2021 BCAW Award of Excellence Recipients Selected
The BCAW Award of Excellence honors bowling center owners, proprietors, managers and others who have contributed to bowling in Wisconsin in a significant way over time. This year’s honorees are great examples of what this award is all about.
In the 12 lanes and fewer category, this year’s award winner is Jason Resch of Resch Lanes in Wittenberg. Jason is a leader in and out of his bowling center! He has been a proven mentor to youth bowlers and is active with the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club (WI HSBC) locally with District 9. He has also served on the WI HSBC Committee providing insight and guidance to make improvements to the program. Bowling tournaments organized by Jason have been creative and fun, providing opportunities to bowlers of all ages and skill levels. Locally with the Wausau Area USBC, he has been active in encouraging participation in bowling events in the area. Jason & his wife Jenny run a great family business in Wittenberg. Their love of their guests & family shows in all they do in and for their community
Our award recipient in the over 12 lanes category is Village Bowl’s Pete Riopelle. Located in Menomonee Falls, Village Bowl is a second-generation family business with Pete Riopelle active in all aspects of the business. With all that he has on his day-to-day plate, he still finds time to be active with BCAW as a board member, chairman of the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club (WI HSBC) Committee and onsite tournament manager of the largest high school state bowling championships in the country. The Milwaukee Bowling Hall of Famer has provided assistance to the WI State USBC, Milwaukee Area USBC and other proprietors hosting local and state championship events particularly in utilizing current technology. Pete is always willing to help another proprietor and has been a valued resource to the BCAW staff in many areas for more than three decades.
A Special BCAW Award of Excellence is being given to Tom Schemm, founder of Schemm Bowling, Inc. (SBI). From the humble beginnings as a youth bowler and mechanic, Tom Schemm created a resource for bowling center owners and managers throughout the United States. In 1980 Schemm Bowling Inc. (SBI) became his full-time business, helping bowling centers. He has been a long-time supporter of BCAW and our many programs and events, including the Wisconsin High School State Bowling Championships. Through the SBI Charity Golf Outing, over $80,000 was raised from 1994 to 2012. While the BCAW Scholarship Program received $16,000; he also contributed $19,000 to the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame and $9,000 to the Bowlers to Veterans Link (BVL). His philanthropy goes beyond bowling. In 1987 Tom raffled off a new boat motor he won on the Bowling with the Champs show, donating the money to the Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer (MACC) Fund. And from his SBI Charity Golf Outing, $36,000 was donated to the McCardle Labs for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
We will be presenting the awards to our BCAW Award of Excellence honorees on Monday, October 4, 2021 at our BCAW Annual Meeting, Awards Luncheon & Trade Show in Appleton. The Celebration of Excellence Luncheon is open to all who wish to join in honoring this year’s award winners. For more information and to register for the event, please go to our website.
On behalf of BCAW and our 217 member centers, congratulations and THANK YOU to Jason, Pete & Tom for your contributions to BCAW over the years!
Prior Award Recipients
2016 Erik Gialdella – Revs Bowl, Bar & Grill, Oshkosh
2016 Peggy & Dan Henke – Dan’s Village Bowl, Brownsville & Dan’s King Pin Family Fun Center, Mayville
2016 Ralph Krueger – Krueger’s Entertainment Center, Menomonee Falls
2017 Dave LaBar – The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley, Green Bay
2017 Denise Richter & Diane Mallow – Watertown Bowl, Inc., Watertown
2018 Paula & Bill Hilbert – Lakeshore Lanes, Sheboygan
2018 Dave Scherbarth – Highland Lanes, Milwaukee
2018 Bob Maki – Former BCAW Staff, Muskego
2019 Dale Elliott – Dale’s Weston Lanes, Weston
2019 Steve Cieslewicz – Whitetail Lanes, Amherst Junction
2020 Dick Zierke – Pla-Mor Lanes, La Crosse
2020 Sherry Kielblock – Silver Lake Lanes, Scandinavia
2020 Krista & Don Hildebrand – WI Bowler’s ED & WI State USBC, Glendale