This is the last in a series of articles leading up to the Pa. state bowling tournament coming to Butler

BUTLER TWP — When it comes to hosting the Pennsylvania State USBC Open bowling tournament, Butler has been there, done that.

But that hasn’t always been the case.

“When Hal Phillips, myself, Mike Coyle first talked about possibly getting this tournament here, we were told they wouldn’t bring the state tournament to Butler to save their lives,” former Pennsylvania State Bowling Association president Jim Bowser said. “We proved them wrong.”

The 82nd Pa. state tourney begins the first weekend of April and runs every weekend through the middle of June, with the exception of Easter weekend, Memorial Day weekend and the weekend of the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival. Family Bowlaway and Sherwood Lanes will play host to singles, doubles and team competition.

Butler previously hosted the tournament in 1994, 2004 and 2012.

Tournament director Bryan Hubler said there were 800 five-person teams at last year’s state tourney, hosted by York. The event has drawn as many as 1,200 teams in a year.

“We (Butler area) stand to make a few dollars from this,” Bowser said. “Even if we make only one dollar, that’s a dollar that wasn’t here before.”

Like Bowser, Coyle is a former PSBA president. Dalton “Skip” Weyand is currently president of the Butler association and has been involved with bowling for 60 years.

They take pride in the state tournament coming to town.

“I’m proud to live in this community and I love to show off the area,” Coyle said. “This is far more than just about bowling. It’s the shopping, entertainment, night life, sporting events, golf courses, Lake Arthur, all of it.

“It means a lot to me to see thousands of people come in here and enjoy our community. Some families use this tournament as a vacation. They come in, bowl and stay a week.”

The Butler Area USBC has approximately 25 members. Coyle said it takes six to seven board members at each house to run the state tourney when a full squad is booked on a given day. The first three weekends of the tournament are already booked to near capacity.

“I’ll put in as many hours as I’m needed for,” Weyand said. “I’ve worked 13 hours in a day when we’ve hosted this tournament before. If someone was scheduled to work a day and can’t make it, I’ll come in.

“We just want to be helpful, treat bowlers who are in from out of town as I’d like to be treated if I was visiting their facility or town. We want people to have a good time. There’s a lot of luck involved in this sport. If someone’s having a rough day on the lanes, we still want them to have a positive experience.”

Coyle recalled succeeding in the goal of putting a smile on a bowler’s face.

“A guy from out of town was having a miserable day bowling ... I mean, he couldn’t do anything right,” Coyle said. “I was selling 50-50 tickets that day and asked him if he wanted in. He said he’d buy tickets if I could guarantee he’d be a winner. I made him that guarantee and he bought tickets for a buck.

“I tore up his tickets, have him back his dollar and said, ‘there, you’re a winner.’ He let out a laugh, said ‘you got me,’ relaxed and started bowling a lot better.”

When Butler hosted the 2004 tournament, Bowser admitted “we screwed up” on the pattern at Sherwood Lanes and gave bowlers a bad shot.

“I was president (of the state association) then and I stayed over at Sherwood to field the complaints,” Bowser recalled. “You have to show you care. Live and learn. And those people came back.”

When Zelie Lanes was one of the hosting bowling houses for the state tourney on a Saturday one year, the power went out. One group of bowlers had to leave town Sunday and was concerned they wouldn’t be able to get their games in.

“We told them if they wanted to come back late that night, we’d wait for them,” Bowser said. “We stuck around until 2:15 in the morning so they could finish. And they appreciated it.

One of the trick in hosting a tournament of this magnitude is the paperwork involved.

“There are tons of it,” Coyle said. “Checking and validating everybody’s sanctioned average at check-in, the brackets, filing the scores ... The paperwork has probably been the biggest adjustment to hosting this tournament.”

But hosting it remains a labor of love for Butler’s bowling community.

“You meet all kinds of interesting people and they’re here to support you and the state tournament,” Weyand said.

“I’ve got friends all over the state from this,” Bowser said. “Anyone who hasn’t bowled in one of these, they should try it. It’s a fun experience.

“And it’s right here at home.”