By By Mike Carson / bowling colmunist
July 15, 2003
The tragic events last week at Lockheed-Martin have been felt by many many of us in this area, and unfortunately those of us in the bowling community have been touched by the tragedy as well with the death of one of our members and the serious wounding of another. Thomas Willis was a longtime bowler in the Hucklebuck league on Monday nights. He was well liked and respected by all of us who knew him and his loss leaves a big void in our hearts. His smile and laughter were contagious and we will miss him. To his family, his friends and his teammates, you have our deepest condolences and we share in your loss.
Another bowler, Brad Bynum, was also injured in the shooting. The 26-year old young man has been a member of various leagues for the last four years including The Ball &Chain, Hucklebuck and Queen City leagues. Hopefully he can recover from them and rejoin us. I know that everyone in the Meridian bowling community joins me in wishing Brad a full and speedy recovery.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family members of both of these men as well as with all of those affected by this terrible tragedy. Though we may never fully understand the cause of these events, we must all pull together as a community to overcome them.
Local summer league action continued as we moved into the second half of play. Kenny Mattson recorded the high game of the week with a 278 in the Summer Trio league. Mike Cothern pounded strikes for a 267 and Albert Edmonds showed out with a 267 in the Summer Trio league and a 266 in the Random league. Congratulations to Caleb Pope who picked up his first career 600 Series with a 600 even in the Tuesday Night Mixed league. Once again, Tandee Marx paced the ladies with a nice 222 game/622 series.
The 2nd Annual Handicap Doubles Tournament is set to begin Aug. 1 and run each weekend through Labor Day. Remember you can bowl with up to three partners each time you bowl. First Place is guaranteed to play $4000 regardless of the number of entries.