Bowling league lets the good times roll
Posted on Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Head over to the Rogers Bowling Center on Monday and Thursday afternoons and you’ll likely have a hard time finding an open lane.
That’s because twice a week, shortly after noon, the Rogers Bowling Center begins to fill up with some truly experienced bowlers — some of whom have been picking up strikes and spares for a couple decades at the Rogers lanes.
When they arrive, greetings are exchanged, equipment is unpacked and small groups form. That’s when some pretty good competition begins as the Senior Blue Pin Bowling League gets underway.
Only a few of the senior bowlers remember when the league was formed back in the 1970 s. Many members have come and gone since then, but some have stayed.
John Stanesik started with the group in 1978.
“ It’s good exercise. It keeps you young, ” he said.
He remembers when the league had banquets, but now they just bowl twice a week.
“ It gets you out, ” he explained.
The oldest bowler on a recent Thursday was Aubrey Sheldon, 95. He plans to continue as long as he can, but he can’t really say why.
“ Ask God, he’ll tell you, ” Sheldon said. “ God only knows. ”
Trudy Casebolt, 92, has been with the league for 20 years.
“ I walked in here as a stranger 20 years ago, ” she said.
She comes in for the exercise and to see her friends, in spite of some serious eye problems. The vision problems come in handy as a good excuse if her game is off, she said.
The league isn’t sanctioned and isn’t competitive, scorekeeper Sue Jordan said. The only prize is when a red pin is knocked out of the center position with a strike. That wins the bowler a free game.
The randomly placed red pins used to be blue, she explained, which is why the league is called the Blue Pin League. League officials had to change the color of the pin when cameras were installed because blue didn’t show up, Jordan said. But no one ever changed the league’s name.
John Wydeveld has been rolling balls with the league since 1983. He likes meeting all of the other bowlers, most of whom are pretty nice, he said.
Once in a while, you meet a crabby one, but that’s life, he said.
The league has over 100 members, but not all of them bowl every time, Jordan said. There were 64 bowling on this Thursday — along with two members who couldn’t bowl because of injuries but who still came out to watch and enjoy the fellowship and camaraderie. There’s no minimum age requirement to join this league, but since they bowl twice a week during the day, the league attracts mostly retired people. A few bowlers work flexible schedules and can join in the day-time fun.
Tom Jones remembers when the league filled the entire Bowling Center each afternoon they met. He’s been with the group since 1982.
Jordan doesn’t bowl. She joined a league in 1964, but she only lasted a couple of weeks before her hip went out. She started keeping score for her husband’s league before score keeping became electronic. After her husband passed away, she stayed on as the bookkeeper for the Senior Blue Pin League.
“ I love every minute of it, ” she said. A retired bookkeeper, Jordan enjoys working with the numbers when she tracks all the members scores.
Helen Chastain is 92. She only bowls with the Blue Pin league in the summer when her sanctioned league is off. She enjoys the competition of the sanctioned leagues.
Chastain moved to Bella Vista in 1992 for the opportunity to play golf on that community’s many golf courses, but some friends asked her to fill in on their bowling team, and she just kept going back. She’s been bowling for 50 years.
Most of the members bowl with the same small group all the time, Jordan explained. They call in the morning and reserve their spot on a particular lane. If someone new wants to join, the center’s staff will assign them to a group that has an open spot. Some people like to move around between groups.
Not everyone comes to bowl every time, and when they don’t show up, Jordan worries about them.
Ted Caroll is usually there twice each week. His wife bowls with another league and people often ask him why he doesn’t bowl with her..
“ I tell them, ‘ We’re not twins, ’” he said.
Not everyone is opposed to bowling with their wives, Jordan said. In fact, a few of the couples met at the bowling alley and continue to bowl together as newlyweds.
Once a month, someone volunteers to bring a cake and the group celebrates birthdays for the previous month. The Bowling Center joins in the fun by awarding anyone celebrating a birthday one free game.
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