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Printable Information | Bowling with the Lions

Printable Information to be shared with Friends

Dear Friends,

We are writing to you today to tell you about the Blinkers. The Blinkers Inc. is a bowling team for blind men and women of all ages. We are writing this letter 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.

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 = $1.50 plus our usual fee for bowling of approximately $8.05 for 3 games). 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 handed 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, 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.

For those of you interested in charitable donations our UBI Number available upon request.

Check out of website for more information: www.blindbowling.com

Thank you so much for taking time to listen to us!