Strikes, Spares And Misses: Sports Scribe Laments Demise Of Bowling In The Rose City

By WAYNE REDSHAW

  At one time there were six. That number has now dwindled to one.  And come sometime in June, the number will read zero.

  The announcement earlier this week that Jeff’s Bowl-O-Rama, formerly known as Bowl-O-Rama Lanes on Niagara Street in Welland will be closing for good and demolished to make way for a commercial development brings back a lot of memories for me. I grew up in that area when the bowling establishment was constructed.

It wasn’t Niagara Street as it’s called today but Highway 58/3A. It wasn’t located in Welland back then but in the Township of Thorold when the late Mel Swartz was reeve.

I attended old Quaker Road Public School when it was a two-room facility to start, then expanded with extra classrooms complete with a gym. In those days, we didn’t have the luxury of a school bus picking and dropping us off each day. You walked no matter what the weather was. Most of the time my father drove my brother Reg and I to school in the mornings just in time for classes to begin but we walked home. Sometimes I would take a shortcut through the fields but when there was a foot of snow or more I walked the longer way home.

 That’s how I became familiar with Bowl-O-Rama Lanes and its progress as I remember it being constructed from the ground up. Just before Bowl-O-Rama was a Shell gas station on the north-east corner  of Quaker and the highway intersection while on the east-south was Nagy’s Confectionary, where now sits Boston Pizza. Next to Nagy’s was DeSmit Lumber.

On the opposite side of the corner sat Pine Croft Dairy now home to David Chev-Olds while on  the northwest side is where Harrison Motorways started and later moved down to build a bigger terminal as Harrison Motorways transport fleet increased in size

There were few other business establishments on Highway 58/3A in those days. Right across from Bowl-O-Rama was Gram Brothers Auto Collision & Repair while further down the road was my father’s store, Redshaw’s Hardware, while next door was Mallory’s Variety and Cabins which later became The Moulin Rouge Motel under new ownership. Then on the corner of Merritt Road, which was a mud sideroad in those days was Bill Wilson’s residence, Bill worked at Martin’s Dairy in the daytime but repaired cars in evenings, operating a mechanic shop out of his garage.

In those days, the highway was two lanes and there were no street lights. Today it’s four-lane and at the intersections of both Quaker Road and Merritt Road there are stoplights. Merritt is also paved hooking up to the 406 and is the main gateway to the western portion of Port Robinson.

/Joe Barkovich photos

So much for the history of Highway 58/3A and the businesses and back to bowling and Jeff’s Bowl-O-Rama closing. When I became a sportswriter at the Tribune back in 1962 bowling was one of my responsibilities. Being the new guy on the block, I had the task of putting together the weekly bowling report “Down the Alleys” from forms every bowling alley was provided with. The report featured high singles, triples and averages from each league and every fourth week I usually included their league standings. It was in six-point type (smaller print) but weekly reports varied in length from 15 to 25 inches depending on how many were submitted. But it included names and scores and that’s what people looked for in those days. They liked to read names that normally wouldn’t appear in print. Competitive or recreational, I did my best to provide coverage. It also helped, I must say, sell newspapers in those days.

 Back then, there were six bowling establishments in the Welland area with Bowl-O-Rama offering both five and 10 pins. And  Bowl-O-Rama expanded over the years offering more lanes. It was the biggest bowling business in the Rose City.

There were other bowling alleys here but on a smaller scale. They included Miller’s Lanes on Division Street which later became known as Eastside Lanes, Kingsway Lanes on Riverside Drive offering both five and 10-pins, Lincoln Lanes in the basement of the Lincoln Plaza on Lincoln Street with both five and 10-pin lanes offered. I remember when you walked down the stairway to enter Lincoln Lanes it offered a panoramic view of all the lanes.

There were two smaller bowling alleys in Welland in those days too. One was Audet’s Bowling Lanes at the corner of Duncan and Welland streets later known as Duncan Lanes. The other was Crowland Bowling Alley located on Seventh Street. Both were small establishments but at one time also offered duck pins.

Unfortunately, one by one the above mentioned establishments gradually closed or disappeared from the map leaving just Jeff’s Bowl-O-Rama. And in June, Jeff’s will no longer be around, it too will be history.

Frankly, I’m shocked, I can’t believe Welland may not have a bowling establishment for league  purposes, for recreational purposes and for bowlers of all ages.

Looking back, these local lanes helped play a role producing Canadian national champions, provincial champions and house league champions over the years.  And while everyone cannot emerge a champion, these establishments helped create many friendships and lasting memories.

(Wayne Redshaw has written about sports including bowling in Niagara for over 60 years. He can be reached at wredshaw@icloud.com).