ARLINGTON, Texas – Betty Kingsley of Rochester, New York, Lowell Lovgren of Kelso, Washington, and Natalie Cardoza Clark and Butch Cardoza of Cottage Grove, Oregon, have been selected to receive National Recognition Awards by the United States Bowling Congress Board of Directors.

The USBC National Recognition Awards annually honors outstanding bowling leaders for their contributions to the sport.

Kingsley was selected to receive the Helen Baker Award for Outstanding Association Service, Lovgren is the Joyce Deitch Unity Award recipient, and the father-daughter team of Butch Cardoza and Natalie Cardoza Clark, who operate Cottage Bowl in Cottage Grove, Oregon, were named USBC Proprietor of the Year.

Kingsley became involved in bowling when she began her career at Eastman Kodak Company, where she worked as a Quality Control Engineer for almost 30 years, because “someone asked me to.” Her volunteer service in the sport started on the local level and she eventually became involved on the state and national levels, too.

She has served as president and secretary-treasurer of the Rochester Bowling Council, was a youth association director and chaired the Bowlers to Veterans Link (BVL) tournament. Currently, she is a director on the New York State USBC board.

Kingsley was active in the Women’s International Bowling Congress (WIBC), serving as a director from 1996-2005. She also served as the WIBC Area Recruitment Coordinator and was a regional coordinator for the WIBC Membership Development Program. She was on the WIBC Hall of Fame board from 1997-2005.

“It is great to be recognized among your bowling friends for providing programs and services for all bowlers to enjoy,” Kingsley said.

Lovgren has served on the Cowlitz USBC board in Kelso, Washington, for 30 years, the majority as the association president, and has run the junior program at Triangle Bowl for 28 years. He runs several youth and adult tournaments each season and has a banquet to honor the junior bowlers in the program.

He has served on the Washington State USBC board, including three years as president and six years as association manager. He currently serves the state association as youth director and runs the state and sectional Pepsi tournaments, the Washington State Youth Masters and the state youth championships.

“To get such an honorary award named after Joyce Deitch is very humbling,” Lovgren said. “So many other recipients have earned this before me, and it’s an honor to follow in their footsteps. All this for something I enjoy and love to do for the sport of bowling.”

Butch Cardoza and his daughter, Natalie Cardoza Clark, opened the 12-lane Cottage Bowl in 2009 to provide a fun experience for bowlers of all skill levels. The center has served as host for the Oregon State USBC Senior Mixed, Senior Qualifier and State 600 tournaments, and for several events for Emerald Valley USBC. The duo was named 2017 Proprietor of the Year at the Oregon State USBC Jamboree last July.

Natalie has served on the Emerald Valley USBC board since its merger in 2006 and will become the association’s president starting with the 2018-2019 season. She has served as Tournament Committee Chairman and as Tournament Director.

Cottage Bowl has provided Emerald Valley USBC free use of its center for learn-to-bowl clinics. Butch and a fellow bowler worked to develop a training class that included videos and personal instruction for bowlers.

“This award is symbolic of the support we receive from our bowlers and friends,” Natalie said. “This extraordinary honor would not be possible without them.”

Butch added: “I am honored and excited that all our hard work has touched so many of our bowling families’ lives.”

The National Recognition Awards will be presented during the 2018 USBC Convention and Annual Meeting, April 23-26, at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.

Go to BOWL.com/ScholarshipsAwards to learn more about the National Recognition Awards and to see past award winners.