Log in Subscribe

Where did our bowling lanes go?

Ed Townsend - Columnist
Posted 1/7/21

There are presently two active bowling establishments in Sullivan County, Kiamesha Lanes and Beechwood Lanes.

Two bowling establishments, Liberty Bowl and Callicoon Kristal Bowl stopped bowling …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Where did our bowling lanes go?

Posted

There are presently two active bowling establishments in Sullivan County, Kiamesha Lanes and Beechwood Lanes.

Two bowling establishments, Liberty Bowl and Callicoon Kristal Bowl stopped bowling several years ago. Liberty Bowl ceased bowling and the facility no longer exists. Kristal Bowl in Callicoon closed its doors to leagues and shut down their business.

Kiamesha Lanes, over the past several years, saw the Wednesday Men's league fold, and several of the teams went to either the Monday Men's or the Tuesday Mixed Firefighters league.

The Friday Mixed league also saw a decline in bowlers' and there are also no Mixed Leagues on Saturday or Sunday.

What has happened to the days when the former Liberty Lanes and Kiamesha Lanes had double shifts Monday through Thursday and mixed leagues on the weekends.

I think if you asked bowlers why they bowled leagues, some of their answers would be to win the league and make a profit, and by profit they mean cover their costs of lineage and prize fund paid during the league year.

Now, as we all know, lineage has probably doubled and tripled over the past 20 years and league fees and prize funds have not.

So in previous decades, you had a $15 league where $5 went to lineage and $10 went to the prize fund. Well in today's prices, that same league probably pays close to $10 in lineage. So the league fees would need to jump to $20 a week just to be at the same level as they were in the previous decade.

So maybe you are paying more per week now and getting back the exact same prize fund you did years ago so this tends to be the fact that less bowlers are being profitable. More bowlers are losing money and eventually quitting.

Money leagues have all gone away as it is harder to make a profit thus the bowler loses interest.

The heyday for bowling was back in the 1950's through the 1970's when Sullivan County saw bowling lanes in Hortonvillle, Lake Huntington, Callicooon Center, Callicoon, two in Jeffersonville, Monticello and Liberty.

The new Bowling lanes of today offer more than just bowling. The new centers have dart leagues, horseshoe leagues, golf leagues and fancy restaurants.

Next week we will talk more about what's new in the 2021 bowling establishments.

Ed's Outlook

The popular Scranton PA. No-Tap Team and Doubles bowling tournament will resume this year at the Idle Hours South Bowling Center located at 125 Beech Street.

The 2019 No-Tap Tournament paid out $87,625 and the Mega Series Jackpots paid out $10,265.

Top prizes in the team event is 1st prize of $5,000 and 2nd prize of $2,500. In the Doubles event 1st prize is $2,000.

Tournament dates run from April 15 through May 16, 2021.

Entry fees are $160 per team and in the doubles the fee is $64 per team, $32 per bowler.

The 2021 entry form is available for download on the internet.

Idle Hours South's phone number is 570-961-5213.Their email address is ssbnotap@idlehoursentertainment.com

Bowling Tip

By Mike Luongo

Bowling a curve ball or hook is one of the most effective ways to consistently bowl strikes.

Curve balls can be tricky to learn, however, and require lots of practice. You should start out with a lighter ball than you would normally use to get the feeling of curving the ball.

A bowling pro shop can even equip you with a special practice ball for this particular bowling technique.

Let's get started with the how to's of hook bowling.

When you start your approach, as usual you want to bring the ball back into swing position and keep your palm somewhat behind the ball. At the bottom of your swing you will want to release the ball and let it roll off your thumb first.

This allows the ball to roll from the fingers and have more curve power. As the ball rolls from the fingers the hand motion should be upwards to roll rather then glide the ball on the lane.

For this type of technique you must have a well fit ball that the thumb hole is not too tight.

Concentrate on getting your thumb out of the ball first and lifting with your fingers up the side of the ball. Do not try to generate a curve with your wrist by coming over top of the ball.

Lift straight up the sides. The motions that this requires may feel awkward at first and as long as you use a ball that is not too heavy you can control the amount of curve you get.

Learning to bowl hook balls can be a large investment time wise in practice, but this investment will be repaid in full when your average score improves greatly.

Mike Luongo is a Certified IBPSIA Pro Shop Operator, Master Instructor, USBC Silver Level Coach and an Advisor-Special Events Assistant with the Storm and Roto Grip Bowling Ball Company. Have a question, email him at mike.luongo@stormbowling.com.

LOCAL SCORES

KIAMESHA LANES

Monday Men's

Eddie Blume 224, Kyle Matthews 222, 604, Paul Minton 247, 233, 664, Bob Feeney Sr. 244, 574, Dan Ricco 269, 660, William Schubert 255, 643, Russell Bivins 239, 646, Bobby Patel 232, 611, Charlie Tuttle 235, 241, 256, 732, Vinny Collura 267, 252, 220 739, Pedro Agapito III a 279, 688, Nate Goldsmith 224, 612, Bill VanAken 216, 606, Dan VanAken 265, 678, Tom Belgiovene 258, 245, 694, Jaryl Scott 228, 645, Kevin Stackhouse 227, 653.

Tues. Mixed Firefighters

Tom Belgiovene 221, Kyle Giordano 265, 259, 741, Trasey Barres 176, Jonathan Wilhelm 237, Jon Wilhelm 232, 607, Shane Cunningham 223, 215, 631, Jack Rustic 211, Will Bruce 213, Wendy Swan 167, Debbie Saunderson 168, James VanAken 216, Dave Graham 228, 248, 699, Jaclyn KImmes 164, 192, Kevin Stackhouse 234, 233, 669, Nate Goldsmith 255, 671, Kathy Bradley 169, Connie Beach 188, Karen Martin 180, 174, 515, William Schubert 225.

Friday Mixed

Esther Barber 198, Lisa Cartwright 196, Mikayla DeGraw 171, Nicole Feller 179, Anne Kaplan 168, Michele Macedonio 214, 518, Victoria Sawall 177, Charlie Tuttle 242, 237, 685, Bill Schubert 257, 650, Keith Smith 236, 237, 683, Kevin Stackhouse 226, 631, Pedro Agapito 243, 229, 239, 711, Shane Cunningham 263, 640, Harry Dennis III a 225, 607, David Graham 274, 671, Philip Norris 221, 241, 627, Jason Rogers 233, 217, 644.

FOX BOWLING CENTER

Wednesday Independent

Andrew Bullis 225, 604, Mike Dufton 256, 617, Bill Gleim 259, 236, 676, Pete Green 214, 222, 611, Jack Hazen 227, 213, 627, Mitch Persbacker 244, 624, Aaron Phillips 205, 604, Jason Scofield 224, 640, Tim Smith 225, Scott Wahl 236, Roger Widmann 235, 236,, 643, Zuke Wormuth 237, 212, 254, 703, Jay Wormuth 238.

Saturday Morning Youth Mixed

Landon Fuller 152, 123, 144, 419, Ashbee Gately 102, 104, Olivia Johnston 111, 134, 157, 402, Livian Robinson 107, Carter Wormuth 120, 111, 143, 374, Cooper Wormuth 124, 117, 190, 431.

Sunday Mixed Fun

Landyn Fuller (youth) 158, 111, 109, Donnie Marino 223, 595, Rick Mills 236, 613, Gabe Rynearson (youth) 166, 187, 193, 546, Fred Shakelton 236, Paul Siegler 563.

Ed Townsend is a Public Relations Consultant to the sport of bowling and brings over 60 plus years of sports journalism experience writing and compiling the information for this column. If you have league or tournament information, bowl a 300 game or 800 series, let Ed know at 845-439-8177, email at bght75@gmail.com or fax to 845-205-4474. View this column and Ed's photos at https://bght.blogspot.com We are also on Facebook and Twitter.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here