Town's Lions Club takes top honors in bowling tourney

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Ah, “Rookies of the Year?”

Perhaps that’s a tag the Johnston Lions Club will be using for its newfound success in the always competitive yet fun-filled sport of duckpin bowling.

Back on Jan. 25, you see, Town Hall Lanes on Atwood Avenue in Johnston hosted the highly-important Rhode Island Lions Club District 42 Mid-Winter Meeting.

Once the business portion of the unique confab was complete, members from Lions Clubs that make up District 42 held their third Annual Duckpin Bowling Tournament that wound up raising over $2,100 for the Rhode Island Lions highly-acclaimed Lions Sight Foundation.

“It’s all part of our club motto,” Robert J. Civetti, who serves as treasurer for the ageless Johnston Lions Club and doubles as a Town Council member, offered, while noting it’s a phrase that simply states “We serve.”

Thus, the neighboring Scituate Lions Club, which has had representation in two successful JLC Sal Gelsomino Memorial Venison Dinners like the one held last Friday night at the famed Santa Maria Di Prate Society on Walnut Grove Avenue in Cranston, was said to be the team favorite and thus set out to defend winning back-to-back team championships in each of the unique tournament’s first-ever two years.

The competing teams, according to Civetti, bowled two games each against each other and the combined total score of the top four bowlers on each squad would be used to determine which Lions Club would stake claim to the prestigious championship trophy.

Meanwhile, as Civetti noted, “This was our club’s first time competing in the tournament; like other Lions Clubs, our wives were able to participate and that’s what made the tournament even that much more fun.”

Once all the games were rolled, the Johnston Lions Club wound up knocking over the most maples on the shiny Town Hall Lanes and thus, later celebrated its coveted crown and included a statement from King Lion – a.k.a. JLC President Joseph Swift – that included the words “our folks wound up being a force to be reckoned with” especially after a “pep talk” from the prexy.

Perhaps it was Carol Sabetta, wife of Lion Joe Sabetta, who set the JLC’s tone for success after she nailed a spare.

Lion David Civetti then rolled an impressive 160 game and after getting some tips from Swift and hoping for a big game, Carol Civetti – Robert’s wife who was also known as “Puffy Sleeves” during the tourney as she removed her light jacket, rolled a nifty 133 in Game 2.

When the dust settled, as the old adage goes, the Johnston Lions Club’s top four individual scores totaled 940, some 200 pins more than its closest competitor and led the “Johnston Lions Lobbers” into the winner’s circle as the 2020 District 42 Champions.

“We’re looking forward to defending our title,” Swift said, “and hopefully increasing the amount of money we raise for the Rhode Island Lions Sight Foundation, RI Lions Cancer in Children Foundation and Lions Club International Foundation.”

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