Towanda bowling Hall of Fame welcomes new members

The Towanda Bowling Hall of Fame welcomed five new members into its membership at their combined induction banquet Feb. 6. The new members were Vickie Fulmer, Lois Goodwin, Tony Gowin, Mark McLinko and Wayne Morrow.

The first lady inductee, Vicki Fulmer, has been bowling for 40 years, with 30 years in the Towanda association. She helped to organize the Good Time Gals league and became its first president. In the past she bowled in mixed leagues, but now only in the American League on Wednesday night. She and her husband have sponsored many teams in many leagues throughout the years. She has helped with the junior bowling program while her children and grandchildren bowled. She always got excited to see the grandkids throw strikes. She has participated in the state tournament for several years. It makes for a good shopping weekend. She has been Bowler of the Month, belongs to the 600 Club, and has earned many other awards. She has a high series of 601 and a high average of 150. She works along side her husband, Larry at Fulmer Bros. Tire, and lives outside of Towanda.

The second lady inductee, Lois Goodwin, has been active in organized bowling for 23 plus years, with 23 plus years in the Towanda Association. She is currently inactive in the association, but does continue to bowl. She helped to organize and start Girls Nite Out, the Thursday night summer league, which continued until just a few years ago. She helped start the women's 500-600 Club while bowling at Shamrock Lanes. While her son was in the junior bowling program at Shamrock and Starlite Lanes, she could be found helping out. She was always helping to keep score for tournaments and juniors before automatic scoring took over. She has received Bowler of the Month many times, league high average, high series, high game and has been a member of league champions. She received many special awards, including PGs, strikes, 200 games, and 500 and 600 series. She has bowled in the Pennsylvania State Women's tournaments and has been lucky enough to place. She also held the position of secretary/treasurer for several years. She works at the Towanda Memorial Hospital. She lives in Nichols, N.Y., with her husband, Mike.

The first men's inductee was Tony Gowin. He has been involved in organized bowling for over 35 years. Tony began bowling at Mountainside Lanes in Wyalusing when he was a senior in high school. Tony has been on teams at the former Shamrock Lanes in Ulster, as well as Starlite Lanes in North Towanda. He has been on first place teams at all three bowling houses. Tony bowled on the Strickland's team in the Holy Name League for many years. He now bowls with Hurley's IGA team on Thursday night in the Pacesetter League. In the past Tony bowled in the Interstate Teachers Tournament and also the Lilac Tournament in Rochester, N.Y. He won many awards over the years and has a high game of 279, high series of 742 and a high average of 201.

The second men's inductee was Mark McLinko. Mark has been involved in organized bowling for 38 years, starting in the school leagues at Sport Shop Lanes in downtown Towanda. Mark as bowled in many mixed leagues with his wife, including the Saturday Night Mixed League at Starlite lanes. He also sponsored a team in the Monday Night Holy Name league for many years. When junior bowling started at Starlite Lanes, Mark organized the sponsors and collected the monies for the Junior Bowling program. He delivered the plaques so that each child would receive an award at their banquet. Over the years he has many awards including high league average, most improved average, most strikes thrown, and most splits converted in a season. He has been bowler of the month and also won the sportsmanship award. Mark has a high game of 300, high series of 746 and a high average of 210.

The third men's inductee was Wayne. Wayne has been involved in organized bowling for at least 13 years. Wayne started bowling when he first met his wife Sharon in 1996. He has bowled in the State tournament of the past eight years and participated in many no tap tournaments since starting to bowl at Starlite Lanes. He bowled in the first Pro Sports league at Starlite Lanes as well as the Sunday Night Mixed, Holy Name, and both senior leagues. Wayne also bowled in the Tuesday Night Late league for five years and was on the first place team in that league for three out of five years. He was president of the Sunday Night Mixed league and secretary of the Pete's Senior league for the past four years. He has many awards, including 100 pins over game, all spare game, big 4 split and has been on nine first place teams. Wayne has a high game of 258, high series of 633, and a high average of 174.

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