Joe (Giuseppe Donato) Emigrated from Pianopoli, Catanzaro, Italy to Schenectady, New York at age 5 years together with his mother.
Arrival date 29 July 1930 - steamship SS Vulcania
SCHENECTADY - For most Schenectady residents, Joe Donato was bowling's Joe DiMaggio.
Known as one of the city's greatest bowlers and ambassadors of the game, Donato helped put Schenectady on the bowling map
with the same kind of excellence on the lanes that DiMaggio exhibited on the baseball field for the New Donato
Date: May 24, 2004
Publication: Daily Gazette, The (Schenectady, NY)
Edition:Schenectady Albany; Final
Column: Length: 458 Words- Page: B-07
Schenectady -- Joseph A. Donato, 78, died on Saturday, surrounded by his loving family.
He was born on September 24, 1925, in Pianapoli, Calabria, Italy, the son of late Thomas and Catherine (Servidone) Donato. He came to Schenectady at the age of 5. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946, and was a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Mont Pleasant AC, Bowling Proprietors and Professional Bowlers Associations.
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Remember When...
Legendary Schenectady bowler Joe Donato appeared on TV Tournament Time 50 times, and he was the first. to roll a perfect 300 game. Donato was selected as a top-10 bowler in the United States in 1961 and one of the top 24 bowlers in the PBA in '62. He was the first bowler to make all 9 spares on Make That Spare, earning $4,200. It happened on April 28, 1962.
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Back in the 1950's Van Vranken Lanes was a big draw for young bowlers form the Goose Hill neighborhood who set their own pins and bowled for hours on end on those hot and sticky summer days. In 1954 Don Carter came to town to take on some of our local talent. Aces like Bob Consalvo, Don Mennillo, Cuby Fiorillo, Mike Verno, Ray Sabatini, and arguably the greatest of them all, , Joe Donato, who was named the County Bowler of the Year 7 consecutive years. Verno was the only local bowler to beat Carter, 193-159, and Donato took it on the chin twice, 190-158 and 246-164. They used old Coca Cola scoring sheets and recorded their scores by hand. Jack Scaccia Sr. and Tony Ferraro were the owners of the lanes at that time. There were 8 lanes with a bar upstairs. On a sad note, VV Lanes burned down on Christmas Day, 1964, damaging two adjacent businesses.
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