State bowling tourney opens
BUTLER TWP — The 73rd annual Pennsylvania State Bowling Tournament was officially welcomed to Butler County Saturday afternoon.
Opening ceremonies took place at Family Bowlaway shortly after the first shift of tournament bowlers competed in singles and doubles. The team portion of the 13-weekend event is being held at Freeway Lanes in Zelienople.
The tournament concludes June 27 with an estimated 1,500 teams and 8,000 bowlers participating.
“It takes a lot of work from the local association to put on this event,” PSBA president Corey Wert said. “This is Butler's third time hosting our tournament and that's a tribute to them.
“This has become one of the more popular sites for this event.”
Butler attracted 1,834 teams when it hosted the 1994 state tournament and 1,853 in 2004. The latter total stands as the third-best state tourney participation figure in the event's history.
“The work can be overwhelming in preparing for this,” tournament director Frank DeLarme said. “You need people to sell ads for the program booklet and this year, the Butler association contacted the high school to get kids to help with the monitoring of the lanes.
“Getting around to local businesses to drum up support for the event takes time as well.”
Jack Cohen, president of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, was on hand for the ceremonies.
“Tell us what you need and we'll be sure you get it,” Cohen said in addressing the bowlers. “This county worked three years to bring this tournament in and we want it to be as successful as possible.”
Butler radio personality and longtime bowler Bob Cupp served as master of ceremonies and said that the state tourney's third trip to Butler “is a salute to the Butler County Bowling Association and a great thing for the community to showcase something so special.”
Representing the BCBA were president Dalton “Skip” Weyand, first vice president Jim Hepler, second vice president Brian Marcellus and third vice president Brian Bruce, among others.
Ten former PSBA presidents attended the ceremony, including Butler residents and current BCBA board members Mike Coyle and Jim Bowser.
“Having two past presidents still active in the local association has been a big help to Butler's preparation here,” Wert said. “Those guys have been through this before. They know what it takes and can serve a leadership role.”
Weyand welcomes the challenge of the BCBA hosting the state event for a third time.
“We want to get a little better at it each time,” he said. “We want to keep the bowlers coming back here. Hopefully, everybody will have fun because you can't bowl well if you're not having fun doing it.”
Will McCarrier, chairman of the Butler County Commissioners, welcomed the tournament to the community. The colors were presented by the Butler High School Junior ROTC.
Pastor Steve Fisher of the New Testament Baptist Church provided the benediction and Beth Ackelson, music teacher at Karns City High School, sang the national anthem.
Wert said 95 percent of the PSBA officials will bowl in the tournament at some point.
“Those officials who are physically unable to bowl will bring teams in on their behalf,” Wert said. “We support our own tournaments, that's for sure.
“We're here to support Butler County's efforts and the sport of bowling in general.”
