PINZ Bowling Center in Studio City, California was filled to capacity on November 13th with rock musicians, bowling enthusiasts and Dio fans for the annual Bowl For Ronnie Celebrity Bowling Party, benefiting the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. With sponsor lanes and spectator tickets officially sold out well in advance, the event brought in over $85,000 for the music industry cancer charity.
Broadcast personality Eddie Trunk, who is heard on SiriusXM’s 103 Faction Talk channel, hosted once again and bowled with his team of celebrity musicians comprising Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler; Brent Woods (Gene Simmons, Chevy Metal, Sebastian Bach); Shavarsh “Shavo” Odadjian of System of a Down, Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) and Rick Thomas of Truckee, California, who prevailed as the highest bidder in the charity’s eBay auction for a place on Eddie’s team. To view a list of all the celebrity bowlers, please click here.
The Board of Directors presented Dr. David Wong, whose team at the UCLA School of Dentistry has had the support of the Dio Cancer Fund for its research in the development of salivary biomarkers for gastric cancer detection since 2016, a check for an additional $25,000 toward his team’s research on a simple, non-invasive saliva swab test for early cancer detection.
Following an interlude of feverish, highly competitive bowling, the winning teams were presented with trophies by Wendy Dio and Eddie Trunk. The Dean Schachtel Award for the Highest Individual Score (199) went to Mike Knutson of the Pants Optional team.
The Steve Strange Award for the Highest Celebrity Score (179) was won by Stoney Curtis of Count’s 77, who played on the Rolling Bones team, with Brian Tichy and DJ Will right behind him with tied scores of 177 each.
The special King Of Rock & Roll Award, created to acknowledge above and beyond support for the Dio Cancer Fund, was presented to Barry Drinkwater and Benny Lindstrom of Global Merchandising Services.
Regina Banali, widow of Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali, announced the new Frankie Banali Award, to be given annually to a celebrity who has continually and generously supports the Dio Cancer Fund with their time and efforts. The inaugural award went to Dio drummer Simon Wright.
For more information, visit: diocancerfund.org.