Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County celebrated all things Wisconsin at Bowl for Kids’ Sake 2023 – The Ope Bowl. 287 bowlers visited Parkway Lanes in Fond du Lac between March 3 and 4 to take part in our largest annual fundraiser. There were special appearances by some of our favorite Wisconsin sports icons, raffles, entertainment, food, drinks, costume contests, prizes, and more. Through all of our fundraising efforts, you helped us raise nearly $100,000 to support local children with powerful mentoring relationships!
The event kicked off on Friday night with a special appearance by the Milwaukee Brewers Famous Racing Sausages and continued into Saturday with Sturgy the Sturgeon, all while DJ Marty Schibbelhut and DJ Galaxy from RadioPlus kept the party going. During Saturday’s match shift, 50 Bigs and Littles hit the lanes for bowling, balloon tying, root beer floats from A&W, and a color pin contest with Verve.
Whether it was cows, camo, sports, or cheesy puns, bowlers came dressed in their Midwest best. The top costume from each bowling shift got to take home a coveted cow bowling pin trophy and a cash prize. The costume contest wasn’t the only opportunity for bowlers to win big. Top fundraisers won gift certificates to some of our favorite local spots, bowlers from every shift had the opportunity to participate in 50/50 raffles, and there were also exciting basket raffles with items from the Packers, Timber Rattlers, Dock Spiders, Charlie Berens, and more.
You can’t celebrate Wisconsin without cheese! Grande Cheese Company wasted no time filling the lanes with almost 90 bowlers on Saturday morning and being our largest fundraisers of the weekend. Not only did Grande employees raise $17,862, but the company made an additional donation of $18,138 to gift BBBS with a total of $36,000 in support of local youth! Michels Corporation was our second largest fundraiser, bringing six teams of bowlers to the event and raising $14,750!
On top of all the incredible bowlers fundraising individually and proceeds from various raffles, Parkway Lanes donated $1 for every specialty drink and $2 for every pizza sold throughout the event. By the end of the weekend, our community helped us raise nearly $100,000 to support BBBS!
Bowl for Kids’ Sake is a yearly fundraiser benefitting BBBS. This year’s planning committee was co-chaired by Amy Docter of BBBS and Joan Pinch of Wisco Hotel Group.
Shoutout to the sponsors who made this event possible: [PLATINUM] BrownBoots Interactive Inc., Fox Valley Savings Bank, Hopper’s Silk Screening & All Star Trophy, Integrity Saw & Tool Inc., Mid-States Aluminum Corp., 95 & 96-1 The Rock. [GOLD] Excel Engineering Inc., Grande Cheese Company, Taco Bell, SSM Health, Van Horn Automotive Group. [SILVER] CLA, Fond du Lac Credit Union, Fond du Lac Noon Kiwanis, Flood Homes Inc., J.F. Ahern Co., Kollman Electric LLC, Luedtke Lumber Inc., Michels Corporation, Parkway Lanes, RB Royal Industries Inc., Sabel Mechanical LLC, Signarama. [LANE] A&W Restaurant, Adashun Jones Real Estate, Ahern Gross Plumbing, Alliance Laundry Systems, America’s Auto Auction Wisconsin, Annie’s Fountain City Cafe, Be’s Refreshments, Benvenuto’s Italian Bar & Grill, Bristol Morgan Bank, Caliber Home Loans, Capones, City of Fond du Lac Police Benevolent Association, Drexel Building Supply, Eaton’s Fresh Pizza, Elite Wealth Planners, Ellison Electric Supply, Fat Joe’s Burgers and Brew, Gallery & Frame Shop LLC., Gino’s Italian Restaurant, Holiday Automotive, Knuth Brewing Company, Kwik Trip Inc., Lakeside Wealth Management LLC, Manowske Welding Corp., Mittelstadt Trucking LLC, Modern Woodmen, Muthig Industries Inc, Northcentral Construction, Philly’s on 4th Grocery & Deli, Precision Locksmithing LLC, RAW Grounds Coffee Co, Rock the House Pub & Grill, Ski & Bev’s Corner Pub, Studio One Designer Photography, Sunset on the Water, T.T.I. Inc., The Hive, Twohig Funeral Home, Twohig Orthodontics, Verve Credit Union, W.J. Leasa Electric Inc., Waas Boring & Cable Inc., Wrightway Home Improvements.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County is a United Way Agency that assists children with social, emotional, and character development through one-to-one mentoring relationships with caring adults. The agency matches children with a Big Brother, Sister, Couple, or Family in a community or school-based program. Children ages 6-13 can enroll in the program through parent or guardian referral. For more information about the program or to volunteer, call (920) 922-8200 or visit www.bbbsfdl.org.
