Here we are in the month of May. And that means that the 2005-2006 Fall and Winter season will soon be coming to a close. The junior leagues and the Retailers league finished in early April. The Bowlerettes league concluded their season last week with the Kewanee One-Stop team of Candace McRae, Judy Bounds, Kim Shirley and Carol Workman capturing the league crown.

Tonight will be final night of the season for the Super Tuesday Scratch Doubles league while other leagues will be concluding over the next three weeks. Nevertheless, bowlers still have a lot to look forward to as action continues in both the Mississippi Bowling Association and the Mississippi Women’s Bowling Association state tournaments into the month of June.

Many of our local bowlers are also beginning to make their way to their respective national championships. The USBC Women’s Championship, formerly know as the WIBC is being held at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada while the former ABC Championships, now known as the USBC Open Championships is taking place in Corpus Christi, Texas. We wish all of our local bowlers good luck as they take part in these events.

We were all saddened to learn of the passing of longtime Meridian bowler Freda Robinson, who passed away last weekend. Though illness forced her to retire from bowling a few years ago, she was very active in the lady’s association for many years and was well known and respected by all of us who knew her. We all extend our prayers and sympathies to her family during this time of their grief.

Local action continued to be hot and heavy on the lanes last week. Leslie McClinton gave the crowd a thrill by stringing his first ten strikes and claiming the week’s high game of 288 in the Monday Nighters league. Mike Cothern continued to stay hot with a 278/750 effort and M.A. Copeland chalked up his own 278 game and 737 series in the Wednesday Night Mixed League. Jim Broderick Jr celebrated his upcoming wedding with a strong 268/748 in the Queen City league while bride-to-be Candace Griffin beamed proudly. Alan Hand rounded out the list of top dogs with his 258/700 in the Hucklebuck league. Shayne Barfield and Ryan Malley also put together some big games while Larry Hattell led the seniors with a nice 653 series.

Eunice Dillard was smiling even brighter than usual after capturing the high game last week for the ladies with a nice 230 and Matar McClinton made her mark when she topped both the men and the women in the Super Tuesday Scratch Doubles by cranking out a 220. Denise Rutledge checked in with a 221 game while Tandee Marx grabbed the high series for the week with a 605. Other ladies stepping over the deuce line last week were Mary Copeland, Janice Kasper, Angie Thomas, Debbie Jones, Kate Grant, Cathy Jones, Shirley Gaines, Lisa Rickles and Linda Genin.

Best wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery go out to John Grant who is recuperating after a scare last week. Tests ultimately indicated that he did not suffer a heart attack as feared. For that, we are grateful. Many of you know we will be losing both John and Kate in a few weeks when they retire to Louisiana and we wish them both the best of luck in the future.

That’s all for this week. Until next week, good luck and good bowling. Here we are in the month of May. And that means that the 2005-2006 Fall and Winter season will soon be coming to a close. The junior leagues and the Retailers league finished in early April. The Bowlerettes league concluded their season last week with the Kewanee One-Stop team of Candace McRae, Judy Bounds, Kim Shirley and Carol Workman capturing the league crown.

Tonight will be final night of the season for the Super Tuesday Scratch Doubles league while other leagues will be concluding over the next three weeks. Nevertheless, bowlers still have a lot to look forward to as action continues in both the Mississippi Bowling Association and the Mississippi Women’s Bowling Association state tournaments into the month of June.

Many of our local bowlers are also beginning to make their way to their respective national championships. The USBC Women’s Championship, formerly know as the WIBC is being held at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada while the former ABC Championships, now known as the USBC Open Championships is taking place in Corpus Christi, Texas. We wish all of our local bowlers good luck as they take part in these events.

We were all saddened to learn of the passing of longtime Meridian bowler Freda Robinson, who passed away last weekend. Though illness forced her to retire from bowling a few years ago, she was very active in the lady’s association for many years and was well known and respected by all of us who knew her. We all extend our prayers and sympathies to her family during this time of their grief.

Local action continued to be hot and heavy on the lanes last week. Leslie McClinton gave the crowd a thrill by stringing his first ten strikes and claiming the week’s high game of 288 in the Monday Nighters league. Mike Cothern continued to stay hot with a 278/750 effort and M.A. Copeland chalked up his own 278 game and 737 series in the Wednesday Night Mixed League. Jim Broderick Jr celebrated his upcoming wedding with a strong 268/748 in the Queen City league while bride-to-be Candace Griffin beamed proudly. Alan Hand rounded out the list of top dogs with his 258/700 in the Hucklebuck league. Shayne Barfield and Ryan Malley also put together some big games while Larry Hattell led the seniors with a nice 653 series.

Eunice Dillard was smiling even brighter than usual after capturing the high game last week for the ladies with a nice 230 and Matar McClinton made her mark when she topped both the men and the women in the Super Tuesday Scratch Doubles by cranking out a 220. Denise Rutledge checked in with a 221 game while Tandee Marx grabbed the high series for the week with a 605. Other ladies stepping over the deuce line last week were Mary Copeland, Janice Kasper, Angie Thomas, Debbie Jones, Kate Grant, Cathy Jones, Shirley Gaines, Lisa Rickles and Linda Genin.

Best wishes and hopes for a speedy recovery go out to John Grant who is recuperating after a scare last week. Tests ultimately indicated that he did not suffer a heart attack as feared. For that, we are grateful. Many of you know we will be losing both John and Kate in a few weeks when they retire to Louisiana and we wish them both the best of luck in the future.

That’s all for this week. Until next week, good luck and good bowling.