Association president Karen Tweed succumbs to cancer at the age of 64

Karen Tweed, President of the Merced County USBC Association, passed away on Jan. 2 after a yearlong battle with cancer, with her husband Richard, her father and family members by her side. She was 64.

Tweed, who retired from working for Farmers Insurance for over 33 years, was only the second woman to serve as association president.

In her early bowling years, Tweed held about every office in the Merced/Atwater Women’s Bowling Association. She was a lifelong member of the defunct Women’s International Bowling Congress (WIBC). She held offices in the Merced/Atwater Women’s 500 Club, and was still a member at the time of her passing.

Tweed attended state conventions during her term as president, representing the women’s association and our local USBC association as our delegate to the convention. She was inducted into the Merced County Bowling Hall of Fame in 2006.

This gal knew the rules. If you wanted something done, you asked Karen, and it would get done. She was known for her hard work and for spearheading the Bowlers to Veterans Link (BVL) for years, with all the proceeds going to California VA clinics and hospitals. Two years ago, she had a military Honor Guard presenting the colors at the our annual BVL tournament. The past two years she had local women vocalists open the tournament by singing the national anthem.

You would always see her going to every league selling raffle tickets for a new ball for the BVL fund. Now, you know why she was inducted into our Hall of Fame. A memorial will be held at a later date at Club Mercedes.

Cal-State senior finals

Team #218 – consisting of Lew Reese, Gene Fraizer, Roger Ross, and Johnel Maryland – wound up in a tie for fourth place in the 45th annual Cal-State Seniors held in Modesto in October and November.

Each team member received a check for $165. Maryland also placed in 39th in the A all-events, 70+ years and received another check for $30. Ross placed 35th in the A singles 70+ years for $75. In the B singles 60-69, Charles Mook placed 39th for $66. Mook teamed up with Tom McBride in the B doubles 120-139 years to finish in seventh place, which earned them $143 each. McBride placed in the A all-events 70+ years in 87th for another check for $20.

In the C all-events 50-59 years, Tom Brewer placed 46th for $24. The only local woman to place on the leaderboard was Janie Schropp, who placed 68th in the A singles 70+ years for $40. Modesto’s David Brown finished second in the B all-events 60-69 years for $120. Next year’s Cal-State Seniors event will be in Fresno and Clovis.

New Year’s in Paris

After having a buffet lunch, over 212 senior men and women hit the lanes trying to get a strike with a colored head pin to win a few dollars. Then they waited for 3 p.m. local time, midnight in Paris, to ring in the New Year with noisemakers, hats, leis, and champagne and sparking cider. Every bowler took home a champagne glass with the date on it. During the day, there were several first-time Paris bowlers winning money in the high game pot and high series. For the women, Judy Simpson, Carol Almeida, Gudi Ross and Barbara Huddleston won envelopes with cash.

On the men’s side, Al Layton, Mike Bayer and Lee Almeida were money winners. Roger Ross, Ed Rowen, Jim Mullings and yours truly won in the high game pot. Taking envelopes in the high series were Huddleston, Mullings, Rowen, LaDonna Stone, Keith Hunter, Gudi and Roger Ross, Bob Heller and yours truly. During the shoot-out for $100 cash, local Rowen and Ed Huddleston tried their luck by getting 10 strikes in a row. They had to get eight, 8-pin, no-tap strikes, and the final two shots had to be regular strikes. They made it to the second frame.

Black Oak no-tap

The senior no-tap is up and running Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Black Oak Lanes. Sign-ups start at 12:30 p.m. Entry fee is $15 for three games of 9-pin, no-tap; the fee includes your high game pot for men and women. The pot is paid after every game. The lanes furnish coffee, cookies and popcorn during the afternoon. It fills up fast, so contact Sandy at (209) 928-9437 to reserve a spot.

500 Club elections

On Sunday, the Merced/Atwater Women’s 500 Club is holding its annual meeting at Bellevue Bowl’s meeting room at 1:30 p.m. On the agenda is the election of the vice president, secretary and the office of the treasurer, as well as some changes to the by-laws if approved. I know that the newly elected officers will do their best for the club and not listen to outside influences. A lucky member attending will have a chance to win $50 that will be drawn during the meeting. Make sure to attend.

Senior Singles are set

On Jan. 17, our local association will hold its annual Senior Singles tournament at 1 p.m. at Bellevue Bowl. There will be two divisions based on age. A division is 50-64 and B is 65 and up. Men and women will be bowling in the same divisions. Entry fee is $25 and you will be using your 2013-2014 book average in this handicap tournament.

Remember when

In 1972-1973, Margaret Armstrong was the all-events handicap winner of the Women’s City Championships with a 1,899. In 1973-1974, team winners were the Mighty Mites with Ruth Pryor, Dee Maryland, Susie O’Hagan, Jackie Chovanec and Murna Chovanec with a 3,073 series. League action at Century Bowl, Continental Bowl and Bellevue Bowl had Grave Bramlette with a 223, Norma Arancibia 213, Barbara Baker 205. Split conversions: Bill Ellington 3-10, Marie Herrera 6-7-10, Chuck Strtek 6-7, Bob LeBlanc 2-7-10, Maxine Silva 5-7, Nita Magnone 5-10, Lew Magnone 3-10, and Lavonia Baker 3-10.

This story was originally published January 7, 2015 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Association president Karen Tweed succumbs to cancer at the age of 64."