The largest Turnout we've had in years at Bowl Arena (JBLM), was greeted by a very Supportive and Friendly security staff, who made access to the Post as easy as possible.  A HUGE THANKS to LeFear Richardson and son LeFear Jr, who acted as JBLM Hosts all afternoon at the Visitors Center.  LeFear even managed to make the Cash List, while Junior relieved him at the Gate.  Another Shout-Out for Bowl Arena for the Trouble-Free afternoon at their beautiful facility.  The scoring was slightly higher than our previous visits, but very competitive and tight all afternoon.  The Ladies were taking advantage of the conditions, at one point they held the Top 4 spots on the Leader Board (after 2 squads).  Skip Shear Jr got on a 9-Tap binge... first he strung 7-in-a-row (middle) good for $1,000.00 from the 9-Tap Jackpot... then he started the next game with the first FIVE Taps and we thought he was on his way to knocking himself out of the Consolation and (getting GREEDY) taking down the $9,316.00 Jackpot.  The Sponsors for our Vet's Day Special, each were enthusiastic about showing their support for our Vet's and we in turn THANK them for helping to create a RECORD side Pot of$1,000.00 for this Tournament.  That Pot was paid-out to the Top Five games (w/hdcp) for the day.  This year's Top Game was turned in by an early "Cold War" era (early 1960's) Air Force Veteran, who was stationed in Germany during that period.  Jerry Bleckov shot a nice 300 (270 + 30) in the 2nd squad, to takedown a sweet $300.00 from the Pot.  In 2nd, Willie Downing 297 $250.00, 3rdGary Woldt 295 $200, 4th Michelle Scheitzach 285 $150.00, 5thT Steve Bowyer & Earl Kleist 283 $50.00 each.  Again, a Tie for the last spot on the Cash List, caused an extra 27th spot be added.

Our Vet's Day Champion came out of nowhere, in the last two games, on the last pair to finish, in the last squad.  Just like our previous week at Skyway, we had an original 10 year Tour "Veteran" break out of a long 'Dry Spell' to capture the Crown.  Tong Nguyen captured his 9th Career Tour Title andboosted his #1 Career Earnings to an INCREDIBLE $37,067.00.  But it didn't come without some serious perseverance... Tong had only one Top 20 finish (19th) in his last 22 entries and had gone nearly 1 1/2 years since his last win.  His status as a self appointed "Legend" would seem to exude confidence, but in truth, his 2011 'Dry Spell' has caused the same self doubt as any other mere Mortal.  Then suddenly on Saturday, Tong got really HOT in his last two games and the rest is History.  He used his OLDHAMMER 'Off-Set', that was drilled by Ed Dolfay at Skyway Park Bowl.  His payday was a healthy $2,098.00, which Tong hopes to use for a long overdue trip back home to Vietnam.  Welcome back to the Winner's Circle Tong!

In 2nd Place, Tara Strand was not only looking for her 1st Title, she was looking for her 1st ever Cash since joining the Tour in July.  Her Biggest ever game and series, propelled her to her Best finish, worth a Sweet $939.00.  In 3rd Place, Kathy Bleckovalong with husband Jerry, hadn't even planned on bowling Saturday.  She didn't get in the Progressive Pot, so that limited her payday to $270.00, but didn't limit her enthusiasm for her Best finish.