Meet ice bowling ball candidates Marlene Schneider and Paula LeGrande

The competition is heating up for the candidates of the ice bowling as is evidenced by this stare down between Tom O’Connor and Marlene Schneider.

In advance of Friday’s Skate-a-thon for Parkinson’s Human Ice Bowling contest, we get to know two more bowling ball candidates — Marlene Schneider and Paula LeGrande.

Schneider: The healthy choice is a donation to Marlene

Marlene Schneider of the UNMC Faculty Employee Assistance Program loves that the Skate-a-thon raises money for Parkinson’s research. But she also loves that it’s an event that brings the campus together.

Marlene Schneider

In fact, it’s in her role as a counselor that she’s offered to serve as a human bowling ball. It’s … therapeutic.

“There’s so much stress on this campus,” she said. “If this event can offer some form of levity …”

She noted that “EAP is always there.” And if you need EAP to knock down some bowling pins, so be it!

“I help people make good choices,” she said. “That’s part of what we do here. And the only healthy choice is to donate to Marlene.”

LeGrande equipped to smash the pins

Paula LeGrande, manager of environmental services, is hard at work getting in shape in her quest to become a human bowling ball. Right?

Paula LeGrande

“Oh, no, no, no!” she said. “I’m trying to pack on some extra pounds so it won’t hurt so much.”

LeGrande’s in talks to borrow a friend’s football pads. “I’ll be wearing my Husker gear,” she said. And she’s not talking about a grey, Bo Pelini-style sweatshirt.

“I may have to invest in one of those little blow-up things the kids have at the pool, too,” she said.