6
– OCTOBER 2013
SERVING THE BOWLING INDUSTRY SINCE 1967
FINLAND’S AHLSTROM,
USA’S REICHERT
HONORED WITH WTBA
JOHN DAVIS
MEMORIAL AWARD
ARLINGTON, Texas – Former longtime Finnish
Bowling Federation president Kauko Ahlstrom and
former Brunswick Chairman and CEO Jack Reichert
have been selected to win the inaugural World Ten-
pin Bowling Association John Davis Memorial Award.
The John Davis Memorial Award recognizes indi-
viduals who have selflessly devoted their time and
resources to the sport of bowling over a significant
period of time.
Ahlstrom served as the president of the Finnish fed-
eration from 1940 until 1971 and was one of the best
bowlers in Finland. He was a three-time Finnish na-
tional champion and was a member of the national
team for 20 years.
The Federation Internationale des Quilleurs was
founded in 1952 with Ahlstrom being a part of the
founding group. He went on to serve as the president
of the FIQ Tenpin Division in 1955 and helped facili-
tate an agreement that brought the United States into
the FIQ organization.
Ahlstrom went on to serve as FIQ President from
1973-79 and served a total of 26 years in the FIQ
leadership.
Reichert, a member of the United States Bowling
Congress and Professional Bowlers Association Halls
of Fame, became the CEO of Brunswick in 1982 and
the Chairman of the Board in 1983. He retired from
Brunswick in 1995.
Reichert, who is from Lake Forest, Illinois, was a
driving force behind bowling‟s participation in the
1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. In
addition to
spending many hours toward that goal, he also had
Brunswick allocate significant financial resources to-
ward that and other Olympic the projects.
The John Davis Memorial Award is awarded entirely
at the discretion of the WTBA. The award is named
after the late Kegel founder John Davis, who passed
away suddenly in January 2013. Kegel is an interna-
tional bowling maintenance supply company with a
state-of-the-art training center in Lake Wales, Florida.
The World Tenpin Bowling Association, which is
made up of 112 bowling federations, governs the
sport throughout the world. For more information on
WTBA, visit WorldTenpinBowling.com.
BVL
By Phyl Knoll
We take pleasure and are proud to share with all our
bowling readers this wonderful news just received from
“
The Bowlers To Veterans Link”
headquarters in
Fairfax, Virginia.
“Fifth Consecutive Year of Increased
Contributions”
“Thanks to several significant contributions from major
industry partners, increasing participation from bowling
proprietors, and the addition of new associations, The
BVL realized an upturn in total donations for the re-
cently-concluded fiscal year – rising from approximately
$796,000 in the 11-12 season to $843,000 in the 12-13
season. This marks the fifth consecutive year of
growth for the sport of bowling‟s oldest and most suc-
cessful charity.”
“We truly benefited by the outstanding support of
three key industry players”, explained USBC BVL
Board Chair Darlene Baker. “With the wonderful contri-
bution from the Billiard and Bowling Institute of America
$27,000; and a generous gift from Bowling Business
Builders International $10,000; all our veterans pro-
grams – that help Brighten Veterans Lives – will be
preserved and enhanced.”
“The Brunswick Bowl for Freedom‟ campaign, which
offered bowlers discounted games and contributed
proceeds to BVL, created the largest increase in bowl-
ing center donations.”
“Once again,
California
dominated association contri-
butions. However, two states charted a significant in-
crease in contributions: Texas produced an 80% uptick
in donations, and Michigan, adding a record 15 new
contributing associations, rose 55%. New this year to
the BVL roster was the state of Louisiana, bringing in
$16,210.30.”
“The top ten states based on contributing associations
for 2012-13 season were:
CA
$129,766.33;
VA
$45,276.90;
TX
$39,928.71;
MI
$27,110.25;
IL
$26,068.83;
MN
$22,780.74;
GA
$22,312.43;
OR
$18,502.98;
LA
$16,210.30;
CO
$15,449.11.”
“The top ten local association donations for the 2012-
13 season were:
Citrus Belt USBC
$23,026.87;
Min-
neapolis USBC
$15,466.87;
Nation’s Capital Area
USBC
$15,319.00;
Metro Phoenix USBC
$10,300.00;
Greater Houston USBC
$9,296.00;
Or-
ange
County USBC
$9,117.58;
San Diego USBC
$8.800.00;
Greater Sacramento Area USBC
$8,000.00;
Greater Atlanta USBC
$7,500.00;
Vir-
ginia Peninsula USBC
$7,340.85”
(To see the list of
the top 50 states and local association contributors,
visit
)
With more and more of our military returning home
from deployment to the various war zone areas,
‘Lest we not forget our veterans’.
Please, figure out
how
YOU
can help raise money for your association‟s
BVL donation. One suggestion: encourage your
league to participate in a 50-50 each week (if you al-
ready have a 50-50 drawing and say maybe have two
winners per week, see if your league would be agree-
able to giving half to one winner and the other half to
the BVL through your secretary to the association of-
fice. If they don‟t want to do it each week, try every
other week or once a month. I know you‟ll figure some-
thing out, so as to make a difference
.
.
“Thanks to several significant contributions from major
industry partners, increasing participation from bowling
proprietors, and the addition of new associations, The
BVL realized an upturn in total donations for the re-
cently-concluded fiscal year – rising from approximately
$796,000 in the 11-12 season to $843,000 in the 12-13
season. This marks the fifth consecutive year of
growth for the sport of bowling‟s oldest and most suc-
cessful charity.”
“We truly benefited by the outstanding support of
three key industry players”, explained USBC BVL
Board Chair Darlene Baker. “With the wonderful contri-
bution from the Billiard and Bowling Institute of America
$27,000; and a generous gift from Bowling Business
Builders International $10,000; all our veterans pro-
grams – that help Brighten Veterans Lives – will be
preserved and enhanced.”
“The Brunswick Bowl for Freedom‟ campaign, which
offered bowlers discounted games and contributed
proceeds to BVL, created the largest increase in bowl-
ing center donations.”
“Once again,
California
dominated associa-
tion contributions. However, two states charted a sig-
nificant increase in contributions: Texas produced an
80% uptick in donations, and Michigan, adding a record
15 new contributing associations, rose 55%. New this
year to the BVL roster was the state of Louisiana,
bringing in $16,210.30.”
“The top ten states based on contributing associations
for 2012-13 season were:
CA
$129,766.33;
VA
$45,276.90;
TX
$39,928.71;
MI
$27,110.25;
IL
$26,068.83;
MN
$22,780.74;
GA
$22,312.43;
OR
$18,502.98;
LA
$16,210.30;
CO
$15,449.11.”
“The top ten local association donations for the 2012-
13 season were:
Citrus Belt USBC
$23,026.87;
Minneapolis USBC
$15,466.87;
Nation’s Capital Area USBC
$15,319.00;
Metro Phoenix USBC
$10,300.00;
Greater Houston USBC
$9,296.00;
Orange
County
USBC
$9,117.58;
San Diego USBC
$8.800.00;
Greater Sacramento Area USBC
$8,000.00;
Greater
Atlanta USBC
$7,500.00;
Virginia Peninsula USBC
$7,340.85”
(To see the
list of the top 50 states and
local
association
contributors,
visit
With more and more of our military returning home
from deployment to the various war zone areas in Fig-
ure out how
YOU
can help raise money for your asso-
ciation‟s BVL donation. One suggestion: encourage
your league to participate in a 50-50 each week (if you
already have a 50-50 drawing and now have two win-
ners per week, see if your league would be agreeable
to, giving half to one winner and the other half to the
BVL through your secretary to the association office. If
they don‟t want to do it each week. Try every other
week or once a month. I know you‟ll figure something
out, so as to make a difference
...‘Lest we not forget
our veterans’.
