The only way to tell the players is with a scorecard.

Or, in the case of the 37 applicants for Cary’s vacant Town Council seat, with multiple scorecards.

The town required each candidate to provide a statement of interest and qualifications. The Cary News went through the statements and tallied some data to show the applicants’ similarities and differences. Not surprisingly, there’s quite a bit to learn from the statements and many ways to parse the information.

The information here comes from the statements and may not show if an applicant fits in one of these categories if it was not included in his or her statement. For the full text of the applications, visit the News section of www.carynews.com.

The post became available when Michael Joyce resigned July 19. The council has scheduled a work session for Tuesday to discuss filling the vacancy.

0 Cary natives

1 Accupuncturist

Lindsey Marie Seigel is a licensed accupuncturist. The former process engineer for Intel Corporation holds a master’s degree in traditional Oriental medicine from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and works with clients at Iatria Spa & Health Center.

1 Top-secret clearance holders

Well, only one who’s telling: Kelly Walton. Walton held a top secret clearance while working for Lockheed Martin in 1993 and 1994 and a secret clearance while working for SAIC from 1994 to 1995. Both companies are defense contractors.

1 U.S Boxing Team member

Zeke Bridges could make his gloves do the talking. The six-time Golden Glover was a member of the 1993 national team at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

2 Eagle Scouts

Bob Dascombe and Brent Miller reached the highest rank in the Boy Scouts. Dascombe earned his Eagle in 1978. His project involved painting several rooms in his church’s kindergarten area. In 1979 Miller led a group of scouts in establishing and marking a hiking trail at his school that connected to an existing hiking trail at a nearby state park and included building a footbridge over a creek on the trail.

2 Former council members

Jess Ward and Gil Lowery. Ward served as Cary council member for District A from 1997 to 2001. Ward lost a re-election bid in 2001 in a three-person race to current incumbent Jennifer Robinson. Lowery was a commissioner in Jonesville between 1969 and 1971 and was that town’s mayor from 1971 through 1973.

2 PH.D.s

Brenda Cleary and Drew Vinal earned doctor of philosophy degrees. Cleary earned her doctorate in nursing at the University of Texas. Vinal earned his doctorate in veterinary microbiology at N.C. State University.

3 Attorneys

Zeke Bridges, Cody Hand and Carmen Marzella have law degrees. Bridges earned his law degree from Campbell University in 2003 and is a solo practitioner in Cary. Hand earned his law degree from Texas Wesleyan University in 2003 and works for Sen. Phil Berger in the N.C. Senate as a research and legal analyst. Marzella earned his law degree from Seton Hall University in 1991 and spent several years in private practice as corporate in-house counsel. He now owns and manages several Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins stores.

3 Nurses

Brenda Cleary, Margaret Long and Helen Poole are registered nurses. Cleary is nurse administrator for the N.C. Center for Nursing. Long became a registered nurse in 1970 but has not practiced since 1973. Poole is executive director of external affairs for the Duke University School of Nursing.

4 Boys and Girls State

David Bench,Bob Dascombe, Brent Miller and Kelly Walton attended Boys or Girls State. Boys and Girls States are annual programs that provide opportunities to learn about government through mock participation sponsored by the American Legion in every state for rising high school seniors. Dascombe attended a N.C. Boys State in 1979 and was elected Lt. Governor. Walton attended Girls State in Virginia in 1985, where she was elected a party delegate and a city council member.

5 Budget reviewers

Matthew Danielson, Don Frantz, Don Hyatt, Vickie Maxwell and Brent Miller participated in the Citizens Budget Review process, organized by Michael Joyce in 2004 and 2005.

5 Business owners

Zeke Bridges, Tommy Byrd, Don Frantz, Carmen Marzella and Erv Portman vote for themselves. Bridges owns his own law practice, the Bridges Law Firm. Byrd owns Byrd Commercial Realty. Frantz owns Frantz Automotive. Marzella owns Cary Quick Serve Restaurants, L.L.C., which operates Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins stores. Portman owns Weststar Precision Inc., a contract manufacturer of precision devices.

5 Candidates for other offices

Darryl Black, David Bench, Michael Luther, Terry Thorne and Jess Ward have run for positions beyond the Cary Town Council. In 2002, Black ran against incumbent Jennifer Weiss for a seat in the N.C. House of Representatives. Bench has run for several offices in New York state, including the Common Council of Syracuse in 1969, Onondaga County legislator in 1971, State Assembly in 1976, Sheriff of Onondaga County in 1980, and nominee to fill vacancy on the Town of Clay Town Board in 1984. Luther ran for Wake County Board of Commissioners earlier this year but lost in the primary to incumbent Tony Gurley. Thorne ran for Mayor of Wilmington in 2001 and for New Hanover Board of Commissioners in 2002. Ward ran for Congress in 2000 against David Price.

5 Patent holders

Carol Aupperle, Don Hyatt, Brent Miller, Erv Portman and Drew Vinal. Miller holds six patents. He is one of three inventors of "Handheld computer which establishes an input device as master over the CPU when it is coupled to the system," U.S. Patent No. 5,878,276; one of three inventors of "Mobile client computer and power management architecture, U.S. Patent No. 5,905,900; one of four inventors of "Mobile client computer system with flash memory management utilizing a virtual address map and variable length data," U.S. Patent No. 5,943,692; one of five inventors of "System and method for implementing a universal service broker interchange mechanism," U.S. Patent No. 6,594,700; one of seven inventors of "Systems, methods and computer program products for dynamic placement of web content tailoring," U.S. Patent No. 6,654,814; and one of four inventors of "Method and system for protecting pervasive devices and servers from exchanging viruses," U.S. Patent No. 7,086,090. Hyatt holds four patents. He is one of six inventors of "Data processing method to provide a generalized link from a reference point in an on-line book to an arbitrary multimedia object which can be dynamically updated," U.S. Patent No. 5,367,621; one of eight inventors of "Method and system for organizing on-line books using collections," U.S. Patent No. 5,778,366; and one of eight inventors of "Method and system for organizing on-line books using bookcases," U.S. Patent No. 5,907,845; and one of four inventors of "Compiled structure for efficient operation of distributed hypertext," U.S. Patent No. 6,886,130. Aupperle is one of three inventors of “RFID-keyed mailbox, an RFID-based system and method for securing a mailbox,” U.S. patent No. 6,957,767. Vinal is one of two inventors of a “method of distinguishing invasive E. coli that cause septicemia,” U.S. patent No. 4,775,621. Portman holds a patent for "Methods and apparatus for removing sediment from a liquid using pulses of pressurized air," U.S. Patent No. 6,913,689.

5 The real(ty) world

Tommy Byrd, Matthew Danielson, Bob Dascombe, Charles Rankin and Jess Ward work in real estate. Byrd owns Byrd Commercial Properties. Danielson is land acquisition manager for Beazer Homes. Dascombe is senior vice president for Martin Properties and general manager of South Hills Shopping Center. Rankin is a commercial real estate broker with Grubb Properties. Ward is an unaffiliated real-estate broker.

5 Who work in RTP

Dick Domann, Don Hyatt, Brent Miller, Tony Rice and Ed Yerha work in Research Triangle Park. Domann is segment vice president of trade and pharmacy sales for GlaxoSmithKline. Hyatt is a senior software development manager for IBM. Miller is a senior technical staff member for IBM. Rice is a senior software engineer for Cisco Systems. Yerha is senior tax analyst for Lenovo.

6 Cary school of government alumni

Matthew Danielson, Don Frantz, Fiorella Horna-Guerra, Don Hyatt, Vickie Maxwell and Brent Miller have attended the town’s overview of its operations. According to the town’s Web site, the school “provides the community with an opportunity to learn how municipal government functions, what services are provided, and how citizens can become involved. Students get a behind-the-scenes look at town government structure, culture and decision-making.”

6 Government employees

Darryl Black, Brenda Cleary, Rosemarie Downie, Tom Hemrick, Fiorella Horna-Guerra and Chester Nedwidek are current or former government employees. Black works as a performance auditor for the State of North Carolina. Cleary is the nurse adminstrator for the N.C. Center for Nursing. Downie is a retired public information officer and liaison to state agencies for the Social Security Administration. Hemrick is retired from the N.C. Department of Administration. Horna-Guerra has worked as progam manager for community-based health initiatives for the Lee County Health Department and training coordinator for the Office of Healthy Carolinians within the Division of Public Health in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and is currently a program consultant for the N.C. Farmworker Health Program, Office of Rural Health and Community Care, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Nedwidek retired from the N.C. Department of Transportation as the assistant director of geographic systems unit.

7 Former council candidates

Darryl Black, Don Frantz, John Harvilla, Tom Hemrick, Don Hyatt, Terry Thorne and Ed Yerha have campaigned for a Cary Town Council seat. Black ran in an eight-person field in 2001 for the at-large seat now held by Julie Robison. Frantz ran in 2003 for the District B seat now held by Nels Roseland. Harvilla ran in 2005 for the District C seat now held by Jack Smith. Hemrick ran in 1991 in a six-person field for the District B seat won by Richard Burton. Hyatt has run twice, first in 1999 in a five-person race for the District D seat now held by Marla Dorrel and again in 2001 as part of the eight-person field for the at-large seat. Thorne ran in 1991 for the District B seat. Yerha ran in 2005 in a three-way race for the District A seat now held by Jennifer Robinson.

8 Military service

John Barbara, David Bench, Tom Hemrick, Buck Lawler, Gil Lowery, Chester Nedwidek, Terry Thorne and Jess Ward. Barbara served on active duty in the U.S. Army from 1983 to 1990 and currently serves in the U.S. Naval Reserve in the Naval Construction Maintenance Battalion, better known as the Seabees. Bench served in the U.S. Army National Guard from 1964 to 1970. Hemrick served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force from 1965 to 1985. Lawler served on active duty from 1973 to 1979 as a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Lowery served as a corpsman in the Navy and Marine Corps from 1954 to 1958. Nedwidek served in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. Thorne served in the Marine Corps from 1968 to 1970. Ward served in the U.S. Navy from 1969 to 1974.

9 Current and former members of town boards and commissions

Carol Aupperle, Matthew Danielson, Bob Dascombe, Don Hyatt, Don Frantz, Tom Hemrick, Lois Nixon, Erv Portman and Ed Yerha have sat or do sit on one of Cary’s advisory boards or commissions. Five of these nine either have served or are serving on Cary’s Planning and Zoning Board. Danielson and Frantz currently serve on the board. Hyatt served on it from 2001 to 2004, Portman from 2000 to 2005 and Yerha from 1998 to 2004, including four years as chair. Portman also served as the first chair of the Town Center Review Commission. Yerha currently sits on the town's Sister Cities Commission. Aupperle has served on the Public Arts Advisory Board since it was formed in 2003 and has chaired it for the last two years. Dascombe served on the Zoning Board of Adjustment from 1996 to 1998. Hemrick served two terms on the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Advisory Board from 1999 to 2005 and was reappointed earlier this year to fill an unexpired term. Nixon served on and chaired the Appearance Commission, the duties of which have been absorbed by the Planning and Zoning Board, in the 1980s.

9 Hot hits on The Cary News Web site

In the Top 100 hits on The Cary News Web site, Aug. 23-29: David Bench, Bob Dascombe, James Dixon, Rosemarie Downie, Don Frantz, Margaret Long, Vickie Maxwell, Chester Nedwidek and Tony Rice. Bench came in at No. 89, Dascombe at No. 82, Dixon at No. 72, Downie at No. 100, Frantz at No. 71, Long at No. 81, Maxwell at No. 86, Nedwidek at No. 91 and Rice at No. 99.