Surdich on Bowling: Dynamic duo roll 300 games together

The husband-and-wife duo of Bonnie and Wayne Garber did a first for our Valley bowlers by rolling perfect games in the second game of their three-game sets at Yosemite Lanes in Modesto on Sept. 22.

Our local 500 Club president, LaDonna Stone, was bowling that night and said, “It was so exciting to watch them go strike after strike to the end.”

Bonnie was rolling in the Comet handicap league and Wayne in the men’s Town & Country handicap league. They have bowled in these leagues for more than 20 years. They were four pairs of lanes away from each other. Wayne was preparing to roll his 12th ball, and the applause grew louder for his 300 game. About 15 seconds later, Bonnie was preparing to roll her 12th and final ball. Everyone in the house went crazy to witness this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Wayne has rolled more than 100 perfect games, and Bonnie has eight. Both are members of the Modesto Bowling Association Hall of Fame. Wayne, a PBA member, was using his Hammer Red Pearl Widow ball, and Bonnie had switched to her Brunswick Red Solid ball. They were featured on the front page of the Sept. 24 edition of the California Bowling News.

Where there’s smoke – I was talking to Jess Donohue during league play in the Tuesday afternoon seniors at Bellevue Bowl. He said he received his NuBall rejuvenator and had it up and running last week. Apparently, it gave out some type of smoke that had his smoke alarms going crazy. But, he did have it on his kitchen table. Maybe he had a pot roast cooking at the same time.

He did say, “That NuBall works great. It’s a keeper.” He pulled about three tablespoons of oil from his ball.

Yosemite Lanes no-tap – There weren’t many seniors from our area bowling at Yosemite Lanes last Friday. Janie Schropp took second and third in the women’s high-game pots to earn a few bucks. Schropp and Kim Heller rolled series in the 860s but were out of the money.

Next up is the senior one man-one woman doubles no-tap at McHenry Bowl on Friday at 1 p.m. A pot-luck lunch starts at noon with sign-ups at 12:30 p.m. Entry fee is $15, which includes your high game and series pot for men and women.

League highlights – The Wednesday Night Commercial Classic had Paul Merrill with a 246/667, Robert Chaney with a 242/645, John Montoya with a super 277 for a 690, and Jess Ramirez led the league with games of 246-257-226 for a 729. The Friday Night Handicap had Justin Decker with games of 205-242-230 for a 677, and 2006 Merced County Bowling Hall of Fame inductee John Flanagan coming back after a long layoff with games of 233-250-235 for a 718.

Remember when – Sun-Star bowling news featured the automotive league from Century Bowl in 1964 with its teams, a few of its members and scores: Moomjeans, Jim Moomjean, 211; Merced Auto Top, Pete Petersen, 219; Miles & Sons, Norm Hoffman, 206, and Bob Devaurs, 200; Luds Auto Parts, Walt Hise, 225; Silveria’s Signal Oil, Frank Gangemella, 211; John Roth Towing, Eldon Jordan, 203; Meuser Auto Parts, Paul Gomez, 200; George’s Flying A, Dick Nahas, 204, and Bill Kilinsky, 202.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Surdich on Bowling: Dynamic duo roll 300 games together."