Bowling, The Wright Way - November 19, 2004 by Don Wright
Research 101

Now research I enjoy. While working on my degree we had to do a lot of research into constitutional law, supreme court decisions and matter affecting probation, parole, juvenile justice and corrections. Most students hate research. Not me. Research opens so many doors and in my mind works like a history lesson.

So, I did some general research as well as bowling research and thought I would share some of the interesting tidbits I found.

• The WIBC was founded in 1916. A gallon of milk sold for 36 cents and you could buy a three bedroom house for $2,875.
• Michigan tops the states for most combined bowling membership with 278,007.
• The Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center in Saginaw, Mich., was established in September 1950 and is dedicated in honor of Lt. Aleda E. Lutz, U.S. Army Nurse Corps, a distinguished female veteran, avid bowler and member of the Saginaw WBA.
• Dagwood Bumstead of the comic strip Blondie was inducted into the Greater Detroit Bowling Association Hall of Fame.
• The first 700 series in WIBC was rolled by Marie Clemensen of Chicago. She rolled a 712 during the 1934 WIBC Tournament and the record held for 38 years.
• The first 300 bowled in a WIBC Championship was rolled by Lori Gensch of Milwaukee. She bowled the perfecto at Cactus Bowl, Tucson, Ariz., May 7, 1979.
• Pennsylvania has 404 bowling centers. Rhode Island has eight. Japan has 1,100.
• In 1929 Skang Mercurio bowled 65 consecutive errorless games, missing the tenpin in the ninth frame of game 66. And, we think a good night is three clean games.
• The first woman inducted into the Texas Women's Bowling Association Hall of Fame was Mrs. Helen Baetz of San Antonio in 1965.
• Forty-three women are in the Texas WBA Hall of Fame. Fifteen are there for superior performance.
• Chris Schenkel provided commentary for the PBA Tour for 36 years. Most of us would love to have him and Bo Burton back in the booth today.
• No Texan has ever won the Mort Luby Sr., or the John O. Martino award presented annually by the Bowling Writers Association of America.
• As of July there were 6,024 bowling centers in the U.S. The BPAA web site dated October 2004 reflects a membership of 3,300 centers.
• The average U.S. bowling center has 19.9 lanes. The average Texas center has 26.4 lanes. Nevada averages 32.6 lanes. The worldwide average is 20.1 lanes.
• During the 1996-1997 seasons YABA bowlers earned 806 awards for a perfect game. During the 2002-2003 season youth bowlers rolled 1,341 300 games. For the same time period the WIBC awarded 714 and 946. The ABC awarded 33,276 and 44,937. With a decline in membership across the board, have bowlers really improved that much?
• Of the 68 men in the Texas State Bowling Association Hall of Fame, 28 are deceased.
• There are three Texans in the ABC Hall of Fame and four in the WIBC Hall of Fame
• Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas and current PBA Touring Professional, holds the ABC record for most 800's in a year with 15.
• Celebrity Bowling aired in 1971. The 26 half-hour shows were filmed in three days. The host was Jed Allen.
• The Neiman Marcus Christmas Book is offering His 'n' Hers Bowling Center with a starting price of $1.45 million.
• Garden Bowl in Detroit, built in 1912, claims it is the oldest bowling alley in the country in its original location.
• Saratoga Lanes, Maplewood, Missouri was established in 1916 and claims to be the oldest bowling alley west of the Mississippi.
• Holler House in Milwaukee, Wisc, an historic corner tap, claims it is home to the nation's oldest bowling alley -- two lanes in the basement.
• Don Wright is one of the most honored political cartoonists in the country. He has won the Pulitzer Prize twice, the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism twice, the Inter American Press Award three times, the Overseas Press Club Award five times, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award twice, the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society twice, the National Headliner Award and the Best of Cox Award twice.
    Oh! There's that journalism word again -different Don Wright.

See you on the lanes.