William Penn, 1965 (48. évfolyam, 1-24. szám)

1965-06-16 / 12. szám

VOL. XLVIII. JUNE 16, 1965. 51 NUMBER 12.

William Penners Climax Fraternalism at Bowling Tournament-Fellowship Days

Over 100 Teams and More Than 600 Bowlers Vie for Top Honors

The event was of short duration but the memories thereof will be longlived.

It was the 22d Annual National Bowling Tournament and Fellowship Days of the William Penn Fraternal Association, and it took place in the cities of Allen Park and Detroit, Michigan, on May 29-30, 1965.

Detroit, known as the Motor City of this country, and, to be sure, the greatest automobile manufacturing center in the whole wide world, and its immediate area swelled a mite in population when hundreds of William Penn members and other guests gathered together in the William Penn’s yearly demonstration of its own special and unique kind of fraternalism which is a combination of sport and fellowship. We sincerely believe that no other fraternal sponsors a once-a-year national program comparable to ours, and we are quite proud of our successful achievement.

. As is true every year, the William Penn sought the best for its bowlers, members and guests. That is why the very large, ultra modern Thunder Bowl Lanes of Allen Park, just a few years old, with 54 lanes on the men’s side and 20 lanes on the women’s side, properly boasting multiple conveniences such as its eating and drinking sections, its seating facilities for guest spectators, etc., proved completely satisfactory to all concerned.

Which is also the reason why the Statler Hilton, in the heart of downtown Detroit, was chosen as the official lodging place for the William Penn members and their guest's and for the Fabulous Dinner and Dance Party. The very name suffices to tell that the Statler Hilton is on of the better hotels of Detroit, and again conditions were satisfactory despite the estimated $250,000 fire at the hotel about a week before the arrival of the William Penn guests.

The “best”, etc. certainly would fall short if the coordinating force was missing or inferior, but that was not so. National Controller John Sabo, the Tournament Administrator, whose experience in this difficult endeavor goes back many years, did indeed do yeoman service as the living kingpin of the entire Bowling Tolirnament-Fellowship Days, and we all — bowlers, members and guests — who were in any way a part of the great event, salute Mr. Sabo for his successful efforts.

Now with the fundamentals taken care of, on with the story!

The preliminary ceremonies of the Bowling Tournament and Fellowship

ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS

National President Elmer Charles and Mrs. Charles were the official hosts at this special table, entertaining Rev. Dr. Zoltán Beky, President and Rev. Joseph Kecskemethy, Secretary of the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, Washington, D. C., Bishop Louis Nagy representing the American Hungarian Reformed Churches of America, Mrs. Louis Nagy, McKeesport, Pa., wife of Bishop Nagy, Rev. Dr. László Vatai, Pastor of the First Hungarian Evangelical Reformed Church, Detroit, Michigan, with Mrs. László Vatai, Ju'ius Macker, Detroit, Michigan former President of the William Penn. Seated between Mr. and Mrs. Charles is their lovely granddaughter, Candece Charles.

Days began, of course, Saturday morning, May 29, at Thunder Bowl Lanes, with the formal opening of the tournament itself by the Tournament Administrator, National Controller John Sabo, whose initial remarks and instructions were followed by greetings from National President Elmer Charles.

Because the William Penn Fraternal Association is both fraternal and patriotic, the society often employs our National Anthem at its events, programs and ceremonies — national, regional and local. So it was the National Anthem was sung before the rolling of the first ball by the National President, an honor accorded him by virtue of his prime leadership. The bowlers began their friendly rivalry — teams against teams and individual players seeking to outdo one another — immediately following the rolling of the first ball.

On hand to record pictorially this and the other phases of big two dayl affair was the official photographer, Louis A. Fodor, who, by the way, is manager of Branch 34S, Weirton, West Virginia. Mr. Fodor’s pictures, in-THREE OFFICIALS — THREE FRIENDS

Chairman of the Board Julius Lenart, Tournament Administrator John Sabo and Dr. Andrew Kovács, Director, clasp hands after Mr. Sabo presented each with a memento bowling trophy.

terspersed throughout this issue, will add emphasis to our presentation here of the Tournament-Fellowship Days,

Besides Mr. Charles and Mr. Sabo, other officers and officials present at the opening of the tournament were: Chairman of the Board and Vice President Julius J. Lenart, National Secretary Albert J. Stelkovics, National Treasurer Julius E. Somogyi, Directors John P. Balia, Frank Bero, Stephen Danko, Michael J. Faczan, Joseph Toma, Louis Vassy and Frank J. Wukovits, Sr., Chairman of the Auditing Committee Caspar Papp, Auditing Committee Member Nicholas Juhasz, General Counsel Gay B. Banes, Regional Manager Gus G. Nagy.

On its first day the tournament was shortened to enable the bowlers to dress up for the Fabulous Dinner and Dance Party at 6 p.wi. in the headquarters hotel, the Statler Hilton. However, bowling was resumed early Sunday morning and was concluded that evening. Sportsmanship and fun. dominated the whole gamut of the tournament for the two exciting days.

Before concluding this segment of the story, it certainly is meet and proper to mention Mrs. Dorothy La Fever, the Tournament Secretary, who together with her crew of scorekeepers did an excellent job of tallying the scores and the results of the tournament. It is no easy task for the Tournament Secretary who must labor before, during and after the tournament — in collaboration with the Tournament Administrator.

Also deserving much credit are the two Home Office supervisors, Ernest S. Bendzsuk and John L. Lovász, who together handled the details of the bowling- registration section in the hotel, and, one at each end of the line, regularly dispatched the chartered buses which plied between the Statler Hűtőn and Thunder Bowl Lanes. These modern comfortable buses were without charge to any bowler, member or guest of the William Penn, and the rides to and fro were pleasant and speedy.

In this story we are covering the social phases rather than the tournament itself, the latter being expressed in detail with the total scores of teams and individuals and pertinent pictures by the official photographer.

It used to be called the Victory Dinner-Dance, but Tournament Administrator Sabo decided to enhance the whole affair by renaming it the Fabulous Dinner and Dance Party — and his decision was not in words only!

The dinner itself was scheduled for 6 p.m. on the mezzanine, the dance to be followed sometime later in the Grand Ballroom. Prior to the banquet there was much activity as bowlers, members and guests exchanged fraternal greetings and chatted friendily.

This reporter took advantage of the lull by looking around. He stepped outside and read “WELCOME, William Penn Fraternal Assn.” on the marquee of the hotel. He noted signs on various eating places soliciting the pat(Continued On Page 2)