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November 2007 | Return to main news page
 Bowling Writers Association of America board member and past-president Mike Hennessy, a long-time bowling journalist from Bluffton, S.C., has been elected to the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame along with retired USBC Chief Executive Officer Roger Dalkin, Greendale, Wis., and the late Martha Burton, a pioneer in advancing bowling among African-American youth in the 1950s, have been elected to the USBC Hall of Fame.
Hennessy and Dalkin were elected in the Meritorious Service category by the USBC Hall of Fame Committee during its annual meeting in Milwaukee on Oct. 29. The committee revived its dormant Pioneer category to recognize the long overlooked efforts by Burton in an era when minorities were first allowed to join the American Bowling Congress, Women’s International Bowling Congress and infant American Junior Bowling Congress.
Those three, along with any elected from the national Performance balloting which will be conducted in the weeks ahead, will be inducted during ceremonies held as part of the 2008 USBC Convention in Kansas City, Mo., on Friday, May 9.
Hennessy, who got his start in bowling as a sports writer and bowling columnist in Dayton, Ohio, is the ultimate “jack of all trades.” He has worked in advertising, public relations, marketing and as a public speaker. He served as executive director for the Dayton and Ohio bowling proprietors’ organizations, where he created the “Bowlers First” marketing program that helped attract more than 100,000 new bowlers to the sport. He served stints as both media and tournament director for the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour. More than 200,000 copies “Let’s Go Bowling,” an activity book he and wife Gerry created, were sold and helped introduce children to the sport. The former BWAA President, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, is semi-retired, but remains active as a freelance writer, public speaker and as a BWAA board member.
Dalkin, a high school bowling star in the Miami, Fla., area and later a collegiate champion with Georgia Tech, joined the Bowling Headquarters staff as Collegiate Manager in 1977. He became Group Executive-Technical in 1985, ABC Assistant Executive Director in 1989, and succeeded the late Darold Dobs to ABC’s highest administrative post in 1997 where he played a pivotal role in the merger of bowling’s membership organizations into the USBC. In 2004, he was named USBC’s first CEO, a position he held until his retirement in August.
While directing the day-to-day operations of the sport’s national governing body was Dalkin’s livelihood, the sport also was – and is – his passion. Among his numerous contributions were the revamping of the ABC Championships Tournament, serving as a driving force behind the development of Sport Bowling, building improved relationships with the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America, leading the most significant advances in communications in history, and playing a central role in the creation of Reno’s National Bowling Stadium.
Burton, who died in 2006, was a kindergarten teacher who also worked with the Signal Corps when she got her start in bowling in World War II years in Chicago. When she was transferred to the Washington, D.C., area, her involvement in the sport accelerated. She organized the first black league in the Nation’s Capitol are, and the first National Bowling Association Senate. She bowled with the first all-black women’s team in her city and state associations, became the first black president of a WIBC local association, and was a driving force in TNBA. She was the first black delegate to the WIBC Convention (1954).
But her first love was children. As a charter member of the Vir-Mar-District YABA board, she served 32 years as a coach and mentor. At its peak, the Vir-Mar Junior Bowling Association served 10,000 youth members. Burton also served on local, state and national youth boards, organized leagues, ran tournaments and spent countless hours on the lanes teaching kids how to bowl.
Among her many honors, Burton was inducted into the Virginia WBA Hall of Fame in 1980, the Washington, D.C. Area WBA Hall of Fame in 1983, the TNBA Hall of Fame in 1989 and granted WIBC Member Emerita status in 1997.
In other actions, the USBC adopted new voting procedures for its men’s and women’s Performance category, which combines candidates previously considered “professional” and “non-professional” into a single category. The national hall of fame voting panel, consisting of USBC Hall of Famers, veteran bowling writers and USBC leaders, will be asked to vote for up to three candidates from lists of six men’s and six women’s finalists. Candidates must receive a minimum of 70 percent of votes cast in order to be elected.
Men’s national Performance finalists for 2007 balloting are Tom Baker, Del Ballard Jr., Parker Bohn III, John Handegard, Jeff Richgels and Brian Voss. Women’s finalists are Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg, Dede Davidson, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Shirley Levens, Debbie Kuhn and Cheryl Robinson.
No candidates received the necessary 70 percent of votes cast in the Veterans category.
The USBC Hall of Fame was created in 2005 by merging the former ABC and WIBC Halls of Fame. With the three new inductees, there are now 365 members of the USBC Hall of Fame – 238 in Performance, 108 in Meritorious Service and 19 Pioneers.
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