First ‘Bowling for Vets’ a huge success

Our club’s first “Bowling for Vets” event was a rousing success, with all 16 lanes packed in two sessions on Sunday at the East Greenbush Bowling Center.

More than 80 bowlers — families, school teams (Columbia High School, St. Colman’s School), workplace friends, individuals, and a bunch of toddlers — kept the action lively.

Incidentally, judging by what we saw, there is no one way to bowl. We saw everything from the classic roll with curve, the avant garde decision to toss the bowl without using the finger holes, the zero-steps dead-drop, the between-the legs two-handed approach, and several others.

Great job by event coordinators Murray Forth and Terry Brewer, and thanks to all the volunteers who helped. We also thank everyone involved in obtaining lane sponsorships, with money raised from them going directly into our club treasury along with a portion of the bowling fees and the 50-50 raffle.

We will be sending contributions from proceeds of the fundraiser to Wounded Warriors and the Blue Star Mothers military family support organization. Murray will provide a financial report on this project at Thursday’s dinner meeting, although preliminary numbers put us above the $3,000 level.

Here are some scenes Bill Dowd captured on site, giving a flavor of the day. (Thanks to Roberto Martinez for the still-shots of Maggie Forth and the Hannans.)

(Please watch the video all the way through and excuse some clutter in the middle.)

Pick your favorite color.

Mike Dewey delivers, with Terry Brewer on deck.

Maggie Forth celebrates an early holiday “turkey.” (See circled numbers up top.)

That sure looks like a long way to the pins.

Ray Hannan and David Taylor help check in a participant at the registration table. Murray Forth and Lois Hannan chat in the background.

John Sawchuck in action with one of his Columbia HS students waiting her turn.

Mike Dewey poses with part of his St. Colman’s School contingent …

… while others plot their strategy.

A standard bowling style …

… and one more …

… and an alternate method that also works.

One of several teams from Columbia High School.

Geoff Brewer gets some applause after picking up a spare.

Roberto Martinez and Terry Brewer are intent on the action …

… and they’re not the only ones.

The look of success!

Jim Butterworth (left) gets set up with his team.

Bill Dowd points to some of the lane sponsorship placards that brought in significant revenue.

This scoring stuff isn’t so hard, Mom.

Staffing the registration table for the late session were (from left) Stewart Wagner and Dick Drumm, with bowler Roberto Martinez joining them for pizza.

Ray and Lois Hannan, who staffed the registration desk in the early session, also brought along blank holiday cards to be signed before they’re sent off to U.S. military personnel stationed in South Korea, where their Air Force daughter is assigned.

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Bowling lane sponsorship hits $600 so far

Lane sponsorships for our upcoming “Bowling for Veterans” fundraiser are going well, thanks to immediate support from club members. Now, all we have to do is sell some $100 sponsorships to outside organizations to help spread the word.

April Dowd started it off several weeks ago by pledging a sponsorship, quickly followed by Melissa Bill with two lanes for her First Niagara Bank. And now, President Terry Brewer, who is coordinating the event with Murray Forth, reports that Stewart Wagner has pledged sponsorship of two lanes, and Terry and Geoff Brewer are sponsoring one together.

That means $600 in sponsorships — six lanes — have been secured. We have 16 reserved lanes, but we can have multiple sponsors for any of them, so don’t relax under the assumption we’re limited.

If you haven’t already done so, please pick up a sponsorship form from Murray and pitch in to sell them to any interested parties. Also, please be sure to circulate event flyers any way you can — postings, social media, e-mail, etc.

And remember, we need help for the day of the event to staff the registration and information table: Sunday, November 8, at the East Greenbush Bowling Center on Columbia Turnpike, opposite Quigley’s. The shifts are 12:30 to 3:30 and 3 to 5 p.m.

Please see Terry or Murray if you can lend a hand. We need to get all members involved in one way or another, large or small, with all Rotary activities.

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