Houlton Elks capture bowling crown

It’s been a long time coming, exactly 55 years. But on April 6-9, the Houlton Elks won the 89th annual Eastern Maine Bowling Tournament in Calais over nine other teams.
    The Houlton Lodge of Elks sent two teams to represent the Shiretown, with Team One members Bryan Swallow, Laurel Veysey, Tim Stewart, Chris Stewart and Rick Tidd, along with scorekeeper Bob Fournier breaking the drought with a 28-8 record over the four-day span.
Playing for Elks 2 were Tyler Perry, Wendall Hersey, Wayne Brown, Frank McPartland, Kevin Tuttle and Jerry Hanning.
“We threw a bunch of practice rounds to get ready,” said Rick Tidd of the team’s preparation for the tournament. “We get to see the same guys over the years, with some newer guys coming into the clubs making it more competitive all the time.”
Rounding out the standings were: second, Woodland 1, 24-12; third, Presque Isle 1, 22-14; fourth, Trinity Lodge, 22-14; fifth, Calais 2, 20-16; sixth, Calais 1, 20-16; seventh, Houlton IOOF, 17-19; eighth, Presque Isle 2, 15-21; ninth, Houlton Elks 2, 6-30 and 10th, Woodland 2, 6-30.
The Houlton Elks rolled a high single of 625 and team high three of 1,788 for a 114.27 average.
Elks 2 had a high single of 585 and high three of 1,645 for a 103.21 average, while Houlton Odd Fellows had a high single of 598 and high three of 1,674 for a 108.00 average.
Winning the high single was Calais 2 with a 628, while Calais 1 had high three with 1,802. Houlton Elks rolled a high average of 114.38.
Three of the Houlton Elks finished in the top 10 averages, with Terry Grant first with a 119, followed by Jack Nicholas, 118.21; Tom Pelkey, 117.48; Josh Thornton, 117.26; Rick Tidd, 116.48; Tim Stewart, 116.33; Chris Stewart, 116.30; Mike Lee, 114.26; Wayne Nickerson, 113.81 and Mike Gardiner, 113.33.
Other local bowlers were: Bryan Swallow, 112; Rick Tarr, 111.59; Laurel Veysey, 110.22; Joe Dunn, 109.89; John Fraser, 107.78; Paul Austin, 106.78; Kevin Tuttle, 104.67; Paul Hoyt, 104.63; Frank McPartland, 103.92; Wayne Brown, 103.33 and Wendall Hersey, 102.33.
Winning teams through the years included Millinocket Elks, 20 years; Houlton Dux and St. Croix, 10 years apiece; Houlton Elks, nine years; Mooseleuk and Presque Isle Elks, seven years each; Abnaka, four yeas; Spednic, three years and Matoaka and Millinocket Legion a year each.
Winners of multiple individual high averages have been Moe Collins, nine years; Henry Gagnon, seven years; Charlie Noddin, five years; Lester Kelso and Joey Ciarrochi, four years each.
Winners of multiple high singles were Dave Emery, 197; Pat Donahue, 190 and Vince Grant, 186.
The Eastern Maine Bowling League was formed in the winter of 1923 and was composed of four teams: St. Croix Club, Calais; Mooseleuk Club, Presque Isle; Elks Club, Houlton and Meduxnekeag Club, Houlton.
The organizational meeting was held at Houlton’s Snell House with representatives of each club — Philip McCurdy, St.Croix; Ralph Hardy and Phillip Seavey, Mooseleuk Club; Ralph Berry, Burns McIntyre, Elks Club and Chas. G. Lunt and Lester Kelso, Meduxnekeag Club.
With the help of the Houlton Times, a trophy cup was given to the league by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company.
The rules for the Eastern Maine Tournament haven’t changed much from its inception. First, each round consists of three strings for four points; in case of a tie for points, grand total pinfall will be used to decide winner; teams consist of five men; foul line to be strictly observed; team winning the cup must defend it the following year; league consists of four teams (now more) with no further admissions, excepting club owning at least four alleys; individual prizes for high average for entire tourney, high average for three string or one match, high single string; cup awarded to team with the greatest number of points, prize to team with highest grand total pinfall and prize to team with high pinfall for one match.
The team which wins the cup for the tournament holds the cup until the next year when they come to defend it. If a club wins the cup for three straight years, a new cup is purchased by the three-time winning club. In 1935-36, the bylaws stated the cup could cost no less than $7.50.
The Eastern Maine Tournament rotates between towns of clubs participating. Next year, the tournament will March 28-31 at the Houlton Lodge of Elks.