Happy Holidays to all of you! League bowling is in full swing with lots of you earning pins, emblems, points, and rings for your bowling efforts. You know that you are having fun out there so let your friends know about it too. If everyone just asked one friend to join a league, all of the houses would be full every night.

City Tournament
Speaking of fun, it is time to get your teams ready for the 60th Annual City Tournament. Don't wait too long and get shut out. Entry forms are available in all of the bowling establishments. If by some chance they have run out, you can call our office at (305) 665-0788 to request more. The event will take place over two weekends in February, with the guest host being Bird Bowl. You can bowl on more than one team, so sign up with all of your teammates. If you can't put together a team, come anyway and be a substitute or stop by our ways and means table for some handmade items. See you there.

Possible Women’s Senior Handicap
 Tournament
For all of you ladies that will admit that you are 50 or over, we are thinking about the possibility of having a "Seniors" handicapped tournament later on in the season. If you are at all interested in this idea let us know.

Secretary of the Year
Do you have a secretary that always seems to do a great job running the league, submitting awards and averages on time, and puts in 110% effort? If so, please nominate her for the Secretary of the Year award. It will only take a minute to do and we know that there are many deserving ladies out there.

GREATER MIAMI BOWLING
ASSOCIATION

City Tournament
The 62nd annual Greater Miami Bowling Association’s city tournament will be held at Don Carter Kendall Lanes on June 6 and June 12-13, 2004. Entry forms will be in the bowling centers in March.

State Tournament
The 70th annual Florida State Bowling Association’s state tournament will be held in nearby Fort Myers from April 24 thru June 27, 2004. Entries close February 22. Entry forms are now in bowling centers. Contact the GMBA at (305) 665-2225 if you are not able to find one.

Bowler of the Year Award
The GMBA Board of Directors decided that the recipient of the 2002-2003 Gene Chilson Bowler of the Year award is Orlando DeArmas, Jr. Orlando has an impressive set of credentials from this past year, including two 300 games (one in the city tournament at Cloverleaf Lanes), a 298 game, a composite average of 225.367, and first place finishes in the city tournament in five categories. For his composite average, he did so by bowling one league with his right hand and one league with his left hand. Certainly, his ambidextrous accomplishment is very unusual and admirable. Orlando was presented with his award plaque at the Hall of Fame dinner on October 26.

The race for the 2003-2004 Gene Chilson Bowler of the Year is underway. Although still early, there are a few frontrunners to watch. Two are Dave Covington and Mike Greene, each with at least one 300 game and a 230-plus league average to date. One other is a young man right out of the juniors, Keith Nation. He has initiated his first year in ABC with two 11-in-a-row games, a 300 game, an 816 series, a 799 series and two 220-plus league averages to date.

ABC Awards of Merit
Each year, the American Bowling Congress provides a special award for the bowlers in each local association with the highest series and highest average. For the 2002-2003 season, these awards go to Sean Kelley for an 848 series, and Cliff Watson for a 230 average. Each did their accomplishment at Don Carter Kendall Lanes.

GREATER MIAMI JUNIOR BOWLING
ASSOCIATION

Secretary/Treasurer Danielle Graham
 Reporting
Happy New Year from the GMJBA. The Juniors are hot, hot, hot!!! New GMJBA Secretary/Treasurer Danielle Graham is reporting the hot, hot news. She is reporting that she loves her new job and is beginning to understand the computer work. She says she would also like to acknowledge a little (OK a lot) of help from other GMJBA board members. All the junior awards are distributed. Thank you to all the bowlers, coaches, secretaries and parents who are very understanding and patient. Membership is down so let's see if maybe you can bring a new friend bowling with you and get them interested in the game. Please call Danielle at (305) 221-1221 extension 14 or email gmjba@hotmail.com if you have any questions.

Awards
These are the many awards that have been given out since August of 2003:

Great bowling to all the bowlers who have received awards since August. The best to the rest in 2004!

City Tournament
The 35th Annual Youth City Championships will be hosted by Homestead Bowling Center on March 13-14, 2004. Entry blanks are at all bowling centers. The early entry deadline is February 17, 2004. However, late walk-in entries will also be accepted on the days of the tournament.

State Tournament
The 39th Annual State Championship Tournament Team Event will be hosted by Strikers Family Sports Center in Sunrise, and the Singles/ Doubles will be hosted by Sawgrass Lanes in Sunrise. The dates are May 29 thru June 27. Entries close March 1, 2004. Entry blanks are at all bowling centers.

GREATER MIAMI BOWLING COUNCIL
HALL OF FAME

Hall of Fame inductions were held on October 26 at the Miami Elks Lodge, #948. Sue Covington and Bob Walters were inducted to the Hall of Fame for outstanding ability. If you wish to nominate someone for the coming year, you must do so by January 15, 2004. Contact Paul D. Boller, at (305) 245-7394 or mail to 27210 SW 153 Ave. Homestead, Florida, 33032. There are three categories from which to choose: Ability, Service, or Honorary. The person must have been a member of the Greater Miami Bowling Associations for at least 10 years. Any achievements earned on the state or national levels must have been done while a member of either one or both local associations.

The Council is looking for a new place to hold the ceremonies for next year. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let Paul know.

SINGLE MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATION

The Sparetimes has previously reported information about the national proposal to convert all ABC, WIBC and YABA memberships under a unified membership plan. It was known as Single Membership Organization, or SMO for short. As reported in last May’s Sparetimes, the proposal was defeated. Well, it’s now back. There is not much to report on it at this time, but it seems to be moving forward to the national ABC and WIBC conventions for a vote, much like last year. There have been changes made to cover some of the complaints from last year. There is also some word on a new Contemporary Bowling Association. This is being put together by the BPAA. This is to be a organization to recover and retain members. We will know more after the first of the year.

AMERICAN BOWLING CONGRESS

The ABC Tournament will be held in Reno, Nevada in 2004. At last report, over 15,000 teams have already entered. At the convention this year, a vote is required to continue with a new contract with Reno. Currently, the last date on the contract is 2007. If the vote is favorable, the tournament will return to Reno in 2010, 2013 and 2016. The convention is on Friday, March 19. The vote for SMO will also happen then, but will not be announced until the WIBC convention in April has met and taken their vote. The results for both votes will be announced at the same time. Both ABC and WIBC must pass this for it to take effect.

NOTEWORTHY MENTION

Jennifer and Peter Hernandez
The Sparetimes would like to congratulate Jennifer Hernandez for bowling a 300 game and an 801 series in the Bird Bowl Invitational League on December 23, 2003. Jennifer’s husband Peter, who is competing on the PBA tour, was in town during the PBA holiday break and was able to witness Jennifer’s very special accomplishment. Jennifer is the fourth woman to bowl an 800 series in Miami (Leslie Young, Erin Salinetro, Lisa Fuentes were the others). Additionally, Peter bowled a 300 game in the league just the previous week. There are several other husband/wife duos who have bowled a 300 game in Miami. The ones that come to mind are Sue Covington/Dave Covington, Debbie Dalba/Paul Dalba, Leslie Duble/Mike Duble, Stacey Harper/Harold Harper. The Sparetimes would also like to commend Peter for making the PBA telecast in December at the tournament held in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. This was Peter’s first PBA telecast. Unfortunately, he was matched against a very hot bowler who defeated him, then went on to win the tournament. We certainly extend the best wishes to Peter for future successes on the PBA tour.

Team National Award
Last season, the mixed team of Stacey Harper (642), Ricky Hites (705), Charles Maxey (760) and Jerry Pugh (761) posted a 3 game team scratch series of 2868 while competing in the Bird Bowl Invitational League. This ranked second in the nation for mixed four player teams. These bowlers were recently presented with their commemorative plaques from the American Bowling Congress.

DON CARTER KENDALL LANES NEWS

New General Manager
Don Carter Kendall Lanes would like to welcome their new General Manager, Mr. Mike LaCroix. Mike comes from Tamarac Lanes and brings many years of bowling experience. Please welcome Mike!

4th Annual Adult/Junior Holiday
 Jamboree
This year’s Adult/Junior Jamboree hosted 27 Teams and a lot of fun. We had some terrific bowling. One of our juniors, Caitlin Graham, bowled her first and SECOND 700 series (758 and 770).

Douglas Marks & Ira Marks walked away with first place for Division A and Alyssa Harper & Harold Harper took first place for Division B.

We welcomed back some of our past junior bowlers, Brian Jackson, Brian Hough, Mike Greene, Greg Atwood and Amy Dillon to participate in this year’s event. It was great to have them as part of our Tournament!

BIRD BOWL NEWS

Bird Bowl would like to congratulate the Southwest Girls bowling team for placing 2nd in the GMAC and 3rd in the FHSAA District Bowling Tournaments. Top individuals at GMAC were Chris Best 610 on the boys team and Mindy Coile 592, Brooke Kern 577 and Caitlin Graham winning the girls GMAC title with a 614. David Beck shot a 300 game at Districts and was high qualifier with a 1362 (total pins) Caitlin Graham won 3rd place individual at District and finished with a 2259 (total pins) for 12 games in the Florida High School State Championships and was tied for 9th place.

Bird Bowl Invitational League
This has been quite an eventful season for the Bird Bowl Invitational League. We are, of course, watching our own Peter Hernandez as he continues his quest throughout his pro tour. We are also watching many of our bowlers shoot some amazing scores. We’ve had six 300 games shot this season by Keith Nation, Luis LaMarche, Peter Hernandez, Tony Acosta, Andy Forthmuller, and our latest by Jennifer Hernandez. There have also been 299 games thrown by John Caride and Joe Canicatti. Richard Cheney has also thrown a 290 game this season.

December 9, 2003 was an eventful night for Keith Nation. He started his evening with a 279 game, followed by a perfect 300, and rounded the night with a 236 for an amazing 815 series! This is Keith’s first year as an ABC bowler. We are proud to have him in our league.

December 23, 2003 was an eventful night for Jennifer Hernandez. She started her evening with a 223, followed that with a 278, and rounded out the night with none other than a perfect 300 game for a fantastic 801 series! Nice shooting Jennifer!!!

Our President, Julian Herradon, and Vice President, Dave Covington, are working hard trying to find us some more corporate sponsorship for seasons to come. We’d like to have any and all interested to come out and join us next season. We bowl on Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. League fees are $25. If you have any questions about the league please call the Bird Bowl League Office for more information at (305) 221-1221 extension 14 or 15.

HIGH SCHOOL BOWLING

State High School Finals
High school bowling finally becomes a State sanctioned sport in 2003. The inaugural Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) bowling season proved to be successful for Dade County. The FHSAA State Bowling Finals, which were held at Don Carter Kendall Lanes on November 18-19 drew a field of 34 boys and girls teams from across the state. Dade captured 3 out of 4 state championships. For the girls, South Dade won the team championship and Brigette Harrelson, a junior from South Dade won the girls individual title. For the boys, Varela was the state runner up and Robert MacKarvich, a senior from Christopher Columbus, won the boys individual title. Also winning individual awards were 5th place Jennifer Houston (Senior, South Dade) and 4th place Jesse Thrash (Junior, Varela). The tournament was a historic moment for bowlers who spent years seeking FHSAA sanctioning and respect. Hope to see you next November at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando for the second Annual FHSAA State Bowling Finals.

All-Dade Girls
1st Team:
Brigette Harrelson, Jr, South Dade 206
Caitlin Graham, Fr, Southwest 195
Brooke Kern, Jr, Southwest 190
Jennifer Houston, Sr, South Dade 179
Alyssa Harper, Fr, Varela 178

2nd Team:
Jenevieve Sadler, Fr, Palmetto 176
Mindy Coile, Fr, Southwest 172
Samantha Murphy, Sph, South Dade 169
Anna Messick, Fr, South Dade 168
Lindsie Brown, Sr, Killian 166

3rd Team:
Megan Cherry, Jr, Southridge 167
Vivian Kallinosis, Sph, Palmetto 163
Nadine Brisson, Sr, North Miami 159
Christina Gomez, Jr, Palmetto 158
Danielle Evans, Fr, Palmetto 154

All-Dade Boys
1st Team:
Mike Hamilton, Sr, Varela 220
Robert MacKarvich, Sr, Columbus 211
Chris Best, Sr, Southwest 209
Jesse Thrash, Jr, Varela 208
Ronnie Westcott, Sr, South Dade 206

2nd Team:
Greg Smith, Sph, Varela 207
Alex Pagola, Sr, Killian 205
Daniel Ares, Jr, South Dade 200
Brett Bigenho, Sr, Coral Reef 199
Eddie Martelli, Sph, Coral Reef 191

3rd Team:
Chris Szymanski, Jr, Killian 200
Alec Fernandez, Jr, Varela 199
Steve Wilson, Jr, Southridge 192
Kevin Hulse, Jr, Southridge 191
Ray Timbers, Sr, Killian 186
Calvin Chaney, Sr, Norland 191

UNTIL OUR NEXT ISSUE

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