26
- FEBRUARY 2014
USBC ANNOUNCES
NATIONAL
RECOGNITION
AWARDS
By Terry Bigham
ARLINGTON, Texas - Nancy Walczyk
of Boston, N.Y., Bill Chrisman of Pleas-
ant View, Utah, and Randy Shank of
Sterling Heights, Mich., have been se-
lected to receive 2014 United States
Bowling Congress National Recognition
Awards.
Walczyk was named the recipient of the
Helen Baker Award for Outstanding As-
sociation Service, Chrisman is the Joyce
Deitch Unity Award winner and Shank
was selected to receive the USBC Pro-
prietor of the Year Award.
The award winners, determined by the
USBC Board of Directors, will be recog-
nized during the 2014 USBC Convention
in Reno, Nev., in April .
Walczyk has been involved with bowl-
ing for more than 40 years. She started
at the local level, serving eight years as
secretary/treasurer of the Erie County
Suburban Women's Bowling Association.
She also was president of the Erie
County Young American Bowling Alli-
ance for six years.
In 1984, she was hired by the New York
State WBA and began a 26-year career
as secretary/treasurer and association
manager at the state level. She also
served as secretary/treasurer of the New
York State Bowling Council for 15 years.
Walczyk was instrumental in the growth
of NYS Women's Championships, get-
ting the sport of bowling into the Empire
Games and overseeing scholarship pro-
grams for the NYS Youth Association.
She has received numerous awards
throughout her career, including election
to the Erie County Suburban Hall of
Fame and NYSWBA Hall of Fame.
Chrisman's passion for bowling started
on the lanes. He bowled collegiately at
Weber State and later would serve on a
local association board for nine years. In
1985, he launched High Score Products
to sell a new product that cleaned ure-
thane bowling balls. The company
evolved to become one of the
most recognized names in the
sport, Storm Bowling.
While Storm Bowling has been
an innovator - the introduction of
scented bowling balls drew much
attention to the sport - Chrisman
and his wife, Barbara, have sup-
ported bowling through sponsor-
ships of bowlers and tourna-
ments. Chrisman is a member of
the Ogden Bowling Association
and Utah State Halls of Fame.
Shank has been the proprietor
of Sunnybrook Lanes in Sterling
Heights, Mich., since 1997. Sun-
nybrook Lanes has served as
host to many local, regional and
national tournaments, including
the U.S. Women's Open, USBC
Junior Gold Championships, Pro-
fessional Bowlers Association
regional events and the Michigan State
High School Association Championships.
One of the first proprietors to launch
youth and adult Sport bowling leagues,
Shank also is actively involved in high
school bowling and sponsors two teams.
He has a USBC Bronze coach on staff
and requires youth coaches to be USBC-
certified and go through the Registered
Volunteer Program. He has been pre-
sented several awards for community
and bowling involvement, including the
George Prybyla Industry Award, and is a
member of the Detroit Bowling Hall of
Fame and the Michigan High School
Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Asso-
ciation Hall of Fame.
The USBC National Recognition
Awards were developed to honor indi-
viduals for contributions to bowling.
The Helen Baker Award for Outstanding
Association Service, named for the fifth
president of the Women's International
Bowling Congress (WIBC), recognizes
an outstanding bowling leader who has
made invaluable contributions to local
and state associations as an innovator,
creator and mentor of adult programs.
The Joyce Deitch Unity Award is named
for the WIBC's seventh president and
recognizes organizations and individuals
who have made important contributions
to bowling as motivators, visionaries,
leaders and innovators. The USBC Pro-
prietor of the Year Award recognizes a
bowling center proprietor for his/her out-
standing support of USBC local, state
and/or national association programs.
Go to BOWL.com/ScholarshipsAwards
to learn more about the National Recog-
nition Awards.
5/4 & 6/1
March
1st
Feb 15
Mar 15
