A letter that arrived this week from Louis Marcantonio of Niagara Falls, executive secretary-treasurer of the Interstate Teachers Bowling Tournament, took me back to my high school days – a time when the Batavia City School District featured a Tuesday afternoon Teachers League that filled all of the (then) 36 lanes at Mancuso Lanes with five-person teams.
I remember stopping in after school and watching some of my favorite teachers – men and women – having loads of fun and (what I realize now) some needed relaxation. And I recall that there were some very good bowlers in that group. I can say that because five of those teachers beat four of my classmates and me in a “challenge” match during my junior year!
The Teachers League is still going today, although in a condensed version of eight three-person teams.
That being said, I have to give Mr. Marcantonio a great deal of credit as he beats the drum for bowlers to participate in the annual ITBT, which is scheduled for March 31 and April 1 at Classic Lanes in Kenmore.
Over the past couple years, Marcantonio has asked me to identify some Batavia area teachers or retired teachers who would be willing to join his organization and help recruit bowlers for his tournament. I have talked to a few, but apparently no one has stepped forward.
Marcantonio, who turns 82 in April, said the tournament is open to employees -- not just teachers -- of all elementary, middle and high schools as well as colleges and universities. Competition is in team, doubles, singles and all-events, with prize money awarded based on 25 team entries.
If you’d like to participate or assist Marcantonio, give him a call at 716-284-9313 or contact me and I’ll send you an entry form.
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PAT DONAGHUE TRIUMPHS
Speaking of Masters, former Batavian Patric Donaghue captured his first Rochester USBC Bowling Association Senior Masters title last Sunday by defeating defending champion Mark McClain, 224-174, at Pleasure Lanes in Hilton.
Donaghue, a Honeoye Falls resident, just made it into the 16-bowler finals on Saturday, rolling 884 for four games (it took 879 to make the cut). On Sunday, however, he won all of his matches in the double-elimination finals leading up to the championship round.
McClain, who had advanced through the losers’ bracket, won the first game of the finals, 214-175, to force a second game.
The victory was worth $630 for Donaghue, who has enjoyed a large measure of success on the PBA Senior Tour over the past two years. He also won a Senior Masters championship ring, trophy and a paid entry into the New York State Masters on March 24 in Owego (near Binghamton).
The tournament is named in honor of the John Nevada, the American Bowling Congress and United States Bowling Congress director from Rochester, who passed away in August 2010.
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MEDINA RALLIES AROUND NICK
Bowlers and residents of the Medina area came through once again last weekend by generating approximately $10,000 through the “No-Tap for Nicholas” tournament and related fundraising activities at Medina Lanes.
Around 300 people turned out for the event, which was conducted to raise money to purchase an electronic stimulation bicycle for Medina’s Nick Newman Jr., who was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a four-wheeler accident in 2007 when he was a junior in high school.
The team of Dave Stahl, Bob Hodgson, Jerry Allen and Scott Allis placed first in the tournament but the big winner was Newman, now 21 and a student at Genesee Community College, and his family.
“The bike is on order and we should have it in about two or three weeks,” said Nick’s dad, Nick Sr. “The community’s support was awesome and our friends who put it on did an outstanding job.”
Being confined to a wheelchair hasn’t kept Nick Jr. on the sidelines. He just started bowling, his father said, and even bowled seven games at the fundraiser tournament.
(Mike Pettinella’s Pin Points bowling column appears on Thursdays during the bowling season in the print and online editions of The Daily News. If you have an item of interest for his column, contact him at mikepett2002@yahoo.com, at 343-3736 or by mail at 55 Edgewood Drive, Batavia).