IMPERIAL, Pa. — Hello, SNPJ bowlers. I want to tell you about the SloBowl United 2009 Bowling Tournament, a special event SNPJ is co-sponsoring in the Pittsburgh area. SNPJ, KSKJ and the Slovenian Consulate in Cleveland are planning this event to bring together Slovene Americans and members of these great fraternal organizations for an afternoon of bowling, fun and fraternalism. This is the second year of what we hope will become an annual event.

This year the SloBowl event will be held at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at Paradise Lanes on Neville Island, Pa., the same bowling center SNPJ has held the last three Western Pa. Bowling Tournaments. U.S. residents of Slovenian heritage and all members of SNPJ, KSKJ and AMLA are invited to participate.

The entry fee is $25 and will allow participants to bowl a three-game individual series, and be eligible for both scratch and handicap prizes. Sixty percent of the entry fees will be returned in prizes in the following divisions: Youth (16-18), Adult Men (19 and up) and Adult Women (19 and up). Approximately one in three entries in each division will be awarded prizes.

Rooms are being held at a special discounted rate of only $62.99 plus tax for SloBowl United participants staying Friday and/or Saturday night. The rooms, which hold two double beds, are at Comfort Inn-Tonidale, 7011 Old Steubenville Pike, Oakdale, PA 15071. When reserving rooms, call the hotel directly at (412) 787-2600 and mention SloBowl United. These rooms will be held until Nov. 1, so please call before then. Check out the hotel’s web site at www.comfortinn.com/hotel/pa404 for all it has to offer.

After bowling, the fun continues as we share in our Slovene American Heritage at a social at the SNPJ Lodge 106 Hall, located next to the SNPJ Home Office in Imperial. Participants and friends are invited to this social. The social will feature live music, and plenty of food and beverages as we continue this celebration of the united Slovenian American community. Awards will be presented to the tournament winners at that time.

SNPJ members Vicki Urbas (138) and Bob Harwood (158) were the women’s and men’s scratch winners last year, and their names are on the traveling plaques displayed in the Fraternal Department at the SNPJ Home Office. Let’s see if we can keep SNPJ on these trophies for many years to come.

[CLICK HERE] for an entry form, or contact SNPJ Fraternal Director Kevin Richards by phoning 1-800-843-7675 or e-mailing krichards@snpj.com. The entry deadline is Oct. 31.