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Beginning in
1985, several groups of dedicated, talented, hard-working
individuals have volunteered countless hours to plan and present the
annual Cleveland G.I.F.T.
Bowling Tournament. (Some of these folks have been
involved in some capacity every year since then.) During its
24 years of existence,
G.I.F.T. has become one
of the premier events in the Greater Cleveland area. After being
housed for many years at Buckeye Lanes inNorth
Olmsted, the
bowling portion of the weekend will be hosted by Freeway Lanes of
Parma.
With the help of corporate
sponsors Time Warner Cable,
Miller, Storm Bowling Supplies, Seagram’s, Holiday Inn and the
generous support of many local businesses and organizations,
tournament organizers have welcomed hundreds of men and women from
across the US and Canada to the North Coast for a weekend of bowling, fun, and
fellowship. Over the years, fund raisers such as Moonlight
Bowls, various Raffles, Roller Skating Parties, Bar Nights, Pool
Tournaments, Bake Sales, and yes, even Drag Shows have been
incorporated to help offset the costs of presenting such a huge
event. In addition to the thousands of dollars in bowling
prize money and raffle gifts and prizes, the G.I.F.T. Committee has been
able to donate more than ten
thousand dollars over the years to local organizations such as
AIDS Taskforce, The LGBT Community Center of
Greater Cleveland, Prysm, the Pride Committee, Kamana House, the Akron Community AIDS Network, and
the Hospice of
the Western Reserve.
The annual G.I.F.T. Cruise presented
by Time Warner Cable
(which was originally planned as "something unique" for bowlers
and guests to do on Saturday night) has evolved into one of the
single most attended GLBT events in Cleveland.
Each year since 1989
anywhere from 400-700 people have boarded the privately chartered
Goodtime III for a party on the
Cuyahoga
River and Lake Erie. By all accounts, this has become an evening not to be
missed. This year we sail “rain or shine” on Saturday, June 13,
2009 .
There have been several times when the
G.I.F.T. tournament has
been anchored by a theme carried out over the entire weekend.
This year’s Beach Party
’09 will join a list of memorable events that includes a Pajama Party, Candy Bowl, Rainbow Bowl, Shipwrecked, Under Construction, and Mardi Gras. We held a
Rainbow Wedding "Here
Comes the Pride" (with stereotypical wedding gifts given away as
raffle prizes). And no one who was there will ever forget the Jungle Bowl where the
Awards Banquet was held in the
Primate
Building of the Cleveland Zoo. (You haven't
lived until you've dined while watching our evolutionary ancestors
scratching themselves in various places and…well…you get the
idea).
Cleveland G.I.F.T. is
affiliated with the International Gay/Lesbian
Bowling Organization
(IGBO), the umbrella institution for hundreds of GLBT bowling
leagues and tournaments throughout the
US,
Canada,
Australia,
and New
Zealand. The four GLBT bowling leagues
currently operating in Cleveland
and Akron
are members of IGBO.
Cleveland was chosen to
host the annual IGBO
tournament in May,
1998. “Cleveland Rocks IGBO” Memorial Day
Weekend opened with a huge Welcome Party for some 500 bowlers and
guests in the main hall of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse on
Lakeside
Avenue.
This year's 21st G.I.F.T. Tournament, directed by Bill Palarchio, (with a
guaranteed minimum $10,000
prize fund) commences the weekend of June 12
– 14,
2009 |
