Bowie Police Department 'explores' benefits of bowling By JAKE LINGER Sports Editor
Some of the competition was stiff, and so were many more forearms.
The Bowie Police Department attracted 20 lanes of bowlers for its inaugural bowling tournament to benefit Bowie Police Explorers Post 1916, a program designed to teach leadership to area youth ages 14 to 18 who have completed the eighth grade.
The program will commence with its first meeting and registrations May 7. Participants will explore five areas of emphasis: career opportunities, citizenship, leadership experience, life skills and character education. Anyone interested in learning about Bowie Police Explorers should call Bowie Police Deputy Chief John K. Nesky or Chief Katherine A. Perez at 301-575-2480.
Nesky credited the relationship between the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce and the police department with "helping to build partnerships with local businesses." That partnership is one of the reasons AMF Bowie became the site for the fund raiser, which raised more than $700 that will go toward uniforms, activities, classes and training for members of the Explorers program. Nesky believes the program can either lead to a career in police work or simply lead a teen down the path to becoming "a well-rounded, community-minded citizen."
"When we get the Explorers going, this will be their tournament," said Perez. "They'll run this, we'll simply advise."
The tournament was originally only going to feature 15 teams, but popular demand forced Nesky to expand the field to 20 teams. In fact, he said that there has already been inquiries for next year's tournament. The demand can be attributed to the attraction of the community having the opportunity to not only become more familiar with Perez, Nesky and the numerous BPD officers that took part in the fund raiser, but also to compete against them in a very loose and competitive atmosphere.
"Bowling seems to bring out the competitiveness in people, as well as a lot of humor," said Greg Clem, an area resident who organized three teams for the fund raiser, including the winning team, King Me. "I'm glad that it was a team event instead of individual. People who haven't met (and are) on a team having fun, giving each other high fives … that's always cool."
In addition to one team that featured Nesky and Perez, there was a team organized by the Blade-News sports editor as well as a team of Bowie High School students, which was organized by BHS Parent Teacher Student Organization president Mary Nusser.
"I had an amazing time bowling for a such great cause," said Lindsy Truitt, who bowled for the 11th-place team, The Writers Strike. "I can't wait for next years tournament. My team is going to dethrone King Me."
In order to reward participants for helping to raise funds, there is always a need for sponsors to step up to the plate and provide prizes. Luckily for BPD, community involvement has been high across the board, whether it's a bowling tournament or their inaugural National Night Out held last August at Prince George's Stadium that attracted nearly 1,000 city residents. Businesses that donated prizes for the tournament included: Bowie Town Center, Bowie Baysox, T.J. Elliott's, Rita's Italian Ice, Chili's, Pizzeria Uno, Applebee's, Quiznos, Target, International House of Pancakes, Wing Zone, PNC Bank and the Olive Garden.
"We're happy with the way things are going," said Nesky, who pointed out that any time there is a community event, partnerships in the community are crucial to the event's success. "Everybody lined up and exceeded expectations," he said. "You need community involvement."
The chamber of commerce is one of the most important partnerships that BPD has forged in its brief history. Nesky, who Perez said "put a lot of work into (the tournament)," credited Cathy Woods, chamber president-elect, as well as executive director Kelly Pierce in forming the idea of a bowling tournament.
A bowling event seemed to be the right type of activity for the police department to get out and interact with Bowieites in a loose atmosphere and to raise money for a worthwhile program. "Bowling is fun and interactive," said Nesky. "It gets people interacting with each other outside of the norm."
Indeed, police involvement was truly loose; they surely did not bowl in their uniforms. And frequently, Perez or Nesky was manning the microphone bringing the event to order.
One of the most popular pieces of scuttlebutt throughout the event was in wondering how well Nesky and Perez actually bowl. Each easily admitted their opening game scores, which were 212 and 119, respectively. Trying to pry the rest out of them was not as easy. "I don't know what happened in the second game," said Perez, referring to her modest score of 66.
Nesky dropped off in his subsequent two games as well, but even those scores were still not too shabby. Following a 212, he proceeded to bowl games of 152 and 140 - ish. "My hip was talking to me the next day," admitted Nesky.
Perez and Nesky understand that it is nearly impossible to try to please every Bowie resident and that there will always be detractors, but nothing seems like it will detract the duo from making a difference in this community and establishing a long-lasting legacy in the department.
"We won't make everyone happy all the time," said Perez, "but the support in helping this department grow has been amazing."
