Hall of Fame
2009
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 5:44PM Kermit Ewell
Bowling is a sport of competition, sportsmanship, skill, luck and goal setting. This also describes Kermit. Kermit started bowling at the age of 7. He enjoys the thrill of competing and has always wanted to be on top of his game.
Kermit has always acted with great sportsmanship throughout his life especially in bowling. He loves the game of bowling and promotes it wherever he goes. He encourages other people to perform at their best and has often said that bowling helped to keep him out of trouble as a youth. If Kermit is not bowling he is either watching it on TV or reading about it through books.
He has bowled almost every tournament in Lake County from the Sweet 16 at Bowlarium Lanes, the Whitney Cox tournament at Bertrand Lanes and the Traveling Tavern Owners Tournament. Kermit has bowled over 30 years in the Lake County BA Championships Tournament, winning the singles championship in 1985.
Luck has gotten Kermit married to Laura. They have one daughter, Rachel, whom he enjoys coaching in the sport he loves. Kemit is a Navy veteran and a member of the Gurnee American Legion. He is retired from UPS. In his younger years, he worked at Strike-N-Spare and at Rynish Lanes at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center.
Kermit’s goal setting put him on a path to serve the bowling community. He has coordinated many teams, acted as team captain and held various league officer positions throughout the years. Kermit served 17 years on the Lake County BA board, from board member to president. Kermit is a charter member of the Illinois 700 club and is a member of the 600 club. He earned his coaching certificate and has coached for home schooled kids and his last project was coaching for the North Chicago High School girl’s bowling team.
Kermit has been a sanctioned bowler for 45 years and for his many years of meritorious service and dedication to the sport of bowling is rewarded Lake County BA’s highest honor.
Mitchell Sacks
Mitch’s bowling accomplishments would certainly overload an application form. Beyond that, he has held an average of 230 or higher in 4 of 5 seasons with a high of 244 and 242 in the 2006/2007 season. During that season he had six honor scores of 298 or better and six 800 series (more than most bowler’s careers).
To add to his scoring achievements, Mitch was 9th in All Events in 2006 at the USBC Championships, 4th in the 2000 French Open and 1st in Singles and All Events in the 1993 IBA Tournament. He has participated in more USBC/ABC, IBA and Lake County BA tournaments than most people can remember.
As if that were not enough, Mitch has coached in the youth program at Hawthorn Lanes since the doors opened in 1989. He headed the largest youth travel program that bowled in the Northend Junior Travel league. Before and after any night that Mitch bowls in league, he coaches any bowler who is trying to improve their game. There are countless bowlers who have been aided and inspired by Mitch’s generous assistance.
As of this writing, some of Mitch’s highlights are:
22 - 800 series - High 889 (IBA record at the time)
24 - 300 games
12 - 299 games
2 - 298 games
7 - 11 Xs in-a-row games
For Mitch’s achievements and dedication to the sport of bowling it is a great honor to add his name to the Lake County BA Hall of Fame.
John Walczak
John moved to Lake County, Illinois at the age of 4. He has bowled in Lake County all his life. He started bowling in the junior leagues at Sunset Lanes and has continued to bowl in leagues at Sunset for the majority of his bowling years.
John is a person who is a great teammate and bowler. He is well liked by everybody that knows him. He enjoys the competition of bowling but never takes it too seriously.
John has averaged 200 plus for the past 20 years and has averaged 215 plus for the past 10 years. His highest average has been 231 during the 2006/2007 season. John was the first bowler to shoot an 800 series at Sunset Lanes (1989). He was also the first to shoot an 800 series at the Lake County Championships Tournament. John has four 800 series, eight 300 games, three 299 games, two 298 games and eight 11 in-a-row games.
John has been a Lake County BA sanctioned bowler for 27 years. John has participated in 25 Lake County BA tournaments and has won the following titles:
Lake County BA Team
Lake County Singles (2 scratch and 1 handicap)
Lake County All Events (2 scratch and 1 handicap)
John was also a member of the Sunset Team that won the Proprietor’s Team Challenge in 2008 and 2009 and the 2009 Lake County BA Baker Team Tournament.
John is married to Lisa and has 2 daughters, Jenna and Madison. They reside in Wadsworth. Besides bowling, John also enjoys golf and playing cards.
For all of John’s outstanding performance throughout his bowling career the Lake County BA is awarding him their highest honor.