Category: Activities (Page 3 of 35)
Activities are gatherings that occur on a regular schedule, usually weekly, to enjoy a specific pastime.
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 14th at 2:00 pm and held in the Lilian Gade conference Room on the second floor of the Darien Community Center. We will be discussing Dirtbag Billionaire by David Gelles. If you would like to join remotely, the Zoom information is below:
We started the new year off with 11 bowlers and seven were at or above average. Pretty good!
We had three 500 series: Frank D had his 10th in a row at 523, highlighted by an opening game of 200. Tom had high series of 561, highlighted by a middle game of 205. And Mr. Music Man, Marty, had a 531, which was his third 500 series in a row (I suppose we’ll have to now take him a bit more seriously when he gives us bowling tips 
). At +63, it easily qualified Marty for BoD honors. Other plus series came from Bill at +12, Tom at +26, George G at +33, Ted at +37 and Ben at +43. Ed was just on his average. Spare of the day came from Bill, who converted a 5-7-9.
). At +63, it easily qualified Marty for BoD honors. Other plus series came from Bill at +12, Tom at +26, George G at +33, Ted at +37 and Ben at +43. Ed was just on his average. Spare of the day came from Bill, who converted a 5-7-9.Let’s hope the plus scores continue next week.
The hale and hardy will be setting out on January 8th for next month’s hike. Because of the weather patterns in January we’ve planned on an easy walk in close proximity to the DCA.
We’ll visit Greenwich Beach Park (known by locals as Tod’s Point). Depending on the prevailing winds that day we’ll do the North or South loop trail. Leashed dogs are permitted at this time of the year.
For those wishing to join for lunch after the walk, we’ll be going to Little Pub Greenwich at 531 E Putnam Ave., Cos Cob.
As usual we’ll meet at the DCA parking lot at 9:30am for those wishing to carpool.
Best,
Alec Wiggin
Just because we bowlers took the week off doesn’t mean your intrepid reporter took the week off! As we are sort of at the halfway point of our season, this might be a fun time to take a look back at our first four months and review some highlights (and lowlights?).
I commented to Frank D at our last session that on any given Tuesday any one of us can get hot and bowl a great series, and any one of us can get stone cold, too. For example, take me with a season average of 179 — a high series of 627 and a low series of 471. That’s a difference of 159! Or take Dave Smith, whose season average is 95 — with a high series of 361 and a low series of 206. That’s a difference of 155. The biggest spread, though, goes to the Professor, Ed Schechter. His average is 148, with a high series of 508 and a low series of 317, for a spread of 191. Next was Ed Smith, who had a high series of 598 and a low of 411. Our most consistent bowler has been Mike Ryan, with a spread of “only” 65.
Even game to game within any given day, we have highs and lows. The good news is that eight of us have bowled at least one 200 game this season, and another had a game in the 190s. That’s great! That includes both Tom and Ted bowling games in the 250s on the same day. We’ve had nine bowlers roll a 500 series, one who crossed the 600 mark, and one who missed that mark by just two pins. At our session next week, the weekly updated list of averages will show all of this data.
And finally, we’ve had 14 different Bowlers of the Day, which means that the wealth has been spread around very nicely and allows hope to indeed spring eternal for all of us week to week.
What gives me the greatest pleasure is how our group has grown! We now consistently need three pairs of lanes because we have at least 11 bowlers join us just about every week. And that’s happening even as five of us have been absent nursing injuries and ailments of various kinds. Let’s hope you guys will be back soon. Wouldn’t it be something if I had to go to Ben at the front desk to ask if he can give us a fourth pair of lanes! In addition, the address list on the weekly reports includes a few bowling “alumni,” who are welcome back anytime even if just to say “hi.” Moreover, there are a few guys on the email list who have expressed interest in coming to bowl at some point, to whom I say: “the future is NOW!” Right, Doug? Right, Steve? I’m sure that the second half of our season will every bit as enjoyable as the first.
Happy new year to all.
Tuesday, December 23
Some days are headlined by individual performance. Today, however, the day was all about the team competition, as eight of us divided up into pretty evenly matched teams of four. Team Frank (FD, E Sm, BB, MR) gave eight pins to Team Tom (TL, MM, TH, DS) with all three games decided in the final frame.
In game one, strong performances by Marty and Ted helped overcome a clunker by Tom and pace their team to a 15-pin victory. In game two, Ben and Ed Sm helped their team eke out a one-pin win, even as Tom rolled a 206. So, it all came down to game three. Team Frank seemed in control for much of the game, and after Frank’s final frame, Tom needed a double in the tenth to get the win. His first ball was high in the pocket and looked like it would leave a split but somehow all 10 pins fell. His second ball was a light pocket hit, but again all 10 pins fell. His third ball legitimately finished the triple and secured the win. Frank good naturedly rolled his eyes and put his quarter down on the table.
In addition to Tom’ having the only 200 game of the morning, Marty had five strikes in game two on his way to a 191, and Ed Sm overcame three splits in the first three frames of that game to record a 185. Four bowlers had 500 series: Frank at 507; Ed at 508; Marty at 520 (whose +67 earns him BoD); and Tom at 538.
We’re off next week, and we resume on Jan uary 6. I hope that the new year will bring sightings of some of our absent and recuperating bowlers (Gehr, Frank G, John Kam, George H and Linc). Here’s hoping you all are on the mend. We miss you!
And finally, I wish everyone a joyous Christmas with family and friends and a new year of good cheer, good health and good bowling.
Tuesday, December 16
Due to travel, illness (get better soon, Woody) and injuries, we were back to two sets of lanes, with only nine bowlers. Still, we had great fun and competition.
Five bowlers were plus for the morning, led by BoD Marty, who was +82 with a 200 game and a high series of 529. Close behind was Dave who had his best day ever at +64, including his all-time high game of 133 after throwing three strikes in the 10th frame! George G., Ed Sch and Ben were also on the positive side.
Ted was mister consistency (145-145-146), with a 3-7 split conversion. Frank also had a 200 game and a 500 series (521), despite six splits; although he converted a 5-7 split, he was negative for the day.
The team of Ben, Ted, Marty and Frank D squeaked out a 10-pin win in game one and a big win in game two, thanks to Marty and Frank each posting 200 games. The team of Mike, Dave, George G, Bill and Ed took the double-or-nothing challenge in game three and won big to get their money back, thanks to Dave’s big game combined with George and Ed rolling 192 and 193, respectively.
We also coined a new term for a frame — a Tamme, for two gutter balls. After achieving that unfortunate result, Bill good-naturedly insisted the result be named in his “honor”!
Tuesday, December 9
On any Tuesday morning as we drive up to Nutmeg, we feel sorry for the commuters travelling in the opposite direction in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Today, it was our turn, as an accident between Exits 18-19 caused a significant delay. Nevertheless, 12 of us got there, and again there were some stellar performances. Attached is a photo in which Ted and Tom relive last week’s heroics, as well as a nice group photo of today’s group.
We had plus scores from George G at +5, Alex (fresh off of a lesson from Chris) at +10, Dave at +15, and Ben at +37. Frank D continued his solid streak of bowling with another 500 series. Tom finally put together back-to-back weeks of good bowling, starting game one with a clean 197 and then rolling the day’s high game of 215 in the second. He ended up with a 589 (+64). But the day really belonged to Ed Sm. A split in his last frame of the day caused him to miss a 600 series by two pins, with his 598 (including a 205 and 208) being plus 115. Bravo, Ed! 
Split conversions were highlighted by Ben’s 5-6-10, a spare often left but rarely made. Ted, Marty and George made 3-10s while Tom made a 2-7.
The team competition saw each team win one game. But the big shocker was Ben sweeping the game three quarters from Ted and GG, thanks to Ben’s high game of the day of 151.
Let’s hope next week brings easier driving and more good bowling!