The Gran Waldt ’41 Bowling Benefit turned out to be a great success raising a total of $4029 to help renovate the laundry/storage building as the new SSVC Alumni Museum!
The No-Tap Bowling Tournament consisted of two games of No-Tap: either 8 or 9 pins on your first ball was counted as a strike. Bob Krieger ’75 summed it up best when he said, “It was a blast!”
There were 28 alumni and friends at Nellie Fox Bowl at the Reunion in June; however, we started out with a field of 41. It was like “Ten Little Indians”: one fell off a ladder, and then there were 40; one had an operation, and then there were 39; one fell on a step, and then there were 38, and so on. The field stretched from the ‘40s to the ‘80s. Jamie Brown and his wife Mindy drove from Ohio to bowl in memory of Jamie’s dad Jim Brown who graduated in 1942. Gran Waldt was the oldest bowler and our youngest bowler, Marietta Watkins, graduated in 1984.
Tom Eagle ’72 bowled a 300 his first game. It was the only 300 game of the tournament; however, Becky Hayden Carl ’71 had 11 strikes in a row. Someone called attention to the 11 Xes after her name on the overhead monitor. We all turned to watch her throw her 12th and final ball. We must have made her nervous, as she left 4 pins standing for a score of 296. She was the top Ladies’ winner with a total of 504 pins! Hector Robinson’s ’73 539 total put him in first place for the men; second place of 526 pin fall was awarded to Tom Everly and the third place finisher for the men with a total of 508 points was Tom Eagle ’72. Pat Eagle finished in second place for the ladies totaling 449 points and third place was awarded to Bonnie Thompson who finished with 434 pins. Fourth Place tie: Gran ’41 and Mary Waldt; 5th Place: Mindy Brown; 6th Place: Jim Brown ’62; 7th Place: Evelyn Millhouse McElwain ’68; 8th Place: Ralph Dusman; 9th Place John Klenzing; 10th Place Mark Dye.
The bowlers signed a bowling pin donated by Rudy Goetz, owner and manager of Nellie Fox Bowl, as a memento to Gran. “I love it! Thanks ever so much,” Gran said. “I couldn’t ask for a nicer family than my Scotland brothers and sisters!” Gran donated the pin to the Museum because the Bowling Benefit became a new piece of history for the SSVC Alumni.
Gran said, “Without the help of The Fundraiser Committee of Sally Sheaffer ‘65, Evelyn Millhouse McElwain ‘68 and Mary Waldt, the bowling benefit fundraiser would not have turned out the way it did. They worked hard continuously and with much determination. They deserve a lot of credit.”
Our thanks to Mary Waldt for this article and pictures.