A Condensed History of the Cape Girardeau, MO District Bowling Association



1950	The association was known as the CAPE COUNTY BOWLING ASSOCIATION. For the first ten years a new president was elected each year at the annual association meeting.
1950-1951	The president was Mr. Wilton Suedekum and the secretary was Charles Hadfield. He was also elected as treasurer. The salary for the secretary was 25 cents per card and the treasurer salary was $50.00 per year.
1951-1952	The meeting of the Cape County Bowling Association annual meeting was in October 1951 at Playdium Lanes. President Suedekum said that the 1951 bowling banquet would be held at the Lutheran Hall in May, 1952. The tournament scorekeepers would be paid 10 cents per game for the keeping of the tournament scores. The teams that entered were encouraged to chip in some money to go to the scorekeepers. The tournament entry fee was $2.00 per event and $1.00 for all-events. This made for an entry of $7.00 per person. The tournament would run for seven days, one weekend and five nights.
1952-1953	At the fall meeting Herbert Suedekum was elected as the 1952-1953 president and Leo Robertson as the secretary/treasurer. Mr. Robertson would receive 25 cents per ABC card, and $50.00 for the treasurer fee.
1953-1954	At the October meeting Mr. Wilton Suedekum was elected president and Leo Robertson was elected secretary/treasurer. The annual tournament was to be held for two weekends and five nights.
1955-1956	No records were found.
1956-1957	The fall annual meeting elected Mr. Gene Points as president, with Leo Robertson as secretary, and Mr. James Reinagel as treasurer. At this meeting it was voted to rename the association to be the CAPE GIRARDEAU DISTRICT BOWLING ASSOCIATION.
1958-1959	The annual meeting saw Mr. Joe Sciortino as president and the secretary was Mr. Leonard Schumacher. The treasurer was Mr. James Reinagel. This year the association tournament was a great success, with 102 teams, 150 doubles, 300 singles, and 285 all-events entries. The prize fund was $1308.00. The association that year had 23 leagues, 129 teams, 461 members.
1960-1961	Mr. Wilton Suedekum was president, Mr. Leonard Schumacher was secretary, and Mr. James Reinagel was treasurer. In 1961 the association started its first Year Book listing all of the bowlers with their highest average. In 1960 there were two new bowling centers built. They were Jackson Lanes, with Mr. Clarence Bullinger as manager, and the Cape Lanes with Mr. Clyde Huff as manager.
1962-1963	President was Wilton Suedekum, Mr. Leo Robertson was secretary, and treasurer was Mr. James Reinagel. The annual tournament was held at Jackson Lanes in 1962 with 162 teams, 192 doubles, 384 singles, and 324 all-events. The prize fund was $1870.00. The cost of bowling was $3.50 per event. In 1963, the ABC started with two new awards: the 700 Award, and the 800 Award.
1964-1965	Mr. Wilton Suedekum, president. Mr. Leo Robertson was secretary, and treasurer was Mr. James Reinagel. At the annual meeting it was voted not to have a bowling banquet because of the the poor attendance at last year's banquet. It was costing too much money to put it on.
1966-1967	President, Mr. Wilton Suedekum. Secretary, Mr. Leo Robertson, and treasurer, Mr. James Reinagel.
1968-1969	Wilton Suedekum was president, secretary was Mr. Leonard Schumacher, and treasurer was Mr. James Reinagel. In 1968 the Knights of Columbus Bowling Lanes in Cape Girardeau, MO closed, and some of their parts and machines were sold to the Jackson Lanes and to the Lutheran Lanes.
1970-1971	President was Mr. Wilton Suedekum, Mr. Ken Bryan was secretary, and James Reinagel was treasurer. The treasurer salary was $50.00 per year, and the secretary received 35 cents per card. At the annual meeting in 1971, Mrs. Joe Reilly, who was a Mixed League Delegate, was the first woman to attend an association meeting.
1972-1973	The president was Mr. Wilton Suedekum. Due to the resignation of secretary Ken Bryan, Mr. Merrill Simmons was elected as association secretary. Treasurer was James Reinagel, and Marty Wachter was voted as the vice president.
1974-1975	At the annual banquet, Mr. Wilton Suedekum announced that he was stepping down as president since he held that position for some time and new blood was needed. Marty Wachter was voted as president, Merrill Simmons as secretary, and James Reinagel as treasurer. It was voted that we would raise the secretary salary to 50 cents per card, an raise the treasurer salary to $75.00 per year.
1976-1977	The president was Marty Wachter, and the secretary was Merrill Simmons. The treasurer, James Reinagel, said to Marty Wachter that as of this meeting he would no longer be the treasurer. It was then voted that the secretary and treasurer would be combined into one job. Merrill Simmons was then the secretary/treasurer of the association. In 1977 Silas Dohogne bowled a 300 game at Cape Lanes and Mr. Huff asked me when I inspected the lanes what would be a fair amount to give to Silas for his perfect game. I told Clyde that it should be worth $1.00 per pin if he thought the lanes could afford it. Clyde later decided to give Silas a check for $300.00 for his perfect game. At the end of the bowling season the Lutheran Lanes closed. Also, in the spring of 1977 SEMO UNIVERSITY was building a ten-lane center for the students to have bowling and classes on how to bowl. The lanes were on the second floor of the SEMO SPORTS AND LIBRARY CENTER. Due to not enough bowlers, the lanes closed 3 years later. It then reverted to open bowling only.
1977-1978	Marty Wachter was president and Merrill Simmons was secretary/treasurer. It was discussed whether to hold a bowling banquet after the bowling tournament in May 1978. It was decided to have one at the K of C Hall in Cape. The cost for bowlers would be $2.50. We served only 82 people that year.
1978-1979	President Marty Wachter, and secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. Again the bowling banquet was discussed. It was decided to have one after the bowling tournament in May 1979. The banquet was held at the K of C Hall in Cape Girardeau. 182 people attended. Clyde Huff retired as manager of Cape Lanes and Tom Seibert became manager.
1980-1981	President was Marty Wachter, and secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. At the annual meeting it was voted again to have a bowling banquet. This time we would have it at the Missouri National Guard Armory in Cape. Mr. Leo Kohlfeld cooked the kettle beef and gravy and also cooked the fried chicken. The rest of the food would be cooked by the officers/directors or anyone else who wanted to help. The menu consisted of kettle beef and gravy, fried chicken, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, cole slaw and hot rolls. Bluff City Beer furnished the beer wagon and Coca Cola furnished soft drinks. It was for beer/soda a 50/50 deal. The cost of a ticket would be only $2.50 per bowler, and $2.50 for wife or girlfriend. We served 262 people, and used 4 kegs of beer, and 6 containers of soda. Mr. Kohlfeld gave us some items to give as door prizes: a jacket, beer coolers, cold drink coolers, and a beer clock.
1981-1982	The president was Marty Wachter, and secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. In 1980 or 1981 the association bought a computer for processing the ABC cards and other records. This eliminated having to write everything. In 1980 or 1981 the Cape Lanes closed, and the new West Park Lanes opened. The lanes opened in November 1980, and Tom Seibert was manager.
1982-1983	At the fall meeting Marty Wachter gave me a letter of resignation since he was a truck driver and was on the road much of the time and unable to attend all of the meetings. Mr. Loy Welker ran for the position of president and was voted as the next president. The association board members voted to raise ABC dues by $2.00 since the ABC raised their dues by $1.00. Two new board members were added: Bobby James and Donald James.
1984-1985	President was Loy Welker, secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. West Park Lanes was under new management, with Mike Seib as the new manager. In 1984 the ABC came to Jackson Lanes to hold a lane inspection school, and anyone interested in learning to be an inspector could attend the course. There were four people from the Cape Association, and one each from Charleston, MO, and Poplar Bluff, MO. Three people from the Cape Association passed, and the person from Charleston passed. Those from the Cape Association were Brenda Stanfield, John Rauh, and Merrill Simmons. The certification was a two-day school.
1985-1992	No records found.
1992-1993	President was Loy Welker, secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. At the 1992 annual meeting a discussion was held about having something big to give away at the annual tournament. Mr. Welker said he would talk to Toyota Motors to see if they would do something. Toyota said they would give a Toyota truck and pay for the premium to cover the truck. The 1993 bowling tournament was held at West Park Lanes. The truck could be won by bowling a 300 game during the team or doubles/singles event. That year two 300 games were bowled. Robert James was the first to bowl a 300 game, and on Sunday Mike Seib bowled the second 300 game. No other 300 games were bowled during the rest of the tournament. After the finish of the doubles/singles event a roll off was held between Robert James and Mike Seib. The winner was Robert James.
1993-1994	President was Loy Welker, secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. At the 1993 annual meeting it was voted to see if Toyota would give away a Toyota truck. Mr. Welker had already made contact with Toyota Motor Company and they had agreed to give away a Toyota truck and pay for the insurance premiums. The Jackson Lanes would host the tournament for 1994. Only one 300 game was bowled, and it was by David James. David James took posession of the keys from Toyota Motor Company.
1994-1995	President was Loy Welker, secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. At the 1994 annual meeting it was discussed again about giving away another truck. Mr. Welker said he had talked to Toyota and they agreed to give us another truck to give away. Toyota agreed also to pay the insurance premiums. This year's tournament was to be held at West Park Lanes. Again, there was only one bowler to bowl a 300 game, and it was Chuck Bertrand. He would get the keys from Toyota Motor Company.
1995-1996	President was Loy Welker, secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. At the 1995 annual meeting Loy Welker said Toyota again agreed to give us another truck for our tournament this year. The tournament will be held at the Jackson Lanes in May 1996. There was only one 300 game bowled and that was by James Brown. He would get the keys from Toyota Motor Company.
1996-1997	President was Loy Welker, secretary/treasurer was Merrill Simmons. At the 1996 annual meeting, Loy Welker said that Toyota Motor Company would not give us another truck to give away at our local tournament. The insurance cost too much since we had given away four trucks. The association could purchase the insurance for around $2500.00 if we still wanted to give away a truck. It was voted not to continue on with giving a truck away. Mr. Welker read a letter of resignation from Merrill Simmons to be effective in November that he was going to resign from the job of association secretary/treasurer. The reason given was in May 1996 he had a total knee replacement and in November he would have the other knee replaced. Merrill stated he would still help out with the tournament as long as he could.
1996-2003	President was Loy Welker, secretary/treasurer was John Rauh.
2003-2004	President was Loy Welker, secretary/treasurer was Robert Hardy.

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