The Las Vegas Hospitality Association’s (LVHA) annual team-building bowling event was held at The Orleans Bowling Center in August (Photo Credit: David Cherkis Photography).

The Dreamers team with players Anthony Bartolomeo (Metropolitan Expositions), Kathy Perlsweig (Mandalay Bay), Michelle White Sukala (MGM Grand) and Mike Pergola (Edlen Electric Exhibition Services) won top trophies with the highest score.

Two games were played with the first being a team-building game with 10 different challenges ranging from pushing the bowling ball from a seated position to bowling between the legs of three teammates. The second game was played normal.

To fortify the team spirit a costume challenge was another dynamic element that was won by Rockin’ Bowl team (above) made up of Jennifer Cheung (Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville), Jamie Malloy (Green Valley Ranch), Cyndi Stumbo (Freeman), and Tristan Wood (Trump International).

The highest score by a woman was won by JoLynn DeMera on Freeman Audio Visual Solutions’ Alley Cats team and for the men Mike Pergola on the winning The Dreamers team captured the honor.

The Las Vegas Hospitality Association (LVHA) is a non-profit state association made up of nearly 500 working professionals in the hospitality industry. Originally founded in 1962, the LVHA encompasses a broad spectrum of companies supporting the tourism, convention and hospitality fields in Southern Nevada. Visit their web site at www.lvhospitality.org.

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Waterford, MI –Rolla Zuck bowled a 224 on Monday in his daytime senior league at Century Bowl. He said it was the first time he eclipsed 200 in a year and a half.

One of Zuck’s league teammates, Bettie Meredith, said Zuck must have had a memory lapse because he actually bowled a 232 on Sept.22, two days after his 104th birthday.

Zuck’s Monday total of 515 was 86 pins more than his average, a score that led the first two days of a four-day tournament. Still, he didn’t seem overly excited.

“Right now I’m not bowling real good, but I’m going to stay with it as long as I can because I love the people,” said Zuck, who averages 143 in the Monday league and 152 on Thursdays.

The people love Zuck, too. Although the Waterford resident didn’t bowl Thursday, he showed up for an ice cream social. When he arrived, nearly everyone showered him with pleasantries, including one that especially made Zuck smile: “Good morning, young man.”

Zuck will turn 105 in less than a month. He said he’s currently taking six medications, including multiple ones for his heart. He had his first heart attack in 1972 and said he’s had four others. Zuck has struggled to bowl last few weeks because one of the heart medications makes him dizzy. That issue has since subsided, for the most part.

Zuck also is hearing-impaired and has back and leg problems. He said he can often only bowl one or two games at a time because walking with his 14-pound ball is a chore. He bowled with a 16-pound ball about 10 years ago and is considering going down in weight again.

Regardless of the pain, his bowling technique remains intact. He takes a four-step approach and still puts some hook on the ball.

“It’s a little slow but not bad,” said league member Ken Meredith, Bettie’s husband. “I don’t see much difference now from the time he was 100.”
‘Party guy’

Zuck moved to Michigan from Missouri in 1926. He grew tired of building levees for farms, so he took a job at the Fisher Body Company in Pontiac, working for 45 cents an hour.

He opened Zuck Machine Shop in 1957, a car repair shop he sold in 1997.

Zuck never had any kids, but his late wife Estelle had two sons and a daughter. He met Estelle on a blind date in the early 1950s. She died in 1997 at age 90.

His stepdaughter and one of her daughters — whom he calls his granddaughter — live in Warren, so he sees them from time to time.

His granddaughter Deborah Owens throws him a birthday party every year. Century Bowl and his assisted living home also celebrate the occasion.

“I’m a party guy,” Zuck said.

Compared to his past, when he’d drive thousands of miles to see friends, Zuck said he doesn’t do much these days, although he still drives. To stay active, he does standing exercises — kicking his legs and swinging his arms — especially the right arm.

“As long as I can move my arm, I’m going to bowl,” Zuck said.
”Til I drop dead’

In addition to bowling, Zuck said he reads and roots for the Tigers. On Thursday, he wore a Pistons hat with bowling pins on the brim, but he has never been to one of their games. Baseball always was his sport, and he said he’s frustrated with the Tigers’ season.

“I feel like going over there and booting ‘em for not playing better,” he said.

Zuck first bowled when a friend pushed him to join a league in 1949. He wasn’t very good.

He’s bowled at Century since it opened in 1981. In that time he’s seen a lot of things in the bowling alley, including an incident four years ago when his friend died in the building.

Since then, the alley has added a defibrillator, which Zuck and the other seniors helped purchase.

But for Zuck, a similar fate might not be such a sad ending. He says he intends to bowl ” ’til I drop dead.”

jkatzenstein@detnews.com

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100827/SPORTS07/8270358/104-year-old-bowler-is-on-a-roll#ixzz0xvKctwY0

The popularity of the Nintendo Wii has been increasing this year among seniors, as they look for new, low impact, ways that they can get exercise while living at a nursing home or assisted living facility. One game in particular is a hit with seniors, and surprisingly it is the free Wii Sports game that comes with the system. Specifically seniors are very into playing Wii bowling, as it was a common activity which many would participate in earlier in their life. However as many seniors age, it becomes harder for them to commute to a lane and pick up the heavy balls so that they can bowl with friends. Now, thanks to the Nintendo Wii, seniors at nursing homes and other facilities have a way to stay on top of their bowling skills, with very little chance of getting injured. In fact, Wii bowling is becoming so popular that seniors are actually participating in leagues and tournaments, so they can see whose bowling skills shine above the rest.

In North Carolina, Liberty HomeCare & Hospice Services created a nine-team Wii bowling league to give seniors a fun way to enjoy one of their new past times. The first match took place in late July between the Strikers and Autumn Sports, where the Strikers came out on top. More Wii bowling matches are planned for the senior league, and the games are expected to last through September. Similar events are also taking place in southern Florida, where seniors at Southwest Focal Point Senior Center had a Wii bowling tournament last month. There were twelve senior bowlers who broke into teams, and battled it out with the virtual bowling game. Not only do these games promote movement and exercise for the seniors, but they’re also a great way for seniors to socialize and interact with each other in a competitive way. Hopefully more senior facilities will catch onto the Wii bowling craze, and make it an option for their residents.

Written on August 16, 2010 at 1:45 pm by Ellen at:
http://www.guidetonursinghomes.com/nursing-home-news/1036-seniors-enjoying-wii-bowling-leagues-and-tournaments.html

It’s kept us up nights, wondering how and why the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame could possibly be shunning Taylor Swift for this long. Young Swift bowls regularly, and she possesses all sorts of fame. And yet for years, she’s been left sans-Bowling Hall induction. Criminal.

But wait: The Associated Press reports that the IBMHOF has finally seen the light, naming Swift for celebrity induction in 2010. Hooray! (Also, voting was open to fans, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that if something’s fan-voted, Taylor Swift will almost certainly win it.)

More about the bowling honor from the AP:

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Bowling fans have picked country star Taylor Swift as their 2010 choice for celebrity induction into the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame.

Swift barely beat pop star Justin Bieber to secure her lane in bowling history. They were among nine celebrities the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America nominated for their public support of the sport.

Swift has been spotted and photographed bowling with friends.

The association, in making the announcement Wednesday, says this is the first year that the celebrity induction process has been opened to fans. Nearly 1.3 million votes were cast online.

The museum, which moved from St. Louis last year, is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Arlington. Swift’s photo and plaque will be displayed at the site later this summer.

Published by tunein on August 11, 2010 in News at http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2010/08/11/taylor-swift-joins-bowling-hall-of-fame/

The big bowling news of the summer has been the announcement that the United States Women’s Open of 2011 will be conducted at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

It will be staged at the end of June in conjunction with Bowl Expo. The annual gathering of bowling aficionados is the center of various meetings, elections and award presentations for the sponsoring Bowling Proprietors Association of America.

Annually, Bowl Expo draws up to 10,000 attendees from the bowling industry and nearly 1,000 exhibitors who sell the latest in bowling, from scoring pencils to automatic scorers to multimillion-dollar bowling center installations.

The U.S. Open disclosure was a surprising but welcome development, because the United States Bowling Congress, the previous tournament sponsor, had decided it would not lend its name in 2011. Now, Ebonite International has stepped up to fill the sponsorship gap.

Women’s pro bowling and competitions for the higher average female shooters in the world have been tossed, turned and shoved under the nearest bus on many occasions since the women’s national pro tour was disbanded in 2003 because of financial problems. The women’s tour had been around since 1960, and top-notch women’s tournaments rank with the largest numbers in sports participation.

No details for the 2011 tournament have been revealed, except that it will be open to all youth and female sanctioned bowlers. Assuming no plans have been set, the powers that be have plenty of time to study the history of the tournament and its years of success.

The women’s and men’s U.S. Opens achieved their greatest success when competitive spots in the tournament were earned on the basis of local eliminations conducted by bowling proprietor groups or interested bowling centers that set up the events. Bowlers paid a modest entry fee on the local level and, if they qualified, got to move to the national with all expenses, entry fees, travel, lodging and incidentals paid for by the money generated at the local tournaments.

The Open deserves a lifetime spot on bowling’s national schedule. It can be done with the cooperation of proprietors and the field can be assured as one of the best with invited titlists and successful qualifiers at one of the most prestigious venues in the world.

The tournament should be one of bowling’s priorities, and the work to guarantee success should be well underway.

BRIEFS: Tom Smith, 53, of Wilmington, Del., averaged 242 for his nine games, highlighted by a 238-209 triumph over Rich Pizzutti of Mahwah, to win the Senior Challenge tourney at Lodi Lanes and the $1,000 first prize. Pizzutti, a super senior at 72, earned $550 for second. Next stop for the 50-plus gang is Sunday at Holiday Lanes in Oakland.

The International Bowling Hall of Fame received two big boosts recently. A donated custom motorcycle brought an auction price of $75,000 and the estate of the late John Powell Jr., bowler/proprietor, announced a $100,000 grant.