Elks bowling season setting up its pins

The local Elks Lodge bowling season is about to start, with mixed league play beginning Sunday.

Bowling has been a longtime tradition at the club, with its two lanes predating the big Main Street fire of 1952. The lane continued to update with the times, getting its first mechanical pinsetter during the 1960s.

“Prior to that, they had kids back there setting pins,” League secretary Bob Robbins pointed out.

The current setting

equipment was installed about three decades ago, and takes a bit of work to keep running smoothly. Robbins said its last major repair took place

over the summer, repairing its backend motor. The search for new parts was a bit of a process, and Robbins said after several months the right ones turned up with a company in New York. From here on the island, the need for replacement parts often ends up leading searches to bowling yards across the country.

The bowling lane is a big draw for membership at the Elks, and the league gives people an opportunity to get some recreation in during the fall and winter.

Robbins explained the

season lasts 21 weeks, with leagues set up for men, women and mixed teams. A total

of 21 teams are so far signed up to play, with six in the

women’s league, eight

in the mixed, and seven for men.

Games occur weekly

during the evenings, with the men’s teams meeting Mondays and Tuesdays, the

women’s Thursdays and Fridays, and mixed matches Sundays. Nonleague bowlers can play too, with lanes typically open Wednesdays and Saturdays.

By the end of the season, awards go out for the

teams in each of the three leagues for high game, high series and high average. Bowling with the club now for 27 years, Robbins has accumulated a number of these on the wall of his office.

Robbins said the

men’s league could still use an additional team, if there is an interest. The league is open to Elks members, and participating teams are encouraged to find themselves

sponsors to pick up the $100 league fee.

“Typically everyone right now is sponsored by a local business,” Robbins said.

The league also has spots open for people interested in signing up as substitute bowlers. Speak with a bartender or with Robbins for details.