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On behalf of the 2008 Sunshine Invitational Tournament Committee, Welcome to the radiant sunshine of “THE CITY BEAUTIFUL”-Orlando. For those of you making a return to our tournament, thank you for your continued support. For you first timers, we sincerely hope that your experience in our city will keep you coming back year after year. We have an abundance of exciting news to tell you about.

We’re proud to tell you that our host lane for this year will be our new house where OBBA and GLBL, our local Leagues all bowl on Tuesday and Saturday evenings, Colonial Lanes, located near Colonial Dr. (HWY 50) and Bumby Ave. is a 32 lanes house. This year we will have double shift to choose from with our max at 240 bowlers. Colonial Lanes will host all events with shift 1 on Friday night/Saturday evening and Shift 2 on Saturday morning/Sunday morning to choose from. In addition, our optional Scratch Master Event will be on Sunday immediately upon completion of the team event Sunday morning.

Our Host Hotel this year will be the MARRIOTT DOWNTOWN ORLANDO HOTEL Experience the energy and excitement of America s most popular destination from our distinctive downtown Orlando hotel accommodations located in the heart of the city, directly across from the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center and the Amway Arena. This hotel is nonsmoking. We will also have Registration this year at the host hotel starting on Friday, May 2, 2008 from 12PM to 9:30PM and at Colonial Lanes from 4 pm to 6:30 pm. Supported by our generous tournament sponsors, We will be hosting an open hospitality suite for all bowlers at the hotel on Friday and Saturday night. Additionally, a women’s hospitality will be open at the hotel.

We have many optional events for you to consider again this year: Mega Brackets, Scratch/Handicap Brackets, Dream Team, Mega raffle, 50/50 Raffles and Optional Scratch Divisions, Scratch Master, Pedro Piñata. Pedro was kidnapped at last year’s tournament, only recently being freed at the Tampa GAGME tournament, and he has now run amok in our tournament program. Be sure to enter the Where’s Pedro contest for a chance to win $100. Sign up for all optional events they will be available at the host hotel during Registration and at the lanes.

Once again our charity this year will be The Russell Home for Atypical Children in South Orlando it’s been in continuous operation for over 50 years without any government support. The Russell Home is the only private, non-profit facility of its kind for severely handicapped children in Central Florida. If you like you can visit their web site at www.russellhome.org our other Charity will be St. Francis House which has provided shelter and needs for men who are homeless. They provide low cost housing to assist people who have neither home nor shelter. They are especially receptive to HIV + men. They have been helping men in the Orlando community for over 20 years.

Our banquet will be held at the Marriott Downtown Orlando Hotel. We will have top notch accommodations for our Award banquet in which we are guaranteeing $ 500.00 for first place singles, doubles, teams and all events. We are pleased to announce that our banquet will have a cash bar open throughout the evening. Our committee is working hard to have the largest prize fund ever offered for a Sunshine Invitational Tournament and sell out at 240 bowlers.

Many of us have formed lifelong friendships through the International Gay Bowling Organization (IGBO) and with each tournament come the opportunity to renew old friendships and establish new ones. This is truly what the spirit of IGBO is all about. Again, the members of the Sunshine Invitational Tournament Committee wish you the best of luck in our Tournament and a great weekend in Orlando. If you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to make your stay in Orlando more enjoyable, please let us know. “HAPPY BOWLING”

Sincerely,

James Cardinal-Co Director Scott Stiff-Co-Director David Chestnut-Co-Director