the tenpinexpress.com At The 2021 Open Championships.
Pictured Are: Mary Watts Berner, And Her 65 Little Lambs. Who Gathered For A Group Photo, Prior To The Start Of The Team Event On Saturday June 19, At The 2021Open Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. She Has Been A Squad Organizer Since 2012.
Editor's Note: You are probably wondering how we know so much about Southwest Florida, while you are reading this story. The author of this story, lived in Southwest Florida from 1976-1993 himself. He attended Edison Community College and earned an AA Degree in Communications in April 1981. His journalism career began with the Ft. Myers Beach Observer in 1979. He was very active in the game of bowling while living there. And bowled in various leagues and tournaments throughout his 17 years living there. This is the last of four stories the tenpinexpress.com, filed from the 117th Open Championships. Thanks to all of you, who helped make our first Open Championship a successful one.
By Being A Squad Organizer At The Open Championships The Last Nine Years. Mary Watts Berner Does It ForThe Love Of The Game Of Bowling.
By Michael 'Chip' Begg
Managing Editor - thetenpinexpress.com
Director Mesa Metro Association
Las Vegas, NV. - - - How many of you remember the nursery rhyme, 'Mary Had A Little Lamb.' In case you don't, let us remind you how it goes.
MARY’S LAMB.
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school one day—
That was against the rule,
It made the children laugh and play,
o see a lamb at school.
And so, the Teacher turned him out,
But still he lingered near,
And waited patiently about,
Till Mary did appear.
And then he ran to her, and laid
His head upon her arm,
As if he said—‘ I’m not afraid—
You’ll keep me from all harm.’
What makes the lamb love Mary so ?’
The eager children cry—
O, Mary loves the lamb, you know,’
The Teacher did reply ;—
And you each gentle animal
In confidence may bind,
And make them follow at your call,
If you are always kind.
In Ft. Myers, Fl., there is a Mary in real-life, Mary Watts Berner, who has little lambs of her own. 65 of them to be exact. And to gather all of them together to bowl in the Open Championships this past June in Las Vegas, NV. Is a difficult task to take on, but it is one that she embraces 100% She has been doing it since 2012.
Getting all of her little lambs to Las Vegas this year was a little bit tricky, too, as members of the group flew in on Tuesday June 15, on Southwest Airlines. This was the day, that the air carrier had a glitch with its weather systems. Therefore, causing delays around the country. Ft. Myers, and RSW, unfortunately were one of the cities that experienced this delay as well.
"Quite a few of us traveled here via Southwest," said Mary, of her travel experience that day. "Two to four had their flight cancelled, and others were rerouted to other cities to get here. Of the four that had their flight cancelled, Southwest gave them each a $200 voucher."
Kudos to Southwest for doing the right thing and taking care of its customers.
Once everyone made it to Las Vegas, the itinerary was filled with bowling events the rest of the week that included: The National 40 Framer on Friday at Gold Coast; the No-Tap event at Gold Coast on Saturday morning; the Team Event at the OC on Saturday Night, and the Singles and Doubles event at the OC on Sunday afternoon.
"We had 13 teams take part in this year's OC and will have 20 teams at the OC in 2021-22. I have 14 Teams of our own and a smaller group of 6 Teams will be joining us next year. That’s 100 bowlers!, said Mary, of organizing her yearly trip to the OC. "Taking care of 65 little lambs is a grueling effort, because some may drop out and we will have to find replacements for them. I handle the registration of the teams, and the collection of the entry fees. The USBC changed their Squad times after opening them up to the Team Captains for 2022 and forced us to move our dates from mid-June to mid-July. This move caused some of our original group to cancel and we have had to fill the vacancies from our Alternate Bowlers List."
According to Bowl.com, 38,000 bowlers, or 7,600 5 player teams participated in the 117th OC. The tournament ran for 79 days. It started on May 1 and ended on July 18. The OC will be at Southpoint again in 2022. In Reno in 2023, and in Baton Rouge, LA., in 2025.
As the Tournament Coordinator for Lightning Strikes Bowl in Ft. Myers, Mary has a lot on her plate these days. She runs Tournaments every Saturday and several Sundays every month such as a monthly: Senior HDCP 5 Game Sweeper, the Heinz 57 Trio, and a monthly No-Tap Doubles. The Heinz 57 Trio format requires: one 49 and under bowler, one 50 and over bowler, and female. The Heinz 57 Trio (50 Teams) and the Monthly No Tap Doubles (84 Teams) are FULL every month!
The bowling center which is located at 4140 Fowler Street has been a fixture in the community since it opened in August 1988 and is the largest Center in SW Florida with 50 Lanes. Its signature leagues are the Audi Of Ft. Myers Mixed League on Tuesday nights. Where if someone rolls a 300 game, or 800 series, the bowler gets use of an Audi for a weekend. The Oaks Farms Premier League on Wednesday, and the EBA Trios League on Monday. It originally opened as Galaxy Lanes, a small Florida chain that was owned by the Carion family. It also had bowling centers in: Bradenton, Sarasota, and Venice.
"Robert Eddy purchased the Center in June 2019. He lives in Naples and was a League Bowler and League Sponsor at Bowland Naples," said Mary, of its proprietor. "His Center is quickly being known as the Tournament Center and draws bowlers from all of the State. For those of us who live in Ft Myers, the continuation as a Bowling Center was VERY important as it housed the most lanes in any of our local Centers as well as being the home center for four High School Bowling teams!"
It has always been said that the youth bowlers of today. Are our bowlers of tomorrow.
"High School Bowling became a Varsity High School Sport in 2011," she continued. "All of the coaches encourage their students to join leagues. We’re pretty fortunate to either have Adult Bowlers in the School Systems who are willing to coach. And or have Youth Bowlers who are now part of High School Bowling and are helping to teach the new student bowlers some of the basic beginning bowling skills."
The Southwest Florida USBC Bowling Association is LS local representative. There are 10 other bowling centers in the area that it represents besides LS. They are: Bowland Beacon - Naples; Bowland Coral Lanes - Cape Coral, Bowland Port Charlotte, Headpinz Cape Coral; Headpinz Ft Myers, Headpinz Naples, Lehigh Training Center, Lehigh Acres; Englewood Bowl, Englewood; Gator Lanes, Ft. Myers; and Treasure Lanes, Pt. Charlotte. Bowling Centers no longer around in the area are: All-Star Lanes, Beach Bowl, Brookside Bowl, Goodlette Strikes And Spares, Gold Crown Lanes, and Miracle Lanes.
The SWFBA also suffered two large personal losses last year, when its Association Manager Bob Peters. And Office Manager Carolyn Trump passed away. Longtime Director, Bobby Taylor. And his wife, Lori. Will take over the roles that were held by Bob and Carolyn.
"Not only was our area effected by the loss of these two, but the entire State was turned upside down as they hosted many of the State Events, Several of which had to be postponed or canceled due to their passing," said Mary, of the passing's. "Lori & Bobby Taylor have also been very active in the sport of bowling and on several Boards. We’re very happy that they both have stepped into these vacant roles."
Mary was a young lady when she was first introduced to the game of bowling at Western Bowl in Cincinnati, OH. She had no idea back then, that this visit to a bowling center would lead her to being involved in the game itself.
"I was very young the one and only time that I bowled at Western Bowl before moving to Florida. I do remember that my score was in the 120’s though!," she said, of being introduced to the game of bowling. "I love what I do and am very good at it. I’ve been running Tournaments since 2001. It started out just being for Youth Tournaments and gradually Adult events were added. My events became so successful that I needed larger places to hold them than the Beach Bowl’s 12 Lane Wooden Center. When the Beach Bowl was sold, I moved all of my events to Pin Street, which thankfully, was purchased by Robert Eddy."
There was a time not so very long ago, when she needed the support of the Southwest Florida bowling community herself. And in true fashion, the Southwest Florida bowling community stepped up to the plate and delivered.
"I was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in December of 2019 which resulted in me being hospitalized for 3 weeks, 1 week in the ICU. I was totally paralyzed from the neck down and had to be placed on a respirator for 4 days. GBS is a rare, serious autoimmune disease that can affect any part of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord. I was told that it could take a year for me to regain all of my movements back," she said, of one of the toughest parts of her life-time to go through. "My comment to the Doctors was that I didn’t have time for that as I had a large group of bowlers competing in a Senior State Tournament in January and 70 bowlers competing in the 2020 Open Championship! I amazed all of my doctors by recovering so quickly. I had originally planned to run my December No Tap Doubles tournament from my hospital bed but was successful in getting the docs to release me early from Rehab to actually run it at the Center in person. The Center and I surprised all of the faithful bowlers who came to show their appreciation for me. As long as I had my walker nearby and a chair to sit on, I was fine! I was overwhelmed by not only the bowlers from my events at Lightning Strikes, but the Management and bowlers from Bowland and Lehigh Training Center who had done special fund raisers for me during their Leagues. Our Bowling Community is the BEST!".
Mary moved to Southwest Florida in 1976. 45 years ago, if you drove from Ft. Myers, to Bonita Springs on US 41 South. Undeveloped property dotted the landscape on both sides of the highway. The undeveloped property has since been developed.
"There has been a tremendous amount of growth in Ft Myers," Mary said, of the growth of Ft. Myers. "Many of the streets were two lanes, and there were draw and swing bridges where now they tower over the water to allow the boats to go under without having to stop and wait for the bridges to open. Very few open lots remain along the major routes throughout Lee County."
In addition to its in-house tournaments, LS has hosted State and PBA Regional events. As well as Southwest Florida USBC Open Championships. From 4-10 to 4-13, 2021. It hosted the PBA 50 Lightning Strikes Open which was presented by Hammer. LS has offered to be the first tour stop on the Senior PBA Tour again in the spring of 2022.
One National PWBA Tour Stop visited Southwest Florida in August 1989. It was the Galaxy Lanes Open. Lisa Wagner defeated Tish Johnson for the title.
Southwest Florida Bowling News - August 24, 2021