HAZEL A. BEATTY

Hazel A. Beatty started bowling in 1978 after retiring from 35 years of service with the federal government. She was encouraged to join the Columbia Center Bowlers senior league and has bowled continuously in that league for the past 23 years. She was league secretary for one year; during her tenure, the league became sanctioned with WIBC and ABC for the first time. She also served as president for three years and compiled a history of the league. Each year, she prepares the annual banquet program that includes final scores and all awards and tournament prizes won by the bowlers during the current season.

In 1989, she joined a second league, the Prime Timers Mixed, and she has bowled in that league for 13 years, including two as league president.

She received the WIBC League Special Award from both senior leagues for outstanding service. For the past six years, she has served as tournament manager for sanctioned end-of-season mixed doubles tournaments.

When the Virginia State Senior Tournament started in 1983, Hazel was right there in the group traveling to Petersburg, and she has missed only one tournament since. She has encouraged Washington area seniors to bowl in this tournament by filling out and sending in entry forms, and for many years she chartered a bus to the various cities. In 1989, she won the Virginia State Senior Women’s all events title and advanced to the WIBC National Senior Championships in Wichita, Kansas.

She bowled her first 500 series in 1985 and immediately joined the WDCA 500 Club. She has served the club as D.C. director, second vice president, and first vice president since 1998.

She has participated in most of the annual D.C. Golden Olympics since 1984. She qualified to participate in the biennial Summer National Senior Games—The Senior Olympics—in 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2001 by receiving a medal in the D.C. Golden Olympics in the qualifying year prior to the National Games.

With the encouragement of Hall of Famer Martha Burton, she accepted an appointment to the WDCAWBA board in 1990. For 11 years, she has served as association manager for the annual WDCAWBA/NCABA Senior Bowling Tournament that has attracted over 300 area bowlers for the past several years, during which time the number of teams increased from 31 in 1990 to 75 in 2000. She currently is WDCAWBA’s chaplain and has served on many committees over the years, including Awards, 3 C’s, 75th Anniversary, Publicity, and Side Tournament. She was selected “Suzy Bowler” for 1989-90 and has received the President’s Award for service to senior bowlers.

She was a delegate to the WIBC Annual Meeting for eight years and to Virginia State Annual Meeting for several years. She also attended several Virginia State summer workshops and in 1993 presented a paper on “Senior Leagues and Tournaments.”

Hazel A. Beatty’s assistance and efforts to the members of the local bowling associations merit her a special place in the WDCAWBA Hall of Fame.