For about three decades, Coop’s Mixed League has bowled under various names at the B’ville Sports Bowl. Now, the league is giving back to the community in honor of its namesake, Bill Cooper.
Coop’s Mixed League has begun holding “donation nights” for local charities. Just before Thanksgiving, the league donated 104 pounds of food to the Food Bank of Central New York.
“The generosity of this league is amazing,” said Jennifer Bertollini, a member of the league’s season-end banquet committee who coordinates the donation nights. Bertollini and several of her family members are longtime members of Coops Mixed League.
Bill Cooper, known by the nickname “Coop,” was an avid bowler who passed away in 2012. Bertollini said Cooper bowled in the league that now bears his name for years; when he became too ill to bowl, he’d still come to cheer on his teammates.
“He would be everybody’s number one supporter,” Bertollini said.
Since Cooper’s passing, the league has held a handful of donation nights each season. Last year, they collected 77 pounds of food for the Food Bank and shipped three boxes of donated items to local soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. Later this month, the league will be collecting donations for the CNY SPCA.
Bertollini’s sister and fellow bowler, Mary Peterson, said the donation nights are a “good tribute” to a “good guy.”
“I was very impressed when we started this giving thing, how it took off,” Peterson said. “Giving doesn’t have to be done just at your church.”
Bertollini said the league’s donation nights are about combining entertainment and generosity.
“It’s getting people closer … and seeing what we’re capable of doing and having a good time,” she said.
Deb Sidon, co-owner of the B’ville Sports Bowl, said Coop’s Mixed League is one of the bowling alley’s longest-running leagues. She’s bowled in it herself for 25 years.
“It’s given a little more reason, a little more thought for other people rather than just us,” she said of the league’s donation nights.
The league makes the game a little more competitive by awarding points to bowlers who bring items to donation nights and complete mini-games based on the season’s “theme.” This year’s theme is “Family Feud,” so bowlers are taking part in “Survey Says” questions for prizes at the end-of-the-year banquet in the spring.
“We just want to make it fun,” said Bertollini. “We are seriously one big, happy family.”
To learn more about Coop’s Mixed League, search for “Coop’s Mixed League Fun” on Facebook.
