urana could ever be considered a seaside community.
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But rewind back to the 1950s and 60s and the Riverina town was well and truly covered in seagulls.
Urana Bowling Club decided to make the most of that slice of history and adopt the Seagulls nickname.
The 1956 floods saw Lake Urana reach capacity and with it came thousands of seagulls to the area.
A meeting between the bowlers and club directors in the early 1960s was where the Seagulls nickname was first discussed and eventually voted in.
After being forced to withdraw from the Albury and District pennant competition due to a lack of playing numbers last season, the club has refreshed its uniform and returns to the green against North Albury in grade seven on Saturday.
The new blue, white and yellow strip features a large seagull logo across the back of the playing shirt.
Bowling president Greg Mallon admitted the new uniform has created a buzz around the club.
“Things are looking rosy,” Mallon said.
“I went to central school in Urana in the mid-60s to late 60s and there was always seagulls in there.
“There was a few kids that went to the school in the 80s that can remember them as well.
“Our flag pole in Urana has got a seagull on it and it just continued on.
“When we renewed the uniform, we went back into the history and saw they were called the Seagulls, so we went with it.
“Tony Cantwell was probably the instigator and went into the history of it with (bowling secretary) Mick Dunnett as well.”
With the seagull now so prominent on the uniform, Mallon is expecting a few questions to be asked by opposition bowlers.
“You scratch your head a bit,” Mallon said.
“It was like a seaside town in Urana, the football ground, bowling club and everywhere down at the school was covered.
“Any kids that had hot chips, the seagulls were into them.
“It’s a pretty big span of water when it’s full, Lake Urana, but there’s no seagulls there at the moment.
“Every now and then you get one floating through when there’s a bit of water around the place, but nothing like there used to be.
“Maybe the chips were better in town than anywhere else (laughs).”
Urana Bowling Club and Urana’s Terry White Pharmacy combined to sponsor the costs of the new playing uniforms.
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Beau Greenway
I like to tell the stories of great people in our communities. Email: beau.greenway@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I like to tell the stories of great people in our communities. Email: beau.greenway@austcommunitymedia.com.au
