New York bowler honors father with trip to USBC Open Championships
July 28, 2024
PICTURED ABOVE: Rich Stewart (kneeling with 50th on left sleeve) and the ABC Gates Bowl teams at the 2024 USBC Open Championships.
LAS VEGAS – Rich Stewart of Rochester, New York, was planning to make his way to Reno, Nevada, in 2023 to watch his father, Ed Stewart, make his 50th appearance at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Unfortunately, the family was unable to make that trek to the National Bowling Stadium.
As the 2023 event neared its close, Ed canceled the trip for his 50th appearance much to the surprise of those close to him. Shortly after, he ended up in the hospital and passed away in August at the age of 76.
In their final moments together, Rich promised his father he would continue his legacy at the tournament and step in to take his spot alongside his ABC Gates Bowl teammates.
Rich fulfilled that pledge recently at the 2024 USBC Open Championships in Las Vegas, making his tournament debut to honor his father at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
While the emotions were running high for Rich as he took in the tournament experience he had heard his father talk about year after year, he also was able to reflect on Ed’s impact in the Rochester bowling community and beyond as a pro shop operator and competitor.
“He spent 35 years running the pro shop at Gates Bowl and was an avid bowler at 16 years old,” Rich said. “He shot a lot of big scores, but his biggest achievements were winning the 1972 Masters (in Rochester) and the 1988 New York State team championship. His life was bowling. He lived at the bowling center, and if he wasn’t working, he was bowling.”
Ed Stewart at the 2022 USBC Open Championships in Las Vegas.
Ed, a member of the Rochester NY USBC Hall of Fame, started his career at the Open Championships in Rochester during the 1966 event at the War Memorial Building (now Blue Cross Arena), and he had made his annual appearance at the tournament each year since 1982.
He spent many of those years organizing groups to compete at the event.
Ed was known to talk about the tournament and had many around him looking forward to celebrating his 50th appearance, which left Rich and others surprised at his tentativeness toward planning the trip to Reno.
“It was like May or June, and I kept calling and asking what we were doing – it was coming up in July,” Rich said. “He was going back and forth and hesitating. We were looking at airfare and had a lot of people planning to come out for it, but he kept hesitating.
“At the last second, he backed out. For him to cancel a Reno trip was unprecedented. He didn’t cancel bowling trips, so we knew something wasn’t right. Then, he’s in the hospital with water in his lungs, pneumonia and his heart was working at 10%.”
After moving hospitals, things briefly looked up as Ed started talking about Las Vegas in 2024, and he was moved out of an intensive care unit. A late phone call, however, brought Rich back to the hospital.
“I got a call at 3 a.m. letting me know his oxygen levels went down, so I flew back to the hospital and he was back in ICU,” Rich said. “I tried to talk to him, but he really wasn’t responding. I was holding him in the bed, and he came out of it a couple times.
“His last words to me – he really couldn’t talk – but he kept saying B, B, B, and the only thing I could think of is bowling and his 50th. He had talked about it for years, and everyone knew. I told him not to worry. I told him I’m going to fill in your shoes for your 50th.”
Filling his shoes would take some work. First, Russ Vallone needed to get Ed’s group back together.
“I think it was hard getting everyone back together at first, especially his good friend Eddie Cruz, but when Russ told them I was bowling his 50th for him, everyone came together,” Rich said. “Mike Wambold said he was honored to be my doubles partner, and I was so grateful having such a great person and former USBC (Regular) Doubles champion filling that spot. The support of these guys is incredible, every one of them.”
Rich bowled growing up and worked alongside his father in the pro shop in the 1990s, but he had stepped away from the sport in the early 2000s to focus on his career in information technology, and in 2008, he started his own company in the field – Bar None Design.
Getting back into bowling would take some time and effort, but his back wouldn’t allow him a lot of time to get ready for the trip to Las Vegas.
“I tried to go bowl, and I was using the same balls I had from 20 years ago,” Rich said. “I left a 4-7-10 on my first ball, and I picked it. But by the third game, I couldn’t bowl anymore. My back was so messed up.
“We almost get to this point, and I asked Dave Werner (ABC Gates Bowl manager) a few weeks ago to turn the lanes on for me and let me see what I can do. Russ drilled up two new bowling for me, too, and I can’t thank him enough for his support through all this. I remember one thing, and it was Dave yelling out from the desk as I was practicing, ‘Don’t worry, Rich, it’s just like riding a bike.’”
With new equipment in hand and his father’s two-team group joining in the experience, the last thing for Rich to complete was making his way to Las Vegas to hit the lanes.
Although the nerves were certainly there for several reasons, Rich was able to settle in after a slow start to record 212 in his second game, which included strikes on four of his first five deliveries. He closed the game with four strikes.
He finished the team set with a 523 series.
“It was breathtaking walking out to the lanes, but I still was thinking about how he should have been here,” Rich said. “The nerves were there. These guys have been here and done this, and they’re all great bowlers, so I also didn’t want to let them down. I was thinking about him, though, and that’s what really got me through that first game. I struggled out of the gate. It’s been 22 years, so none of my mechanics or timing felt right. Everything’s off, so I kept thinking of him and just tried to do it like he would. That kind of put a little fire in me.
“About halfway through the first game, I said to myself, ‘Please Rich, do not shoot under 100 and embarrass us.’ Much thanks to Rob Manners and Eddie Cruz for helping me relax, and once I got through that point, the next game, I could have had seven in a row to start with some Brooklyn action, and that’s when I knew he was with me. I came up light twice on the right lane before making a little move to finish out the ninth and 10th. To finish like that, it felt good to honor him, and the guys knew it, too.”
The moment offered some additional reflection for Rich, too. Although there may be some regrets over the years, he also knows his father would be proud to see him standing in his shoes at the tournament.
“I have a regret for not being out here when he was doing it,” Rich said. “I was very much into bowling 20-plus years ago, but I started my own business. I have a regret that I missed all of this experience with him. That’s probably the No. 1 thing I’ve thought about since I’ve been here – the time I missed with him at these places. You don’t get it until you get here, and now, I got it. He should be here next to me, and that’s all I thought about when I walked up here, but now I’m here in his honor.
“These guys have already asked, and I’m going to go to Baton Rouge with them next year and continue his legacy at the tournament.”
Rich also is very thankful to Vallone and Kelvin Parker for bringing Ed back to the pro shop after purchasing Gates Bowl – now ABC Gates Bowl – in 2020. His memory now lives on inside the walls of the 48-lane center with a photo and message, stating, “A friend, mentor, brother and an ambassador of sportsmanship.” Rich also wanted to thank Robbie Rose for making this happen.
“When they bought Gates Bowl, they brought my dad back to his old home,” Rich said. “It’s great that he was able to go back home, and I can’t thank Russ and Kelvin enough for that. It’s where I grew up as kid while my dad was working, and he was great at laying out and drilling bowling balls.”
The 2024 Open Championships got underway Feb. 23 and will run through July 29 at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The tournament is scheduled to feature more than 11,000 teams and 55,000 bowlers making their way to compete in Las Vegas.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.
LAS VEGAS – Rich Stewart of Rochester, New York, was planning to make his way to Reno, Nevada, in 2023 to watch his father, Ed Stewart, make his 50th appearance at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships.
Unfortunately, the family was unable to make that trek to the National Bowling Stadium.
As the 2023 event neared its close, Ed canceled the trip for his 50th appearance much to the surprise of those close to him. Shortly after, he ended up in the hospital and passed away in August at the age of 76.
In their final moments together, Rich promised his father he would continue his legacy at the tournament and step in to take his spot alongside his ABC Gates Bowl teammates.
Rich fulfilled that pledge recently at the 2024 USBC Open Championships in Las Vegas, making his tournament debut to honor his father at the South Point Bowling Plaza.
While the emotions were running high for Rich as he took in the tournament experience he had heard his father talk about year after year, he also was able to reflect on Ed’s impact in the Rochester bowling community and beyond as a pro shop operator and competitor.
“He spent 35 years running the pro shop at Gates Bowl and was an avid bowler at 16 years old,” Rich said. “He shot a lot of big scores, but his biggest achievements were winning the 1972 Masters (in Rochester) and the 1988 New York State team championship. His life was bowling. He lived at the bowling center, and if he wasn’t working, he was bowling.”
Ed Stewart at the 2022 USBC Open Championships in Las Vegas.
Ed, a member of the Rochester NY USBC Hall of Fame, started his career at the Open Championships in Rochester during the 1966 event at the War Memorial Building (now Blue Cross Arena), and he had made his annual appearance at the tournament each year since 1982.
He spent many of those years organizing groups to compete at the event.
Ed was known to talk about the tournament and had many around him looking forward to celebrating his 50th appearance, which left Rich and others surprised at his tentativeness toward planning the trip to Reno.
“It was like May or June, and I kept calling and asking what we were doing – it was coming up in July,” Rich said. “He was going back and forth and hesitating. We were looking at airfare and had a lot of people planning to come out for it, but he kept hesitating.
“At the last second, he backed out. For him to cancel a Reno trip was unprecedented. He didn’t cancel bowling trips, so we knew something wasn’t right. Then, he’s in the hospital with water in his lungs, pneumonia and his heart was working at 10%.”
After moving hospitals, things briefly looked up as Ed started talking about Las Vegas in 2024, and he was moved out of an intensive care unit. A late phone call, however, brought Rich back to the hospital.
“I got a call at 3 a.m. letting me know his oxygen levels went down, so I flew back to the hospital and he was back in ICU,” Rich said. “I tried to talk to him, but he really wasn’t responding. I was holding him in the bed, and he came out of it a couple times.
“His last words to me – he really couldn’t talk – but he kept saying B, B, B, and the only thing I could think of is bowling and his 50th. He had talked about it for years, and everyone knew. I told him not to worry. I told him I’m going to fill in your shoes for your 50th.”
Filling his shoes would take some work. First, Russ Vallone needed to get Ed’s group back together.“I think it was hard getting everyone back together at first, especially his good friend Eddie Cruz, but when Russ told them I was bowling his 50th for him, everyone came together,” Rich said. “Mike Wambold said he was honored to be my doubles partner, and I was so grateful having such a great person and former USBC (Regular) Doubles champion filling that spot. The support of these guys is incredible, every one of them.”
Rich bowled growing up and worked alongside his father in the pro shop in the 1990s, but he had stepped away from the sport in the early 2000s to focus on his career in information technology, and in 2008, he started his own company in the field – Bar None Design.
Getting back into bowling would take some time and effort, but his back wouldn’t allow him a lot of time to get ready for the trip to Las Vegas.
“I tried to go bowl, and I was using the same balls I had from 20 years ago,” Rich said. “I left a 4-7-10 on my first ball, and I picked it. But by the third game, I couldn’t bowl anymore. My back was so messed up.
“We almost get to this point, and I asked Dave Werner (ABC Gates Bowl manager) a few weeks ago to turn the lanes on for me and let me see what I can do. Russ drilled up two new bowling for me, too, and I can’t thank him enough for his support through all this. I remember one thing, and it was Dave yelling out from the desk as I was practicing, ‘Don’t worry, Rich, it’s just like riding a bike.’”
With new equipment in hand and his father’s two-team group joining in the experience, the last thing for Rich to complete was making his way to Las Vegas to hit the lanes.
Although the nerves were certainly there for several reasons, Rich was able to settle in after a slow start to record 212 in his second game, which included strikes on four of his first five deliveries. He closed the game with four strikes.
He finished the team set with a 523 series.
“It was breathtaking walking out to the lanes, but I still was thinking about how he should have been here,” Rich said. “The nerves were there. These guys have been here and done this, and they’re all great bowlers, so I also didn’t want to let them down. I was thinking about him, though, and that’s what really got me through that first game. I struggled out of the gate. It’s been 22 years, so none of my mechanics or timing felt right. Everything’s off, so I kept thinking of him and just tried to do it like he would. That kind of put a little fire in me.
“About halfway through the first game, I said to myself, ‘Please Rich, do not shoot under 100 and embarrass us.’ Much thanks to Rob Manners and Eddie Cruz for helping me relax, and once I got through that point, the next game, I could have had seven in a row to start with some Brooklyn action, and that’s when I knew he was with me. I came up light twice on the right lane before making a little move to finish out the ninth and 10th. To finish like that, it felt good to honor him, and the guys knew it, too.”
The moment offered some additional reflection for Rich, too. Although there may be some regrets over the years, he also knows his father would be proud to see him standing in his shoes at the tournament.
“I have a regret for not being out here when he was doing it,” Rich said. “I was very much into bowling 20-plus years ago, but I started my own business. I have a regret that I missed all of this experience with him. That’s probably the No. 1 thing I’ve thought about since I’ve been here – the time I missed with him at these places. You don’t get it until you get here, and now, I got it. He should be here next to me, and that’s all I thought about when I walked up here, but now I’m here in his honor.
“These guys have already asked, and I’m going to go to Baton Rouge with them next year and continue his legacy at the tournament.”
Rich also is very thankful to Vallone and Kelvin Parker for bringing Ed back to the pro shop after purchasing Gates Bowl – now ABC Gates Bowl – in 2020. His memory now lives on inside the walls of the 48-lane center with a photo and message, stating, “A friend, mentor, brother and an ambassador of sportsmanship.” Rich also wanted to thank Robbie Rose for making this happen.“When they bought Gates Bowl, they brought my dad back to his old home,” Rich said. “It’s great that he was able to go back home, and I can’t thank Russ and Kelvin enough for that. It’s where I grew up as kid while my dad was working, and he was great at laying out and drilling bowling balls.”
The 2024 Open Championships got underway Feb. 23 and will run through July 29 at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The tournament is scheduled to feature more than 11,000 teams and 55,000 bowlers making their way to compete in Las Vegas.
Visit us on Facebook at the official USBC Open Championships page.