Seacoast bowling alleys offer inexpensive entertainment for all ages

There are few sounds more satisfying than a 12-pound ball colliding with a set of wooden pins and scattering them off the floor and walls. The savory clatter echoes down the lane and through the entire alley, overlapping with the noise of other collisions and contributing to the general din of strikes, spares and gutters. The sonic texture is strangely soothing to the ear. It’s the sound of people setting aside their assorted quandaries and having fun despite it all. It’s the unmistakable sound of bowling.

The number of bowling alleys on the Seacoast has shrunk slightly in recent years, with Bowl USA vanishing from Newington more than a year ago. But other alleys in the area have adapted to the times, finding new ways to draw people to an age-old sport. Even with the economy in shambles, some alleys report that business has remained relatively steady, as people of all ages seek inexpensive forms of entertainment.

“Bowling’s been pretty resilient,” said Nicholas Genimatas, co-owner of Bowl-O-Rama on Lafayette Road in Portsmouth. Where else, he wondered aloud, can you find an elderly woman and her 4-year-old grandson actively engaging in a physical sport together? “It’s one of those things that everybody can do,” he said.

Bowling is not only a popular family activity. On any given night at the Dover Bowling Center on Central Avenue in Dover, throngs of teenagers and 20-somethings can be found whooping and showboating on the lanes. Young men and women exhibit varying techniques, some putting spin on the ball so that it skitters precariously along the edge of the gutter before arcing back toward the center pin, others going for a straight-on approach. Following a strike—that oh-so-fulfilling feat of tenpin bravado—even the most modest bowler can barely mask his pride as he turns around and heads back to his seat. It’s a moment of pure zen.

Dover Bowl is the only alley on the Seacoast that offers both candlepin and tenpin (commonly known as “big ball”) bowling. Bowl-O-Rama has 28 candlepin lanes, while Exeter Bowling Lanes has 12 candlepin lanes and Bowl-A-Mania in Newmarket has 10 candlepin lanes. Dover Bowl has 20 tenpin and 12 candlepin lanes.

The phenomenon of candlepin bowling is a unique attribute of northern New England. The sport was invented around 1880 in Worcester, Mass., by Vermont native Justin P. White, according to the “Encyclopedia of New England.” White’s protégé Jack Monsey standardized the rules in 1893. Candlepin balls are much smaller than the traditional tenpin balls, typically weighing less than three pounds. The pins are tall and narrow, and, unlike in tenpin, felled pins remain on the floor as “dead wood,” where subsequent rolls can ricochet off them and take out more pins. Candlepin bowlers also get three rolls instead of two. 

Candlepin bowling is both more challenging and, in some ways, more appealing than tenpin. It is much more difficult to get strikes and spares, resulting in lower scores, and no candlepin bowler on record has ever notched a perfect game. But the smaller, lighter balls are easier for children to handle, making it a more family-friendly activity.

According to the “Encyclopedia of New England,” candlepin spread throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and parts of Vermont in the 20th century. (It is not available in Rhode Island or Connecticut, where the alternate style of duckpin is more prevalent.) The “Bowl-Mor” pinsetter was invented in 1949, eliminating the manual labor of resetting the pins, and the sport’s popularity flourished. Boston’s Channel 5 began airing televised candlepin bowling shows in the late 1950s, including “Candlepins for Cash.”

Exeter Bowling Lanes originally opened in 1946, as candlepin bowling was beginning to pick up steam in the Northeast. Located on Columbus Avenue in Exeter, the lanes are housed in the same building as Shooter’s Pub, a sports bar with pool tables and dart boards. On a recent weekday during New Hampshire’s February school vacation, most lanes were occupied by families with young children.

“You see mostly families come in here,” said assistant manager Kaley Baxter. She said the economic downturn has not taken much of a toll on business at the lanes, especially during school break. “Lately, we’ve had quite a few people here. It doesn’t seem like we’ve been affected at all,” she said.

Brad Rice, of East Kingston, recently rolled a few games in Exeter with his two children, 3-year-old Griffin and 6-year-old Ashlyn. Griffin’s rolls trickled down the 60-foot lane at a slow but steady crawl, sometimes bouncing off the optional bumpers before nudging over the pins. His father’s rolls careened down the lane at a much faster rate, striking the pins with a sharp smack and sending them cartwheeling into the air.   

Rice agreed that bowling is an inexpensive way to entertain the kids. “They have a good time,” he said. “The kids definitely have to have bumpers.”

At Bowl-O-Rama, a laser lightshow with spinning spotlights and loud music greeted afternoon bowlers during school vacation. Scott Durand, of Portsmouth, recently brought his 10-year-old twins, Heather and Travis, to the lanes. He said they had considered going to a museum for the day but ultimately opted for something more physically active. He brings his kids to Bowl-O-Rama four or five times per year.

A New England native, Durand said he’s been candlepin bowling since he was a kid. He enjoys the sport’s unique New England flavor. “I’ve been to other parts of the country where you can’t find it,” he said.

A few lanes away, Kelly Ramsey, of Rochester, bowled with a pair of 6-year-old boys, Robby and Henry. Ramsey, who was caring for the boys as a nanny, said she often brings them to Bowl-O-Rama for a surefire day of entertainment. “We try to get down here at least a couple times a month,” she said. “It’s a lot less expensive than going to the movies.”

Ramsey has been bowling since she was younger than Robby and Henry, and she still prefers candlepin for the youngsters. “This is a great place to bring a kid,” she said. “Big balls are just too awkward for kids.”

Like many other bowling alleys, Bowl-O-Rama also offers a game room with arcades and a snack bar with food, soft drinks and beer. The eatery, called “Champ’s,” opened this winter after significant construction work. Co-owner Nicholas Genimatas said the alley will likely expand in the near future to include more entertainment options, perhaps adding miniature golf or laser tag in a back room.

Bowl-O-Rama originally opened in 1956. “My father Bill built it on Lafayette Road, essentially when there wasn’t much out here,” Genimatas said. “Back then, automated machinery had just come out for bowling centers.”

He and his sister Kathleen have operated the alley since 1978. Over the last 30 years, he said, they’ve discovered that continually evolving to keep people entertained is vital. “Bowling has to adapt, and a lot of places haven’t adapted,” he said. “The bottom line is, if you don’t adapt, if you don’t modernize, if you don’t have a clean, really modern facility, people don’t want to go.”

Genimatas travels the country visiting other bowling alleys and meeting with consultants about how to provide the best family entertainment. He recently visited an alley in Salt Lake City that included an indoor climbing wall and a wave pool for boogie boarding.

“The trend in bowling is really toward public bowling, open play and family entertainment,” he said. “The bowling is just a part of the package. Food and beverage has become a real big part of that package.”

Although Bowl-O-Rama still hosts morning and evening bowling leagues, he said league membership is down both locally and across the nation. But the number of recreational bowlers has remained fairly constant, even during the economic downturn. As a result, Genimatas is gearing his business mostly toward families who use the open lanes.

“Frankly, public bowling, birthday parties, corporate events, those kinds of things really account for about 80 percent of our business,” he said.

Last year, Genimatas decided not to renew a lease for Scoreboard Sports Lounge, the neighboring bar that had existed in the same building as Bowl-O-Rama since the late 1970s. New England Printing filled part of the old Scoreboard space in January, and Genimatas used the rest to open Champ’s and make room for future expansions.

Like other alleys, Bowl-O-Rama also offers special deals for thrifty bowlers. During New Hampshire school vacation through the last week of February, the alley offered two games with a large slice of pizza for $9.95.

Exeter Bowling Lanes, too, offered a vacation special of an hour of bowling and one large pizza for $29.95. Ordinarily, the cost is $3.50 per game plus $2 for shoes.

Dover Bowl, which normally charges about $3.95 per game plus $2.95 for shoes, offers $1 games after 9 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday. The alley also offers a number of “recession buster” value packs. Rock and Bowl events take place from 9 p.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights for a total price of $15.

Bowl-O-Rama also offers “cosmic bowling” on weekend evenings, providing a dance party atmosphere with music and multi-colored lights. Bowl-O-Rama, Exeter Bowling Lanes and Dover Bowl all include arcades, snack bars and deals for birthday parties.

The Seacoast bowling scene will undergo a symbolic change this spring, when Bowl-O-Rama’s large neon sign on Lafayette Road comes down. Genimatas said he wants to replace the sign, which currently features a gigantic neon bowling pin, with a more modern structure that includes a new logo and has space for other business names in the plaza. He and his staff will pose in front of the sign for a few final pictures before it comes down, probably in mid April. It will be a sad day for area bowlers, but will perhaps mark the dawn of a new era for Seacoast bowling

“We have mixed emotions, because the sign’s been there from the ’60s,” Genimatas said. “I don’t know if there’s a bigger bowling pin on the East Coast.”

f@*# it, Dude, let's go bowling 

Bowl-O-Rama, 599 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, 603-436-0504, www.bowlorama.com.
• 28 candlepin lanes
• includes an arcade and Champ’s eatery
• glow-in-the-dark “cosmic bowling” with music on weekends
• offers birthday parties and bumper bowling

Bowl-A-Mania, Route 108, Newmarket, 603-659-2329
• 10 candlepin lanes
• offers birthday parties
• attached to KJ’s Sports Bar

Dover Bowling Center, 887 Central Ave., Dover, 603-742-9632, www.doverbowl.com, www.myspace.com/doverbowl
• 20 tenpin lanes, 12 candlepin lanes
• includes an arcade, snack bar and alcohol bar
• “rock and bowl” on Friday and Saturday nights
• offers birthday parties and bumper bowling
• also includes Sharky’s Charity Poker Room

Exeter Bowling Lanes, 10 Columbus Ave., Exeter, 603-772-3856, www.shooterssportspub.com
• 12 candlepin lanes
• includes an arcade and snack bar
• offers birthday parties and bumper bowling
• attached to Shooter’s Pub