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Saturday bowling event to help U.S. troops
Originally Posted Online: Nov. 05, 2009, 5:39 pm
Last Updated: Nov. 06, 2009, 9:45 am
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Print this story | Email this storyLast Updated: Nov. 06, 2009, 9:45 am
By Jonathan Turner, jturner@qconline.com
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The Friday Night Short Crew league will host the 4th annual Veterans Bowl fundraiser Saturday to buy portable bowling kits to send to American troops overseas. The event -- at 1 p.m. at Highland Park Bowl, 4204 Avenue of the Cities, Moline -- is open to the public. Local businesses have donated door prizes. The entry fee is $18 per person and forms are available at Highland Park Bowl. Proceeds from the 9-pin, no-tap bowling event (three games) will be used to buy the portable kits. Nine kits have been sent overseas in the past three years. Organizers say troops have "expressed how much they have appreciated the kits in that they do help the morale and provide them an opportunity for a little recreation." The kits cost $350 each, with another $40 for shipping. They are purchased through Bowling Salutes America's Troops, by the Bowlers to Veterans Link, a national charity supported by the sport of bowling. Since the program launched in 2005, 550 kits have been delivered to troops deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Korea and other countries. The nationwide effort has been "very enthusiastically received," BVL administrator Elizabeth Montanya said. The kit consists of a 26-foot red, white and blue carpet bowling lane, a 5-pound rubberized bowling ball and lightweight plastic bowling pins. The lane, ball, pins, score sheets and instructions are packaged in a nylon carrying bag. "We have bowling centers and league bowling associations signing up daily to support this effort, and the feedback from the troops has been absolutely wonderful," said BVL board chairman Darlene Baker. "They love it, and we love it." Initial shipments of the kits went to 40 bases in Iran and Afghanistan, but, as word spread, requests poured in from service men and women in outposts around the globe, according to the BVL Web site, www.bowlforveterans.org. Reports from the troops indicate that the lanes are in use on rooftops in Baghdad, along military airstrips, on board ships in the Gulf and in dozens of camps in the Iraqi desert. BVL -- founded in 1942 -- is bowling's oldest charity. For more information about Saturday's fundraiser, call Sue at (309) 796-0092 or Dewey at (309) 787-5529. 
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