Last season, Hackett and his staff played host to both a new women's as well as a new men's scratch tournament. His second Snowball No-Tap Tournament drew record numbers and the downtown facility continued to hold both the city and state Elks Tournament.

"This season we are hosting a regional tournament called the Great Hurrah," said Hackett. "The Heritage is a co-sponsor and we have invited eight states and two Canadian provinces.

"This tournament is for Elks and their ladies."

The tournament will run Oct. 1 through Nov. 7 and not only have weekend shifts, but also shifts on Fridays and Mondays.

Following the Great Hurrah, the Fall Invitational Ladies Classic will be Nov. 20-21 and the Marty Vigen Memorial Open will be held Feb. 19-20, 2005.

Hackett said because of the regional tournament the Elks will not be able to hold the Montana State Elks Tournament, which will be moved to Deer Lodge.

Hackett and Kay Kinzinger also lent a sponsorship for the Ladies Traveling Club, which becomes the Montana Mountain Glass Ladies Traveling Club.

"There is already $650 in added money for the finals," said Hackett, which the Elks will host next March.

The first stop for the club will be Sept. 19 in Whitefish followed by stops in Missoula, Oct. 17; Helena, Nov. 14; Dillon, Dec. 12; Butte, Jan. 9 and Bozeman, Feb. 13. The finals will be March 13.

"We have other things in the works," said Hackett.

If you're interested in bowling in a league this season, there are plenty of openings.

The Business House League, Wednesday's at Littles, is looking for a team or individuals who would like to join.

According to secretary Pat Terry, the league, which up til last year had 14 teams, is down to eight.

"We have two or three bowlers looking to form another team," said Terry.

Phone Little's at 452-4116 if interested in bowling in the Business House League.

Also, the Elks have formed a Thursday night Ladies Trio League, which is set to start Thursday night, Sept. 9, at 6:45 p.m. The league is looking for bowlers. Phone the Elks, 454-1305, for more information.

If you would like to bowl phone any of the city's houses and check it out.

Many houses will go out of their way to find a league and a night for you to bowl.

Catching up on some summer bowling activities.

The team of Don White, Barb Lankford, Bruce Steffani, Rich Crawford and Kelly Gilligan claimed Little's annual Bowlf Tournament, held in July.

The fivesome won the 18-hole golf scramble and finished third in the bowling, which was a nine-game Baker format. They scored 26 points to beat the team of Mike Carrette, Bernie Dickman Jr., Ross Bartell, Jim Dillon and Tammy Meredith who finished fourth in the golf and first in the bowling for 25 points.

The first-place team won $500. Second was $400.

Amanda Steffani finished a disappointing 211th out of 332 and missed the cut at the 2004 Junior Gold Bowling Championships held in July at the Don Carter Bowl in Dallas.

Steffani totaled 2,980 over the 18 games to average 165.5.

It may have been unsanctioned, but Pat Terry finally broke the 300 jinx, putting all 12 together last month in an outing at Little's.

Terry said the next one will be sanctioned.

Because of the Labor Day holiday, last week's scores will appear in Wednesday's edition of the Tribune.

Curt Backa, a Tribune sports and news copy editor and sometime columnist, pens a weekly bowling column during the season. Backa, whose next 300 will also be sanctioned, can be reached at 791-6569, (800) 438-6600 or e-mailed at cbacka@greatfal.gannett.com