AUBURN - To say that Dennis O'Donnell is dedicated to bowling may be a bit of an understatement.

The president of the Auburn USBC, who grew up bowling with his sister Anne and brother Kevin, was very influenced by his father.

“My whole family bowls,” O'Donnell said. “From the time I was growing up my father was the secretary for New York State deaf bowling and my brother Kevin is taking over his position. Growing up we were always involved in bowling, and it is something I have always enjoyed and loved to be a part of.”

Throughout his career on the lanes, O'Donnell has wracked up numerous 300 games and 800 series and earned a second-place finish in The Citizen Masters and along the way he has seen similar success come to his wife, Diane, and his daughter, Rebecca, which has brought an incredible amount of pride to O'Donnell.

Along with being a member of at least two leagues in any given season, O'Donnell has been working behind the scenes on the Auburn USBC board for 15 years.

“I just wanted to get more involved,” O'Donnell said. “And this was something I felt like I could do to give the bowlers more voice in what goes on in the association.”

This season, O'Donnell thought it was time to take the next step and through his hat into the ring for the association presidency.

“I felt that we needed a change in management,” O'Donnell said. “So I thought that I should run and see what I could do to help the bowlers out and get them more involved and offer more to the bowlers.”

Over the course of the season, the board and the membership have been working in closer conjunction than in previous seasons.

“I wanted to get the bowlers more involved and make the board more accountable,” O'Donnell said. “We want to get more input from the bowlers and hear what they want and what we can do to make things better for them.”

These efforts have included opening board meetings to anyone in the association, which has made the meetings a more open and public forum for bowlers to express concerns and ideas.

The board has also created an association Web site for updates and information.

“We have got really good feedback on this,” O'Donnell said. “Everyone seems to like the way things are going.”

In an effort to further expand on options available to bowlers, O'Donnell has helped initiate a sports bowling league.

“That is something new this year,” O'Donnell said. “We want to keep getting more and making things bigger. We want to have a longer season with more bowlers and more for them to do next year.”

This year will also see the first bowling and golf tournament, which he plans to turn into an annual event, scheduled for May.

“People have been saying we should do something like this for years,” O'Donnell said. “It will be two-person teams, men and women and it will combine best ball and scramble golf.”

O'Donnell has also seen a changing climate in the bowling community, as the men's association and the women's have started to combine efforts and work more closely.

“One day I think we will be a merged organization,” O'Donnell said. “But we are working more closely together now than we ever have before. This gives every bowler the right to express an opinion and have a voice in what goes on in the association.”

O'Donnell said he would be honored to carry on serving the association as president again next year.

“My biggest goal has been to give the bowlers a voice,” O'Donnell said. “And if they want to elect me to do that job again next year, then I will. And even if they don't I will still be there giving the bowlers a voice.”