Dennis Englert of Nunda, Jan King of Dansville and Bill Draper of Livonia will be inducted into the Genesee Region USBC Hall of Fame at the local association's Awards Banquet on Saturday night (May 12) at Batavia Downs Gaming.
Englert was a longtime bowling manager at Letchworth Pines and an avid bowler, as was King, who has served as a league officer, association director and tournament manager for many years. Both will be enshrined in the Meritorious Service category.
Draper will go into the Hall in the Achievement Veteran category for his accomplishments in league and tournament competition as a member of the former Perry Bowling Association.
More than 100 people, including tournament champions and association average and series leaders, are expected to attend the dinner, which gets under way at 6:30 p.m.
An Army veteran, Englert began his career in bowling in the early 1990's at Letchworth Lanes (now Letchworth Pines) and learned as much about the bowling business as he could -- both in customer service and in lane/pinsetter maintenance. He later worked at Valley View Lanes in Warsaw and served as a bus driver for Keshequa Central School for 19 years.
While driving bus full time, Englert also went back to work at Letchworth Pines and, along with his wife, Eunice, became a fixture at the Portageville location, and facilitated improvements that increased league bowling and started the popular Glow Bowling at the Pines.
He bowled in several leagues at the Pines, posting a 300 game in October 2006 at the age of 64. He also served as a league secretary-treasurer, participated in numerous tournaments and served on the Genesee Region USBC board of directors.
On Jan. 15., 2015, after about 20 years at Letchworth Pines, he suffered a devastating brain injury when pushed to the floor by a much younger man, and since then has undergone two surgeries and is pretty-much confined to a wheelchair. He has been a resident of the Avon Nursing Home since June 2015, and has made great strides in speech therapy.
King, a bowler for 60 years, has been a tireless worker for the Genesee Valley Women's Bowling Association and the Genesee Region USBC. She has initiated and directed numerous tournaments, most notably the Gladys Ford Senior Women's Tournament for the past 10 years.
She has served as secretary for various leagues (formerly in Dansville and now at Mount Morris Lanes) and on numerous association committees. King has attended several New York State and national conventions, has bowled in local, state and national tournaments, and has been a member of the national and state 600 Clubs.
Currently, she is a Genesee Region USBC director, who coordinates the association's Memorial Service and chairs the policy and procedures committee.
Draper found success for many years as a member of the Perry Bowling Association, primarily in five different leagues at Livingston Lanes in Geneseo and as a competitor in the association's Classic Travel League.
He had a high average of 216 in the 1990s and continued to average 200 or better for another 10 years.
He also has three 300 games (1999, 2004 and 2010), a 299 game, and an 811 series (2004), and is a Singles, Doubles and Team champion of the Perry Association Tournament.
Draper, at 67 years young, continues to bowl in the Wednesday Night JCI League at Livingston Lanes.
