COVER STORY
BVL CELEBRATES ITS
75 ANNIVERSARY TH
RAISING MILLIONS FOR AMERICAN MILITARY HEROES By Jim Goodwin he Bowlers to Veterans Link is bowling’s very respected 501c3 charity, and one of the reasons it is doing so well, even in the face of losing most of its donation base over the past few decades, is it now operates using solid business principles; and the first thing a successful business needs is strong leaders. Backing the BVL all the way are great people
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like John LaSpina, Mary Harrar, Fred Kaplowitz, Elizabeth Montanya, Libbi Fletcher, and many more heroes helping heroes. In 2014, Maple Lanes president and BPAA Hall of Fame proprietor John LaSpina was asked to become the first bowling center owner to chair the BVL board of directors. The LaSpina family owns seven bowling centers located in New York and Florida. With most of the bowling industry being driven by the Bowling Proprietors Association of America and the United States Bowling Congress, it made sense for the BVL board to shift from its decades-long, membership-based leadership to a more solid business
Marci Williams (USBC), Karl Kielich (USBC), Libbi Fletcher (USBC), John LaSpina (Chairman), VA Secretary McDonald, Pat Ciniello (Bowland/HeadPinz), Lisa Ciniello (Bowland/HeadPinz), Anita LaSpina (Maple Family Lanes).
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COVER STORY approach. “When they asked me,” LaSpina said, “I told them I thought we might bring more proprietors into the picture.” To celebrate BVL’s Diamond Jubilee in 2017, LaSpina and the board wanted to do something very special. LaSpina suggested hiring consultant Fred Kaplowitz, a marketing and public relations specialist. “I was very humbled when John LaSpina asked me to work with BVL to achieve its mission,” said Kaplowitz. “Every day that I work with John and Mary Harrar, I get more John LaSpina inspired and more passionate, and it makes me think that I can do more to help these disabled American heroes make it all the way back to their families and loved ones.” After talking with BVL board members and others, Fred’s team went to work and came up with a new campaign called “Care, Commit, Contribute.” The first step was to create more awareness about BVL and its mission. Hundreds of phone calls and emails later, Kaplowitz was a little surprised that more center owners and personnel did not know about BVL. But that turned out to be good Mary Harrar news — centers might get more excited about something they perceive as a fresh new approach to helping a great cause while creating great public relations for their center. The next step was to work with Ten Pin Marketing to create a video about BVL along with sending emails to proprietors every Saturday morning – not begging emails, says Kaplowitz, but helping emails designed to inform proprietors how to run an easy and profitable fundraiser. Every week a new idea or two was introduced. Next, centers were asked to put donation cans for BVL on their customer service desks and agree to ask open play customers if they would like to round up their bill to make a small contribution. More than 500 Fred Kaplowitz centers agreed. Finally, centers were asked to make a contribution to BVL that seems really small, but adds up to a lot in only one year. This campaign is called It’s a Shoe In. It asks centers to donate the first shoe rental fee of each day to BVL. It does not seem like much, but for most centers, it will amount to a contribution of over $1000 in a year’s time. All of this comes together with November being BVL’s Month in America campaign. Centers will get digital flyers, emails, Facebook
John LaSpina, Marine veteran Mike Smith with his new mobile chair, and Jamie Brooks.
posts, and other point of sale materials that they can customize to fit their needs. Brightening Veteran’s Lives is the new tagline for BVL.
GIVING MILLIONS TO HELP HEROES Since it began 75 years ago, BVL has raised more than $50 million. Last year, LaSpina presented a check to VA officials in the amount of $925,356.76. What is even more impressive is the fact that 94% of all of the money raised goes directly to help veterans. Unlike many charities, BVL expenses have always been held to a minimum. Many more bowling centers are picking up the BVL banner. For decades, the heavy lifting has been done by individuals and volunteers, mostly from bowling leagues, but thanks to recent efforts, more of the effort is being led by bowling center owners, product manufacturers and others. Having center owners like Wally Hall and John LaSpina on the BVL board of directors has changed the direction and has sent the message that it is time for proprietors to step up and get more involved. “For many years, proprietors had almost nothing to do with BVL,” said LaSpina. “It was always very association driven. We just kind of closed our eyes and let it happen.” Since the merger of the membership groups and the opening of the International Bowling Campus, putting USBC and BPAA under the same roof, LaSpina believes that center owners now have an obligation to do more. Another part of LaSpina’s passion for BVL stems from IBI
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COVER STORY his lifelong, personal friendship with Hall of Fame bowler Johnny Petraglia. “JP lived only ten blocks from our Maple Lanes center in New York, and we truly grew up together. His father was our junior coach. His mother was a league bowler. During the Vietnam War, I was a student, but JP lived it. He has such a deep understanding of what our service people go through while they are serving and after serving, because he is one of them. Guys like him and John Sommer were there in Vietnam, and they didn’t get treated well when they came home. They deserved much more respect, and finally, I think they are getting it because organizations like BVL have made people understand the enormity of their sacrifice for America and our freedom.” Petraglia has been a spokesperson and volunteer for BVL since returning home from his service in Vietnam in 1971 and becoming one of the best professional bowlers in history. “What makes BVL so special, aside from the fact that 94 cents of every dollar goes to the vets, is that the money goes to all things therapeutic,” said Petraglia. “People don’t realize how rare that is. Federal funding for vets stops at rehab, and rehab is tough for more than a few. Without BVL, all patients have to look forward to is the next day’s rehab. Through events, trips, tournaments, shows, and other things, we can have vets saying ‘This was a good day,’ and our job is to give them as many good days as possible, one Johnny Petraglia day at a time.” LaSpina’s Maple Lanes Centers are the hosts of the PBA50 Johnny Petraglia Open. Last year’s check to BVL from this event was $52,500. “I experienced a small measure of what the vets are going through. I know how it feels to me, but I can only imagine how tough it is for many others. These are people who defended us and were willing to die for us. How can we not help them? We must do everything we can to make sure that none of them die without us,” said Petraglia. John Sommer of Rockford, IL, is another Army vet who has been solidly behind the BVL for decades. Sommer served as a company commander in the Vietnam War. His love for fellow vets is second to none. His bowling centers raised more than $25,000 for BVL last year alone, and he has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. Wally Hall was one of the first bowling center owners to speak passionately about BVL’s mission, and when he lost his grandson, a Marine killed in Iraq in 2003, he realized even more how important it is for BVL to continue to thrive. “I John Sommer know that Jason would want me to help those who make it home but are injured,” said Hall. “I am proud that the bowling industry that I have been associated with for more than 50 years has BVL. It is inspiring to see that because of the generosity and volunteering of time and energy, millions of dollars have been raised over the years to help thousands of veterans.”
CHANGE IS HAPPENING, BUT BVL IS STILL BOWLER DRIVEN While everyone is happy that more and more business people are getting involved in BVL, no one is giving up on the league bowler base that has been the life blood for decades. This is one of the reasons Detroit’s Libbi Fletcher serves on the BVL board continued on page 30... 26
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She passed the position on to Mary Harrar in 2016 and remains a consultant specializing in of directors. Libbi is a legend in Detroit bowling circles, and she first became marketing and public relations. Harrar employs the involved while serving on the Detroit Women’s Bowling Association many skills she learned as an executive administrator at years ago. BVL is even more special to her because her father fought in Korea Thunderbird Lanes to build up BVL. From 1942-45, the Wings of Mercy program brought in an incredible $341,543.25 during the “I experienced a small measure of what the vets are war, providing what was then an going through. I know how it feels to me, but I can enormous amount of money to buy only imagine how tough it is for many others. These first a bomber and then three air evacuation planes to get wounded are people who defended us and were willing to die soldiers home. During that traumatic for us. How can we not help them? We must do time, the honorary chairman of BVL everything we can to make sure that none of them was none other than the King of the die without us.” Cowboys, Roy Rogers. Thanks to good coaching by a lady named — PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia LaVerne Carter, he was an excellent and avid bowler for decades after, and her sister is an Army vet. “Our league bowlers and associations have and a Hollywood celebrity who always supported always been what makes BVL what it is,” said Fletcher. “I believe that the troops. bowling centers are finally getting on board, as well as our manufacturers and other bowling entities. We have had centers that supported BVL for many years; some new ones who are now doing amazing things to raise funds; and many more we hope will support our 75th year and beyond. John LaSpina’s centers set an example of what can be done. Those of us on the BVL board are trying to After WW II, attention turned to caring for educate our local and state association leaders during the USBC conventions hospitalized vets and those who rely on the VA to stay committed to continuing this wonderful charity for our veterans. I for all kinds of treatments and therapy. In the am proud to serve on the BVL board and as the BVL chair for Metro early days, money was used for television sets, Detroit USBC.” sports publications, bowling equipment, exhibitions and entertainment. Some of those MORE BVL HEROES – MONTANYA, HARRAR, things still exist today, like the famous Re-Creation FLETCHER, AND MANY OTHER GREAT WOMEN Entertainment Troupe that works year round to Libbi Fletcher is one of a very strong group of women who have been entertain vets at hospitals and special shows. behind BVL efforts from the very beginning. When BVL started, the WIBC However, BVL has expanded its reach to include was going strong with their Wings of Mercy sponsorship of national recreational events like the program, part of the Victory program in America Wheelchair Games, Golden Age Games, a winter during the war. With WIBC and many bowling sports clinic and a creative arts festival. companies as partners, the American Bowling Passionate and patriotic people produce Congress created the BVL to work alongside the incredible programs to help America’s heroes, and Wings of Mercy program, which led to the National without question, BVL has an abundance of them. Bowling Council a short time later. But there is always room for more. ❖ From 1975 through 2014, the BVL was chaired by WIBC leaders Alberta Crowe, Agnes Duffy, Helene Phillips, Gladys Banker, Elaine Hagin, and Jim Goodwin is the founder and president of Darlene Baker, a very formidable group that kept the Bowling News Network and a former the fundraising fires burning brightly. In 2008, president and life member of the International Bowling Media Association. Elizabeth Montanya became the executive director Libbi Fletcher of BVL and served tirelessly for more than a decade. 30
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