HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 271 Offered January 23, 2008 Celebrating the life of Thomas E. Bowling, Jr. ---------- Patron-- Bowling ----------

WHEREAS, Thomas E. Bowling, Jr., a beloved citizen of Tazewell and respected community benefactor, died on October 28, 2007; and

WHEREAS, Thomas “June” Bowling was born January 28, 1921, in Tazewell, the son of the late Thomas E. Bowling, Sr., and Sophia Clara O’Brien Bowling, and the devoted brother of three brothers, the late Mack, George, and James Bowling, and six sisters, Sylvia, Martha, and the late Sally, Beatrice, Virginia, and Sue Ann; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Bowling married Nelle Grace Jones and the couple shared a long and happy marriage and lived in Tazewell all of their life; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Bowling was the owner and operator of the Frog Level Service Station, which was also popularly known as the Frog Level Yacht Club, the last licensed tavern in Virginia where on-premises beer consumption is legal despite the total absence of a kitchen; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Bowling’s father opened the Frog Level Service Station in 1932 during the Great Depression and applied for a beer license when Prohibition was repealed in 1933; when T. E. Sr. died, the service station was passed on to his son, who stopped selling gasoline around 1996 to operate the establishment exclusively as a tavern, serving lots of liquid refreshment and selling an abundance of Frog Level T-shirts, the purchase of which instantly entitles you to membership in the Frog Level Yacht Club; and

WHEREAS, over the years, visitors and passersby in Frog Level have sought out the legendary bar and have enjoyed the camaraderie of the locals and the unassuming demeanor and warm hospitality of the tavern’s likable and greatly admired proprietor; and

WHEREAS, always willing to lend a helping hand to his neighbors in need, Thomas Bowling was a faithful member of the Tazewell Baptist Church and was active in the church's many missions in the community; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Bowling was a longtime member of the Tazewell Masonic Lodge No. 62 AF&AM, a life member of the National Rifle Association, and one of the founders of the Witten Fort Longrifles; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Bowling will be fondly remembered for his great loyalty to friends and love of his family and his Town of Frog Level and greatly missed by his daughter Clara Mae Perkins and her husband Jim; his three grandchildren and three great grandchildren; his numerous other family members; and the regular members and countless visitors to the Frog Level Yacht Club; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly note with great sadness the loss of a fine community supporter and outstanding Virginian, Thomas E. Bowling, Jr.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Thomas E. Bowling, Jr., as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.