Duckpin

Jay Be F. Bernarding, a retired printer and champion duckpin bowler who was a member of the Baltimore Duckpin Bowlers Hall of Fame, died Oct. 7 of renal cancer at Sinai Hospital. The longtime Reisterstown resident was 66. Mr. Bernarding was born in Baltimore and raised on Parkside Drive. He was a 1961 graduate of Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School, where he had studied printing. He worked for 30 years at the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington before retiring in 1998.

Graphic designer Jon Zerivitz was tired of being stuck at a computer for up to 12 hours a day as a contractor forT. Rowe Price. "I needed a hobby," Zerivitz said. Indulging a longtime passion for beer, he went to the Maryland Homebrew store in Columbia in 2010 and bought everything he needed to brew beer. "The first batch was really good," he recalled. "The second batch was really bad. I kept at it. " Two years later, Zerivitz, 32, was brewing beer again Aug. 3, but on a larger scale, as co-owner of the new Union Craft Brewing Co., on the border of Hampden and Woodberry.

Theresa Vermillion of Harwood won the Women's National Duckpin Association's Tournament at White Oak Lanes by defeating Betty Caputo in the championship match, 176-131.Vermillion, who was top seeded with 838 pins in the qualifying rounds, took home the first prize of $1,200 and Caputo of Pasadena won second prize of $600.Caputo began the up-the-ladder matches by defeating Linda Gosewisch ($265) of Baltimore, 153-152, and disposed of Diane Jasper ($400) of Laurel, 165-146, before losing to Vermillion.

Mary Lee Steadman, who assisted her late sportswriter husband, John F. Steadman, in the production of his six books, died June 1 of dementia at St. Joseph Medical Center. She was 83. The daughter of a firefighter and homemaker, Mary Lee Kreafle was born in Baltimore and spent her early years near Mondawmin, before moving to Ednor Gardens when she was in the eighth grade. She was a 1947 graduate of Catholic High School and worked for the Maryland Casualty Co. before her marriage in 1953 to John Steadman, who was then a News-Post sportswriter and was later named sports editor of the News American in 1958.

Jean Stewart, a former parochial school teacher who achieved local duckpin bowling fame by winning the 1965 Evening Sun championship, died March 28 of cancer at her Lake Wales, Fla., home. She was 68 and had lived in Fallston. Often photographed attired in an unwrinkled white bowling blouse embroidered with the name Jean and a large capital S, she was ranked as one of the city's leading duckpin bowlers. In the 1950s and 1960s, she was a frequent contender in the annual midwinter competition sponsored by the old Evening Sun. She was inducted into the Baltimore Duckpin Bowlers Association Hall of Fame in 1994.

The best duckpin bowlers in the country will be in Baltimore County next week, competing in the annual National Finals of the Coors Cutter Duckpin Classic.A total of 298 duckpin bowlers will compete for $25,000 in prize money.John Braitsch Jr., 53, a truck driver from Sykesville, was first last year. He bowls at Fair Lanes Owings Mills, Pikesville and Westview and carries a 128 average."I'd like to win it again," he said. "But first I have to qualify."The men and women bowlers will roll six games on Saturday.

Construction has begun on a 30-lane duckpin bowling center in northern Glen Burnie that has other area duckpin operators nervous.Owners hope Glen Burnie Bowl, set to open in August, will fill the void created when a five-alarm blaze destroyed Greenway, a popular duckpin alley, in downtown Glen Burnie two years ago.The new alley is part of a renovation of the Beltway Crossing shopping center at Ritchie Highway and the Baltimore Beltway. Since Beltway Crossing opened seven years ago, many of its major stores -- including Mr. Goodbuys, a home-improvement retailer, and a Hardees fast food restaurant -- have come and gone.

Christie Durbin of Hyattsville and John Braitsch Jr. of Sykesville each captured first place and took home $3,000 apiece in the $25,000 Coors Cutter National Duckpin Classic at T-Bowl Lanes in Newington, Conn.Durbin was the top woman in a field of 120 finalists with a six-game total of 1,090, bowling games of 113, 144, 174, 153, 120 and 165 for a scratch total of 869. She also received 221 handicap pins.Durbin, 21, defeated Maria Queen of College Park, 180-167, in the championship game. Queen won $1,500.

Registration for the National Duckpin Youth Association leagues will begin tomorrow and continue through Saturday at Sandusky's Riviera Bowl.There's good news for the folks who had their children bowling in the NDYA at Greenway Glen Burnie.John Dolch will be the director of the program at Riviera Bowl as he was at the Glen Burnie center."Everybody plays the game in this program," Dolch said. "There are no bench warmers."Competition will be for ages from 4 to 21. The 4-6 duckpin bowlers will be in the Pee Wee Division and bowl one game each Saturday.

Carol Yingling, director of the National Youth Duckpin Association, confirmed Steve Sandusky's suspicions.His Riviera Bowl center in Pasadena has the largest number of sanctioned youth duckpin bowlers in the nation."

100 Years Ago Neighbors in war and peace Social news from Lawyers Hill in the Times: "Miss Warfield was the guest of Miss Mary Bowdoin on Sunday last. " From Pfeiffer's Corner social column: "Miss Alice Wheeler spent the weekend in the home of her brother in Baltimore. " According to an 1860s U.S. Geological Survey Map, Pfeiffer's Corner's surrounding neighbors were John Smallwood's acreage and Trinity Chapel. Neighbors a bit to the south were the Dorseys, Millers, Ridgleys and Rollinses.

Clara Ruth Kratz, former secretary to the controller of The Baltimore Sun who was also a champion duckpin bowler, died Feb. 14 of renal and heart failure at Carroll Hospital Center. She was 88. Miss Kratz, who went by Ruth, was the daughter of a steamfitter and a homemaker. She was born in Baltimore and raised on Catherine Street in West Baltimore. After graduating from Western High School in 1940, she went to work as a clerk-secretary at J.B. Norris, a 29th Street auto dealership.

Bowling 2 Md. residents win duckpin pro tour competitions In a combined event that attracted nearly 200 bowlers from across the U.S. and Canada, Marylanders won the first-place awards in the duckpin pro tours of the Duckpin Professional Bowlers Association and Women's National Duckpin Association. Joey Sears of Stevensville and Tara Cohen of Owings Mills won the men's and women's competitions, respectively, which were held Aug. 6-8 in Johnston, R.I. Sears defeated top seed and DPBA president Luke Robustelli in the final round.

Cliff Kidd, the No. 1-ranked duckpin bowler in the country during the 1944-1945 season who later owned his own alleys, died of cancer Wednesday at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The Parkville resident was 93. "He was consistent, well known for his competitive skills and evenness in duckpin bowling," said his son, Clifford Joseph "Cliff Jr." Kidd of Perry Hall. "Even as duckpin bowling's popularity waned in recent years, my father retained his overwhelming enthusiasm for the sport." Born Clifford H. Kidd in Baltimore and raised on Scott Street in Pigtown, he left Polytechnic Institute during his junior year to help support his family during the Depression.

Lee Wilner, a retired Social Security Administration claims adjuster and World War II veteran, died of cancer March 24 at Seasons Hospice at Northwest Hospital Center. The Owings Mills resident was 90. Born Tillie Jacobs in New York City, she was a graduate of James Monroe High School in the Bronx. She used the name Lee and volunteered for service in the WAVES, or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, during World War II. She was a bookkeeper for the Navy and was stationed at Norfolk, Va. "She was a strong, stubborn, independent woman who served her country as a WAVE during World War II and was ready to tell everyone of her pride," said her daughter, Suzanne Grumbacher of Wilmington, Del. After marrying Lou Wilner in 1945, she moved to Baltimore, raised a family and later worked at the Social Security Administration in Woodlawn.

M. Helen Bopp, who worked as a legislative secretary for her brother, the late state Sen. Joseph L. Manning, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Jan. 21 at Oakland Manor Assisted Living in Sykesville. The former Catonsville resident was 97. Margaret Helen Manning was born in Baltimore and lived on Light Street in South Baltimore. She earned a diploma at the old St. Mary's Star of the Sea Commercial School and began work at age 14 as a typist at Schloss Brothers clothing manufacturers.

Jeff Pyles of Hyattsville defeated Kenny Mumaw of Glen Arm, 165-153, to win the $5,000 first prize in the Duckpin Professional Bowlers Association Masters Tournament Sunday at Fair Lanes Westview.The victory was Pyles' third of the year on the tour. Mumaw won $2,500 for finishing second.Pyles gained the final by defeating Wes O'Donnell ($1,500) of Riverdale, 198-142. O'Donnell earlier defeated DPBA Bowler of the Year, Swede Lavers, of Stratford, Conn., in a two-frame roll-off after they tied at 136. Lavers, who earned $1,250 plus $500 for being bowler of the year, rolled first in the roll-off and scored 28. O'Donnell doubled to win the match.

Larry Gregersen knows how to pick his spots.Bowling duckpins since age 8, the Westminster resident carries a 140-plus average.Last month, at Westminster, he picked the right time and place for a big game: Bowling in the $15,000 Duckpin Classic qualifying event, he fired a 210 game.Bowling in two leagues, the Sunday Night Mixed and the Monday Triples at Thunderhead Westminster, he has a career high of 221. His high three-game figure (575) broke the house record at Thunderhead Taneytown.ConcentrationPBA standout Mark Roth has said, "This game is 90 percent mental."