Bruce and Loretta Findlay have a recurring date on Fridays.
Every week, they go to Big Country Lanes, where they join other league bowlers in their league for a friendly match and companionship. As they bowl they chat about life, the news and their bowling game.
“As you get older you start looking for things to do and we look forward to coming out every Friday morning from 12 to 3 p.m. or however long it takes us to play three games,” Bruce, 72, said. “It’s mostly about visiting people and meeting new people. They’re all a good bunch here.”
The Findlays have been bowling at the lanes for the past decade. Loretta snuck into the seniors’ league at age 50 after she got in due to a misprint in the newspaper. She then encouraged Bruce to come out, and they have been pulling in friends and neighbours ever since.
Their league is geared to seniors, but anyone is welcome. The only requirement is that all participants be fully vaccinated.
“It’s seniors bowling but if someone can only come out on Friday morning to bowl and they’re only 40, so what? We don’t mind. The owners want people to fill the lanes and we want people to bowl with, so the more the merrier!” Bruce said.
Snowbirds Peter and Lois Nadin took the Findlays up on their invitation after they couldn’t go to Arizona due to the pandemic.
“It’s good. It’s an outing, particularly in the wintertime, when there’s not a lot to do,” Nadin, 86, said. “I’m not very good at it so the companionship is more important to me.”
Arlene Collins used to belong to a bowling league in 1980. She got back into after Loretta called her up. She said there’s something fun about throwing a ball to “get the damn pins down” that relieves stress.
“Loretta gave me a phone call and said ‘are you interested in joining the seniors league?’ and I was like ‘oh yeah, I guess I am a senior now. Sure I’ll join,’” Collins said. “It’s a fun league. We joke, laugh and have a good time. We’re not very competitive.”
The bowling alley also hosts a Tuesday night league at 7 p.m. and another seniors league on Thursdays.
Jamie Wilson, who suffered a brain injury in a vehicle crash, considers the bowling league “therapy of the best kind.”
He showed off his bright blue “Elvis” bowling shoes, which he bought from former owner Larry Richet.
“The shoes are good, it’s the arm that’s not so good,” Wilson said.
He and the others laugh when asked if they have any special technique, saying they just throw the ball and hope it knocks down all the pins..
Bruce said the perfect score is 450 and he’s lucky to have scored 320 once.
“It’s something that’s repetitious all the time so you’d think it would be easy after a while but it doesn’t seem to work that way.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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