LYNDORA — The Butler County Bowling Association Hall of Fame welcomed two new members Saturday night.

Jim Hepler and Carl Vinroe were formally inducted into the Hall — swelling its membership to 42 — during a dinner at the Tanglewood Center.

“This evening is about two fine men and I’m proud to call them friends,” said master of ceremonies Bob Cupp, a member of the Hall himself. “This is a night to celebrate bowling.”

Cupp was one of 11 BCBA Hall of Fame members among the throng Saturday to welcome Hepler and Vinroe into the club. Gary Mellring, the fourth vice-president of the Pennsylvania State Bowling Association, was an honored guest as well.

“The Hall of Fame is the epitome of all you’ve done in life,” Mellring said.

Vinroe was inducted for superior bowling ability. A BCBA member for 42 years, he has participated in more than 20 leagues in Butler County, serving as president and treasurer in a number of them.

Vinroe’s highest single-season average is 215. He has a high series of 802, has been named the Ike Pawk Bowler of the Year and has been a part of several championship teams.

Also a BCBA board member for over 15 years, Vinroe received a plaque at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., in 2010 for 25 years of competing in the USBC Open Championships.

“I’ve been excited about this for the past several months,” Rick Vinroe, Carl’s brother, said in presenting him. “This is an honor well deserved.”

Vinroe spent much of his induction speech showing photos and articles of some of the championship teams he’s been a part of.

“I didn’t start bowling at all until I was in college,” Vinroe said. Then I got away from it for a while until I was asked to fill in for a couple of weeks in a league at Bon Aire.

“Now, 42 years later, I’m still bowling.”

Vinroe said he really got into the sport when he got a new ball at a tournament in Euclid, Ohio.

“I couldn’t hook a ball four inches before that,” he said. “All of a sudden, I’m hooking the ball four feet. It was like, wow, now I can do some things.”

Vinroe credited Jim McCune and Paul Fencil for getting him active in leagues at Bon Aire.

“I was always encouraged to get on a team, get in a league ... I was bowling in five leagues at a time for a while,” Vinroe said.

Hepler joined the Hall for meritorious service to organized bowling in Butler County. He is the longest current tenured member on the BCBA Board of Directors, serving for the past 27 years.

Also a former assistant coach of the Butler High School bowling team, Hepler was instrumental in getting that program started.

He has also coached youths at Sherwood Lanes for 14 years and served as a member of the Butler’s Best tournament committee for 10 years, helping to generate more than $20,000 in scholarships.

“My dad likes to encourage and help coach people to bowl so much, he even helped kids on the other team, bowling against me,” his daughter and former Butler High School bowler Autumn Hepler said.

Hepler is currently an assistant coach for his daughter’s Ursuline (Ohio) college team.

“Jim could have made this Hall of Fame on bowling ability, too,” his presenter and best friend, Rich Warheit, said. “But meritorious service is how he would want to go in. It’s what he’s most proud of.”

Hepler has bowled a pair of 300-games, five 299s and had a single-season high average of 225.

But in his own words, Hepler’s personal highlights in the sport have occurred “without me even picking up a bowling ball.”

Those highlights include helping to start the Butler High team, helping coach the Golden Tornado boys to the state tournament in their fourth season and helping the Butler girls win the state championship in Autumn’s senior year.

“That is my biggest thrill in bowling,” Hepler said of that state championship. “It’s hard to describe what that felt like.”

He also got to witness his daughter roll a 300-game in the state tournament.

“Watching your kid do that is so much more special than doing it yourself,” he said. “She never gave up on that day, even with a 127 in the first game. I was so proud of her.”

Butler’s girls (40-0) and boys (35-5) were a combined 75-5 in the four years under the direction of head coach Bill Fay, assistants Hepler and Jeff Suchonic.