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About Us
The Blinkers Inc. is a bowling team for blind men and women
of all ages. Our hope is to better acquaint you to our presence here
in the community and hope that you will consider affiliating yourself with our
group through donations, participation in one of our fund raisers or helping us
promote our services to other blind people.
For those of you interested in charitable donations our UBI
Number is available upon request.
*NEW* If you know of any groups interested in bowling with us,
print off a version of this page, without the pictures, by clicking on Printable Information.
First we’ll tell you a little bit about ourselves. We provide this
weekly recreational activity to blind or visually impaired bowlers. We supply
our members with the proper equipment including shoes and bowling balls to
those members who choose be frequent participants in our weekly games. Each
week we play three games at Strawberry Lanes in Marysville, WA, as an outlet
for socialization and physical activity. In order to find the lane, we use a
rail set up from the ball return to the foul line. It is three feet high and
twelve feet long. There is a piece of tape on the rail near the far end, so it
is easy for the bowler to know when they are getting close to the end. Our team
also consists of a few sighted people who are our Auxiliary members; they help
us out by telling us which pins we have knocked down, finding the correct bowling
ball, assisting us with orientation to the bowling alley, and transportation to
our annual tournaments.
We are supported by a yearly
donation from the Everett Lions club and yearly dues from our members. One
weekend a year we man one of the State of Washington I-5 rest stops. We provide
coffee, tea and juice, as well as cookies, donuts, and snacks for weary
travelers. The treats are donated to us by local merchants. The travelers who
partake usually donate a dollar or two to the cause. We not only make money,
but we are also able to generate interest in our team and our need for new
members.
Each year in May we attend the North
West International Blind Bowling (NWIBB) tournament. It is hosted by one of four
teams each year from Spokane, Portland, Vancouver B.C, and Everett. This is a
costly event requiring funds for bowling alley reservation fees, dues to the
NWIBB, cost of food and transportation and most fun of all: prize money!
Now for the fun part! We like to get a group of people to
come and bowl against us. The catch is, the sighted people (you) get to bowl
the first game normally. The second and third games are bowled (by you) blindfolded. This also turns into a
fundraiser, since anyone who throws a gutter-ball gets to put a nickel in the
kitty (maximum cash outlay would be $.05 x 30 frames = $3.00 plus our usual fee
for bowling of approximately $8.05 a head for 3 games). The benefit however is
that you get to experience bowling as a blind person would.
Once you put on the blindfold, it stays on until the game
(all ten frames) is over. The sighted members of our team will assist you in
getting from your seat to the ball return and finding the correct ball. Rails
will be set up for right and left hand bowlers. After your first ball is
thrown, a spotter will tell you which pins are still standing by the standard
pin numbering system If you need something from the bar or restaurant, use of
the restroom, or anything else, you will have to wait for someone to assist you
(usually at the end of each game). Don’t worry if you’ve never bowled before,
expert bowlers usually go down in flames!
Even if you’re not interested in participating in this very entertaining
event, let us know if you are aware of any persons that would benefit from
bowling with us. For many of our members, this once weekly gathering is the
only exercise or social interaction they get. If you are unsure of how you
would like to help us, come on by one Sunday afternoon and watch us, we are a
lively, often entertaining group of people and would love the company.
Links: Home | About Us | Upcoming Events | Contact Us
| Bylaws
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