My league’s banquet was tonight, and I arrived at the lanes (the banquet would be in the adjoining pub/restaurant) fairly early, so, as the NEBA tournament was getting started, I hung around the center to watch some of it and also said hello to Jon in the pro shop. The bulk of my team didn’t arrive until around the time dinner was served, and I ate with Helen and Ted.
The business meeting would be held after dinner, which featured the election of officers, with the only change being Warren Young stepping down as president of the league, electing Jim Blythe, who actually had to sit out the year with a knee injury, as Warren’s replacement. Some by-law amendments were then voted on, with the major change approved being the handicap basis; the league will be a 90% (of 1000, team) league next season, which is supposed to give the lower average teams more of a chance.
Finally, prizes were handed out, and the major surprise as far as I was concerned was that there were no handicap awards, and that the bulk of the prizes were individual awards, for high average, game and series, both overall and in the average classes. The effect of this was that I received a $40 award, not for high handicap series in the men’s Class A, which came while I was averaging in, but high game in the class, which was the 257 back in February. My team also got $9.20/bowler in point money, and I got an extra $5 for perfect attendance. The way prizes were structured, and because of the rule that a bowler can only be awarded one individual prize, just about everyone got a good piece of it (and it’s not a large prize fund overall), which is how it should be in a fun league like this one.
The last bit of a surprise came from my league treasurer, who gave me a personalized bowling t-shirt, as, in her 30 years of being a treasurer in various leagues, I was the first one to pay league dues in full for the season as early as I did. There was also a drawing for door prizes, and I lucked out there too, winning a $25 Lowe’s gift card (which I’ll probably give to my brother as an early Father’s Day gift to my dad).
I caught a ride home with Helen and Ted, as Carl and Patrick wanted to hang around to shoot some pool, and I wished a good summer to those that I could whom I knew I wouldn’t be seeing until September. I told Shawn, as a parting word, that I was glad that my prize was for something that didn’t happen until after I had averaged in.
As a final word, I had wanted to get a photo of the league champions, “The Badgers,” but was out of position when they were together. Someone in their group did get a digital photo of them, however, so I gave her one of my email addresses and asked her to send a copy my way. I hope to get the photo up soon.
The Tenth Board 