MIDWEST BLIND BOWLING ASSOCIATION

Jeff Hawkinson - President

4945 Columbus Dr.
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
708-499-4402
Jphawk36@sbcglobal.net

Secretary: Thomas Lester

19146 Ardmore
Detroit MI 48235
(313) 864-0448
TLESTER52@TALKAMERICA.net

Membership fee = $5.00

Tournament Director: Louise Lawitzke

1805 Davis
Wyandotte MI 48192-3517
(734) 285-6118
law54@wyan.org

SOUTHEASTERN BLIND BOWLING ASSOCIATION

Secretary: Judy Jeter – Secretary

1031 Howell Drive
Vinton VA 24179
(540) 556-3489
jjo831@cox.net

Membership fee = $6.00

Tournament Director: Sandy McDaniel,

1317 Fairway Ave.
Ormond Beach, Fl. 32174
smcdan1@7-11.com

UPSTATE NEW YORK AREA ASSOCIATION

Secretary: John Shaffer

46 Macamley St.
Buffalo NY 14220
(716) 822-7195
wildhenry@msn.com

Membership fee = $2.00

Tournament Director: Jim Hancharik

249 S. Pearl St.
Canandaigua NY 14424
(585) 394-3412

ERIE INDEPENDENT (Not An Association) Secretary – Richard Come

1184 Horstman Ct.
Erie, PA 16504

rcome@verizon.net

Tournament Director – Penny Ohmer

4142 Davision Ave.
Erie PA 16504
(814) 825-1216
pennyo@VBR-Erie.org

from the Editor

Greetings, and welcome to a new season of bowling and a new season of The Blind Bowler. It promises to be a fun season, and hopefully one with a lot of good scores.

As most of you know, the national tournament last year was held in Minneapolis. The tournament committee worked hard to put on a good tournament, and from all reports, it sounds as though we succeeded. It was great fun to see all of your and to show off my home town. Thanks to everyone who came and had a good time. Tournament results with the top three finishers in each category can be found at the end of this issue. Now we start looking ahead to our tournament this year, which will be held in Reno, NV. I know that a lot of you are saving your pennies and planning on that event. In this issue of The Blind Bowler we have information on the upcoming mid-year meetings in Reno and information on the tournament itself.

If you are interested in submitting something for a future issue of The Blind Bowler, please take note of the following dates. The deadline for articles for the January issue will be December 15, 2011, and the deadline for the April issue will be March 1, 2012.

I hope you enjoy this issue of The Blind Bowler. It’s got a lot of information for upcoming tournaments, results from last year’s national tournament and information for a great season of bowling this year. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me by e-mail at blindbowler@gmail.com or 763-438-0647.

~~Nancy Giddings - editor

FROM THE PRESIDEN’TS DESK

Greetings, Some of you may not be sure just who I am, so let me introduce myself. I served two years as second vice president and because of circumstances I skipped first vice president and ran for President of ABBA. In the past I have served on several committees on ABBA. I started out with the Chicago Braille Center League over 20 years ago. I was a director, vice president, and president for them. I was chairman of the host committee for the 2007 MBBA tournament. I served 4 years as vice president and 4 years as president of MBBA. I have always felt it was a privilege to serve these organizations. I will continue to do what is best for the ABBA. We may not always agree on everything, but I will always be willing to listen to all points of view. If we all work together we can make ABBA a better functioning organization. In fact I am always available at fatblindguy@gmail.com. Please feel free to contact me about any and all concerns you may have. Thank you.

~~submitted by Fred Nickl, President ABBA

FROM THE DESK OF THE SECRETARY TREASURER

Greetings to the entire membership of the “American Blind Bowling Association”, (ABBA). Welcome to the 2011-2012 season of bowling. Once again, this year my goal will be to make sure that everything is done decent, in order and on time. With the cooperation of the entire membership, I will attain my goal.

If a problem is encountered, please contact the person directly to whom the item should be addressed. If you do not know who that is, please write, call, or e-mail me, I will do my best to solve the problem or direct you to the correct person.

The 21 games rule will be followed along with sending the award within 30 days of the date bowled no excuses.

Corrections to the ABBA Average Book:

The following items were brought to my attention, you may have received notice to some of them, if not please note: • Area Association is no longer a committee, abolished at the May 2011 convention. • AJ & Melody Inglesby’s address – 406 Hargett. • Rod Burris email – rod.burris9@gmail.com • Life Member, Linda Keeney’s ph. 323-467-6263 • Jeff Hawkinson is President of MBBA

Please note, the deadline for the “End of the Year Report” as stated in the By Laws, is June 15th. Some leagues secretaries sent forms late, some forms had to be returned for corrections/missing information. Those who missed the deadline, their information is listed in this issue of The Blind Bowler.

• Gold Medal Winner Larry Wos High 3 Game Series; 529 not 485. Larry Wos also will be awarded a Gold Medal for a High Single Game of 232

• League names omitted in the book - Daytona Beach & Carter Family • No report received from: Indianapolis, DC Blind, Macomb, Big Apple and Richmond. • An (a) was left out of Minneapolis and Rocky Mount Wildcats did not return their visual status for their members. • Under the State (VA), League – Capital Area Rail Blazers, please replace Game #’s with the following: 72-57-63-63-63-33-75-75-63-66-75-51-75

• St Louis Railrollers information received after book was printed: (please put the following page in your average book)
• PF – Carter, Sharron – 94 – 99
• SF – Peebles, Mary – 99 - 120
• PF – Hergemueller, Kim - 95 – 130
• TF – Peebles, Shanta – 72 - 62
• PM – Jeffries, Toy – 62 – 107
• PF – Simmons, Ophelia – 87 - 120
• SF – Jeffries, Toy – 51 – 118
• SM – Walker, John – 90 - 123
• PF – Miller, Darica – 31 – 92
• PF – Walker, Pam- 84 - 100
• PM – Miner, Bill – 75 – 123
• TF – Walz, Erica – 81 - 50
• PM – Morris, George – 66 – 145
• PM – Walz, Jerry – 84 – 100
• SM – Walz, Ryan – 30 – 100

• Please list beside the following names under Raleigh Outlaws visual status which I listed incorrectly starting with Merritt, Bonie
• PF, Merritt, B,PM Merritt, R.
• SM, MorningPM Parker
• PF PurvisPM Roberson
• SF Rush, GTM Rush
• PM SimmonsPF Smith
• PM StanleyTM Turker
• PM WatsonPF Worth
• cross out the last two names of Watson and Worth,

• Alton Area, Alton IL, sent the following information-please add to your book.
• Bailey – 42 – 97
• Barthalomew D – 60 – 20
• Barthalomew J – 81 – 102Beiermann – 78 – 79
• Castleman – 42 – 97Galyen – 72 – 81
• Campbell – 66 – 130Gowin – 69 – 114
• Pollard – 27 – 83
• (add) Sharp, Michael – 30 – 197

• D C Blind Bowlers sent in this information after book was distributed. Please add on their page.
• Bryant – 63 – 119Burnley 63 – 47
• Butler J. – 78 – 164Butler V. – 75 – 102
• Ferguson – 50 – 127Holmes – 76 – 96
• McIntyre – 32 – 83McBride P. – 75 – 144
• McBride R. – 84 – 135Mingo G. – 87 - 39
• Mingo R. – 81 – 42Reeder B. – 90 - 120
• Reeder L. – 90 – 120Rice – not enough games
• Sorrelle – 24 – 120Wharton – 64 – 40

• New Summer League “Tulsa Strikers” Please add this to the Average Book
PM Cooper, David - 21 116
TF Cooper, Jeri 24 93
TM Cox, Kobe 21 30
PF Crawford, Selena 24 102
TM Crawford, Steve 21 60
TM Sanders, Perry 24 62

I do not foresee as many pages of correction in the next issue. Thanks for your continued cooperation and patience. I am available by phone, except on Sundays/Holidays. My number is 248-853-0209. If there is no answer, please leave a detailed message. I also check my e-mail daily except on Sundays or holidays. I check mail daily, except on Sunday/Holidays.

~~submitted by Rozella “Rose” Campbell, ABBA Secretary/Treasurer

ChallengedAthletes Grant

Anyone wishing to apply for a Challenged Athletes Grant can go to the website www.challengedathletes.org. We just received word that applications are now available. These must be postmarked by December 1, 2010 and will be awarded in the spring of 2011. Members please share with anyone who might qualify for funds. Last year, very few ABBA members applied, but those who did, received monies.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

To the Abba membership:
The objective of your appointed public relations committee is to promote ABBA internally and externally. It is also the goal of this committee to seek the desires of the people we serve, which is you! With that being said, the question is: "what can we do now?" We feel we can begin by making changes with our website and our newsletter. To do this, we would like your input on the following questions:

1. What can we improve on the website?


2. What can we do to make our newsletter The Blindbowler more interesting and informative?


3. What other changes would you like to see?

When we meet in November, we will be meeting to discuss these issues. Please send your concern, your ideas, as well as your recommendations to either Wilbert Turner, wilbert.o.turner@irs.gov, Nancy Giddings, blindbowler@gmail.com , Melody Inglesby mhinglesby@triad.rr.com, or Rod Burris 608-921-9592, and we will strive to implement your suggestions where possible or when necesary, or offer an alternative. If we cannot make your suggestion happen, we will let you know why. This is your organization, and your media tool. Let’s work together to make it the best it can be.

Mid Year Meeting

Hotel Information for November Mid Year Meeting and the May 2012 Convention.
The hotel & bowling alley will be the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, 2500 East Second Street, Reno, NV 89595 (800) 321-6014. The daily rate is $69, single or double occupancy with a 13% tax. There will also be a $10 daily resort fee per room, per night. This fee includes; complimentary high speed internet access, health club admission and local and toll free phone calls. Children 17 and younger may stay in parent’s room at no charge using existing beds. A rollaway is $10.00 and there is a maximum number of four guests to a room. All reservations for the Mid Year meetings must be made prior to Thursday October 27, 2011. When making reservations, please use the reservation code GABBA1. The cutoff date for reservations for the National Tournament and reservation code is ABBA. Please refer to the event name of American Blind Bowlers Association 2011. All reservations require a credit card guarantee for the first night’s room and tax as a deposit at the time the reservation is made. Individual cancellations received within (48) hours of arrival will be charged first night’s rate and tax. Reservations received after the cut-off date will only be honored on a “space available” basis. Check in time is 3:00 pm and check out time is 11:00 am.

Mid Year Meeting Schedule (tentative) Thursday, November 17th – Sunday November 20th, 2011 All meetings will be held in the bowling alley, meeting room #1, which is located by the pro shop.

Thursday – November 17th ? 6:00 pm - Bowling Alley Visitation ? 7:30-8:30pm – Tournament Committee Sharon Benton - Chair

Friday – 18th ? 8:30 – 9:30 am - Finance Committee Jeff Hawkinson - Chair ? 10 – 11am – REIC Committee Kathy Brockman - Chair ? 11 – 12 noon – Public Relations Committee Wilbert Turner - Chair Midwest Invitational Luncheon (place & time to be determined by MBBA) Saturday – 19th ? 9 – 10am – Legislative Committee A J Inglesby - Chair ? 3-7pm – Mid-Year Board Meeting Fred Nickl - President THIS IS THE ONLY MEETING WHICH will be held in the Conference Room in the bowling alley, by the Bar.

~~submitted by Rozella Campbell,

working together

Most of us have experienced some severe weather this summer. The Peace Breakers league on the south side of Chicago was really hit hard. A severe thunder storm went through Chicago and knocked a large tree down on their bowling alley. The city condemned the building and they were not allowed back into the building. They lost all of their rails, and some of them lost personal items that were stored in the lockers there.

They were now desperate for some replacement rails so they could start the season on time. There was a lot of talk about renting them rails from the rental ones we use for area tournaments. Thanks to Rod Burris of Janesville WI they now have four rails to start the season with. Rod loaned them the rails from the ones he had. Also thanks to Bob Smith who drove up to Janesville and brought them back to the Peace Breakers. So thanks to a fellow bowler this problem was solved. I hope this can be a lesson to all of us. If we all work together we can solve our problems. I will continue to work hard for all of our benefits. ~~submitted by Fred Nickl, ABBA President

WE REMEMBER ROSA MC NEIL

It is never easy to share sad news with fellow bowlers, friends and colleagues. This news is exceptionally painful, because the individual was so close to so many of us. On Thursday, August 18, 2011 near 6 p.m., Rosa McNeil slipped peacefully away into the arms of the Lord. Her courageous battle with cancer ended at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Born Rosa Lee Harvey on September 4, 1948, this courageous lady always knew what it was like to battle physical adversities. For those of us who knew her and were a part of her circle of love, we knew the strength that she had to overcome adversities.

Rosa was a graduate of the Governor Morehead School class of 1967, Garner Road campus. Later she attended Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, where she received an associate’s degree in secretarial science. Rosa became employed by Wachovia Bank of Charlotte, where she worked until her retirement some years ago.

Throughout her adult life, Rosa was active with the NC Council of the Blind, and with the Mecklenburg Blind Bowlers Association. For Rosa, bowling was more than a sport. She truly lived the motto that is the Carolina Bowling Alliance – fun, fellowship and sportsmanship. Rosa was the representative for the Mecklenburg Blind Bowlers when CBA came into existence March 1, 1997. She supported David Alexander, Sr. of Charlotte in developing the Queen City Shootout, a bowling tournament which was held the Saturday of Martin Luther King Day weekend for many years.

After David’s tragic death, also from cancer, Rosa continued to fight to keep bowling alive in her beloved city of Charlotte. When the numbers were not there to maintain a league, she began to bowl with other programs across North Carolina, including the Raleigh Outlaws. She even traveled with the Outlaws on what seemed to be an endless bus ride to Houston, Texas for national competition in 2001.

Because of her commitment and dedication to the sport of bowling, Rosa received the Willie A. Robinson Memorial Service Award given each year to a member of the Carolina Bowling Alliance at the outset of the annual Outlaw Invitational tournament.

As the tumors began to affect Rosa’s ability to lead a complete life, she never lost her zest to be a part of the bowling family. A few years ago Rosa admitted to family and friends that she was very ill, however she was secretly planning to slip out of Charlotte by train and to appear at the Raleigh Outlaw Invitational bowling tournament. She arranged transportation from her home to the train depot in Charlotte. Once in Raleigh, she called a close friend, Michael Blount, who lived at the time across the street from the Raleigh train depot. Shocked to find that Rosa had made it to Raleigh, Mike arranged for our fearless fighter to make it to the bowling center to meet the bowlers. Once there, she admitted that she could not bowl, because she was simply too ill. But she was so incredibly thankful for the fact that she had made it to the tournament and could spend time with her friends. Because of her health status that day, her family had to come from Charlotte to Raleigh to take her home that evening. She sat in the car smiling, knowing that she had pulled off one great feat and accomplished a tremendous goal.

Our most recent conversations with Rosa prior to her passing were short but special. She often sounded very tired, and for those of us who knew her well we understood that she was making a plan to move forward. She had shared with several of us over the course of the last few years that surgery would be inevitable to attempt to stop the cancer, but she was going to put the surgery off as long as possible, because she feared that it could not work.

A wonderful young lady with a natural zest for life, a booming voice that was filled with fun, a bear hug that would stand you straight up, Rosa is really going to be missed. From all of us throughout the CBA and those who are part of ABBA and the ACB, we honor our friend and say rest in peace.

~~submitted by James Benton, Past ABBA President

Tournament News

WHAT’S THE AVERAGE AVERAGE?

In statistics, the median is the midpoint in a distribution where half of the numbers are above the median and half are below. Based on the 2011 ABBA Average Book, the median for the totally blind male is 84. For a totally blind female the median is 60. The midpoint for a partially sighted male is 120. For a partially sighted female, it is 105. The median average for a sighted male is 148. For a sighted female it is 121.

The highest averages listed in the ABBA Average Book for the 2010-2011 bowling season are as follows:

Total male Greg Gontaryk – 144, Delaware Valley BB
Total blind femaleLaura Russell – 120, Lost Angeles BB
Partial male Evell Jones – 201, Chicago Alba
Partial female Ann Davenport – 145, Flint MI BB
Sighted male Bill Jorgensen – 201, Chicago Alba
Sighted female Sherri Sensinger – 176, Allentown BB

There may have been higher scores in ABBA competition since seven leagues did not meet the June 15th deadline for submitting final averages to be in the book, including the Indianapolis Blind Bowlers and the Richmond Blind Bowlers. The leagues that are not listed in the average book must send the final averages for last season no later than November 1, 2011 to be eligible for competition in ABBA certified tournaments.

~~submitted by Walter Burmeister, Past ABBA President

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

• November 17 – 19, 2011 - Mid-Year Meetings – Reno, NV


• December 15, 2011 – Deadline for January Blind Bowler


• March 1, 2012 – Deadline for April Blind Bowler


• March 16 – 18, 2012 – MWBB Tournament – Janesville, WI


• May 27 – June 2, 2012 – National Tournament – Reno, NV

Looking Back

As

you may remember, last year I ran a feature called “Looking Back”, where I reprinted an article from past issues of “The Blind Bowler”. It was a great chance to look back and remember different things in blind bowling. Over the summer, I got a stack of past issues of The Blind Bowler from Wally Burmeister. In this issue from October, 1979, we will look back at a pioneer of blind bowling, Ercole Oristaglio. --editor

INTERSTATE LEAGUE HONORS ERCOLE ORISTAGLIO The Interstate Blind Bowling league, believed to be the oldest organized league for the blind in the United States, honored Ercole Oristaglio at it’s annual banquet held in May of 1979. Erk was a participant in bowling activities back in the middle 40’s when a wall next to the first alley had to serve as a guide for those who could not see. He was a charter member of the Interstate Blind Bowling in 1951 when the league decided to organize the American Blind Bowling Association. Erk served as chairman of the local host committee on two occasions when the Interstate League sponsored the National ABBA Tournament. Three of the charter members of the Interstate League later became presidents of the American Blind Bowling Association. They are Arthur Copeland, Chester Bodzio and Ercole Oristaglio. In 1963 Erk organized the Delaware Valley Area Blind Bowling Association and in 1977 he organized the Mid-Atlantic Invitational tournament. Although Erk has been bowling for more than thirty years, he does not particularly care to talk about his average. Erk is employed as a social worker in the Philadelphia Department of Health. He has served as Chairman of the Philadelphia Week for the Blind for many years. Erk is also a member of the board of directors of the Philadelphia branch of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind. He is an active member of the Knight of Columbus and has just been reelected to the presidency of the Interstate Blind Bowling League. The member of the Interstate League and his many friends are grateful to Mr. Oristaglio for his sincere and untiring efforts throughout these many years.

~~submitted by Leroy Price, Secretary DVA, October, 1979

National TOURNAMENT RESULTS