By Charlie De Biase Jr. Staten Island Advance
The Robert Curatolo Bowl-a-thon included numerous family members of the hero firefighter, including, left to right, brothers Anthony Curatolo and John Curatolo, his father, Tony Curatolo and uncle, Chick Curatolo. Photo Charlie De Biase Jr.
Those who decided to bowl at the third annual Robert Curatolo Bowl-a-Thon last Saturday were under no pressure to perform on the lanes.
In fact, it didn’t matter if your first three rolls found nothing but gutter; or you failed to record a single spare or you weren’t even in the conversation for a turkey.
It just didn’t matter.
What did matter was everybody that attended once again had a good time and the fact that it was all for a good cause was the icing on the cake.
The proceeds from the event, which is held in honor of 9-11 hero firefighter Robert Curatolo, go to the Robert Curatolo Scholarship Fund. At the end of each school year, a senior softball or baseball player from a Staten Island high school with a parent that is or was a city firefighter or police officer or a Port Authority police officer is eligible for the scholarship.
The Robert Curatolo Scholarship Fund committee then selects a winner and a $5,000 scholarship is given to the registrar of the recipient’s school of choice.
The Bowl-a-Thon replaced the Robert Curatolo Golf Outing after 10 years and Saturday’s event drew the most participants since the switch to bowling.
“It was a very nice turn out … we’re very grateful for all the people that supported us Saturday at the Bowl-a-Thon, as well as the people who couldn’t make it and sent a donation,” said John Curatolo, Robert’s brother, who along with wife Kathleen Curatolo and sister Linny Piccirillo, greeted the bowlers and non-bowlers as they entered Showplace. “We rolled the dice for a long time with the golf outing and never got rain. That’s luck.
“The bowling has been a nice change of pace. Hopefully we get even more people to come next year.”
In addition to John and Kathleen Curatolo and Piccirillo, family members to attend [sic] included, but was not limited to, Anthony Curatolo and Dena Nelson, two more of Robert Curatolo’s siblings, as well as his dad, Tony Curatolo and uncle, Chick Curatolo.
Many of Robert Curatolo’s nephews and nieces were in attendance, as was brother-in-laws Rudy Piccirillo and Eddie Joseph.
Naturally, a number of the Curatolo family friends were in attendance, some of which brought their children. Included among the friends were Greg De Biase, Sue Shepherd, Joe Perrotta, Michelle Devlin, Danny Keane, Patty Mulligan, Charlie Donohue and Jimmy Murphy, just to name a few.
The participants feasted on pizza and 6-foot heroes and former Curtis basket-ball player Shannon McGill won the 50-50, a whopping $680.
John Curatolo was thankful of the service provided by Showplace.
“Showplace has been very good to us and we appreciate it,” he said. “They know we’re raising money and they’ve been very fair.”
Those who weren’t able to attend, but still would like to make a donation to the Robert Curatolo Scholarship Fund may do so by mailing a check to: John Curatolo, 228 Elizabeth Street, S.I., N.Y., 10310.
