Steve Brownlee

What a fun, easy and productive way to hold onto the legacy of a young man who was taken from us way too soon.

The Hunter Negri Memorial 9-Pin Tournament will be held on Saturday, March 24, with shifts at 3:30 and 7 p.m. at Superior Lanes.

Organizers have indicated that if enough teams sign up, a 12:30 p.m. shift will also be added. So it’s important to register ahead of time, but more on that later.

Negri was a member of the Marquette Senior High School bowling team throughout his high school years and was a freshman at Northern Michigan University when his life ended at age 18 on Jan. 16.

Two dollars from each entry will be designated for the Hunter Negri Memorial Scholarship.

Hunter’s father Jim Negri talked to me about the tourney recently. He worked with organizers at Superior Lanes, but admittedly as a self-proclaimed “amateur” bowler, he let the pros set up the event.

One thing that should help with turnout is its three divisions — an Adult Competitive Division, Adult Amateur Division and Youth Division.

Though all bowling takes place on three-person teams within each division, teams will bowl together on that Saturday.

Youth bowlers will compete for college scholarship money so as not to endanger their amateur status.

Adult Competitive bowlers will compete as in a regular tournament with handicap determined by last season’s or the current season’s league average.

The Adult Amateur division sounds rather unique to me. It’s for teams with no bowlers who have an average from a league either this season or in the 2016-17 season. All bowling there will be scratch, without handicap.

Each team will bowl four games, moving to a different pair of lanes each game. Entry fee is $25 per person, with an optional $5 scratch singles available.

Organizers plan to award prizes to one in every three teams in each division.

Both Superior Lanes and River Rock Lanes in Ishpeming have flyers on this tournament. For more information, call Superior Lanes at 225-9230 or email SuperiorEntertainmentMQT@Gmail.com.

Going on now is the 13th annual Marquette County U.S. Bowling Congress Association tourney at River Rock. The second and final weekend will be Saturday and Sunday with shifts each day at 1 and 3:30 p.m.

For more info or to reserve a spot, call 869-3531 or email bowlmqtusbc@gmail.com.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal. net.