Daytona Beach Women Coordinate Tournament
to Send Carpet Lanes to League Member Serving in Iraq
When Daytona Beach USBC WBA President Terrie Brensinger saw BVL’s new portable carpet lane bowling kit campaign “Bowlers Salute America’s Troops” in Tulsa at the WIBC meeting and then again at BPAA’s Bowl Expo in Orlando, she knew that she wanted to be involved in the effort to send some fun to our hard-working troops overseas.
The campaign provides local associations, bowling centers, companies, or individuals the opportunity to send the kit -- consisting of a 26 foot-long red, white and blue carpet bowling lane (emblazoned with the words “Bowlers of America Salute You”), a matching rubberized bowling ball, pins and score sheets -- to a service man or woman of their choice. The lane can be easily rolled up and stored in its own lightweight nylon bag, along with the pins and ball. Conversely, in just a few minutes time, the lane can be set up for an afternoon of some all-American entertainment!
Brensinger talked with the other members of the Daytona Women’s Bowling Association about coordinating a tournament to help raise money to purchase a carpet lane to send to the troops. The association enthusiastically agreed. They purchased a promotional kit for $99, which gave them all the help they needed to get the campaign underway.
“I knew that Daytona Beach had bowlers in Iraq, and I knew that our community of bowlers could all come together for this one cause. Everybody has a loved one, friend, or someone they’ve come in contact with, who is serving overseas. This is a project that touches everyone.” explains Brensinger.
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Military personnel were among the participants
at the Daytona Beach event. |
“The other wonderful thing about this campaign is that we can really involve all members of our bowling community – men, women and youth. We have youth members that want to be active in things that our adults do. They were so enthusiastic; they worked just as hard as any of our adults. It was fantastic.”
When they received the promotional kit, the Association moved into high gear. Using the “How To” manual supplied in the kit, along with the posters, sample public service announcements and slotted press releases, association representatives fanned out across town, putting up posters about the tournament at every bowling center, sending flyers to local leagues, and soliciting free public service announcements at area radio stations.
Their efforts paid off. They received coverage in the Daytona Beach News Journal, three area radio stations ran the PSAs on numerous occasions, and Channel 13, the local news television station, sent a crew to the tournament. The TV station produced a segment which aired several times throughout the next day.
The committee also sought door prizes and raffle items from area businesses which were only too happy to help with such a project. They collected more than 40 door prizes and raffle items. Host center Ormond Lanes donated rosin bags to all the participants.
“Then, we simply followed the directions in the kit. We used the wrist bands as premiums,” says Brensinger. “Our bowlers loved them-- they went over big!” Also in the kit is a stunning patriotic American eagle/flag BVL Viz-A-Ball® which was used as a raffle item and helped make encouraging entrants an easy job.
More than 150 bowlers, including members of all branches of the military — retired and active duty, as well as ROTC -- entered to participate in the nine pin, no-tap tournament.
Participants and contributors signed the nylon storage bag with personal notes to their selected recipient – Harold Parsons, a Daytona Beach area league bowler who is on active duty in Iraq. (Special red and blue pens. used to write on the bag , are enclosed in the promotional kit.)
But, even before the first ball was rolled, the owner of Daytona Bowl and Ormond Pro Shop, and CEO of BowlingBall.com Keith Spear donated $500 in honor of his cousin, Brian, who is serving in Iraq. Then, after a special presentation to the wife of Harold Parsons, who was invited to the tournament, a live auction was held, netting $250. The highest bidder? Keith Spear.
The tournament was a huge success, and created much excitement for the campaign. What’s more, the association raised almost $4,000, exceeding all expectations.
Now, Brensinger says the concept was so successful; they’re continuing fund raising through the fall so that they can send more carpet lanes to the troops.
“This is a great program,” explains Brensinger. “First, everybody wanted to support our troops. Second, all the elements of the promotional kit – from the silicone wrist bands, to the Viz-ABall® to the marketing materials, helped make our job so easy.”
“We don’t want to stop,” continues Brensinger. “We’ve already sent two lanes over to Harold. Now, since we’ve begun this effort, we’ve learned about others from our area who are serving, and we want to extend our thanks to them as well. We’re going to keep going with this program just as long as possible -- as long as we have forces overseas.”
