AMESBURY — After a few years away from the pinnacle of success, the Amesbury Fire Department reasserted its dominance at Thursday’s 13th annual Sgt. Jordan M. Shay Memorial Bowling Tournament, taking home both first and second place.
But at least for Fire Chief Jim Nolan, the bowling scores were nowhere near as important as the funds raised to support a memorial foundation set up in Shay’s name.
The foundation was established to honor the last wishes of Shay, a 2005 graduate of Amesbury High School and a member of the U.S. Army killed in Iraq during his second deployment in 2009.
“We raise a lot of money and it goes to veterans, AEFI and other educational stuff, so it’s just a great time,” Nolan said, referring to the Amesbury Education Foundation Inc.
Nolan serves on AEFI’s board of directors.
Indeed, a lot of money was raised, over $33,000, according to the Shay Foundation president and Jordan’s mother, Holly Shay.
“It turned out excellent, we were thrilled,” Shay said.
While pins began dropping at 5 p.m., Gametime Lanes and Entertainment was nearly filled to brim by 4:30 p.m. Each team had its own table at a lane with balloons set up. A total of 36 teams bowled on the night, with nearly 200 bowlers signed up.
There were so many teams that due to timing constraints, four teams held their own mini tournament, according to Shay.
“All the teams couldn’t do one of each. So we had four teams who did just 10 pins,” Shay said. “The New Old Oak Bada Bings won the 10 pin.”
Beer flowed freely while teams mingled in the lead up to the first throws, with many families in attendance.
Unlike the year prior, folks held off on costumes. But that did nothing to dampen the overall party atmosphere of the evening.
Festivities kicked off with some surprises, including a performance from Todd Angilly, who sings the national anthem before every home Boston Bruins game.
“It’s an extreme honor. All of these events in the community, whether it’s singing the anthem for the Bruins, or whatever it is, this is really what I look forward to and take pride in is being there in the community,” said Angilly, who is running for Essex County clerk of courts.
Another surprise came in the form of a $5,000 grant presented to local business owners Zach and Sacha Field for their recently launched nonprofit, the Zach Field Drums and Music Foundation.
“Its purpose it to give scholarships for music lessons, instruments, bringing music into schools for any kids in need,” Zach Field explained.
He shared what it meant to receive such support from another nonprofit.
“It’s unbelievable. They’ve been around for a long time, very well established, and we’re brand new. This organization is unbelievable,” Zach Field said.
Bowling in the event for the Amesbury Chamber of Commerce for the first time, Sacha Field said it will now be an event she looks forward to every year.
“We will be regulars for sure going forward. We walked in the door and said this is awesome. We couldn’t believe how many people were here from the get go,” Sacha Field said.
Among the teams competing for the first time were Newburyport Fire Department. Newburyport firefighter Bob Adams said he was looking forward to friendly competition with the Amesbury Fire Department bowling a lane over from them.
“Just here have fun and to support a great cause,” Adams said.
Shay said it was an honor to see how much support the foundation continues to receive from the community.
“To see Jordan’s legacy continue the way that it has through these grants and scholarships and so forth, that keeps me going,” Shay said.
Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.