Beating the Odds

Details: Created on Tuesday, 03 May 2016 15:28; Written by Taylor Fuller

ST. JOHNSBURY- You may remember as a kid going out to your local bowling alley either for a league night or just for a fun night with friends. Even though over the years many bowling alleys have closed, the St. Johnsbury bowling alley continues to beat the odds.

The concept of bowling had been around for centuries but it wasn't until 1840 that the first indoor ally was made. On January 1st, 1840 Knickerbocker Alleys in New York City opened its doors, as a nine pin bowling alley. The game would have to change though in order to stay legal. States like Massachusetts and Connecticut actually banned nine pin bowling because of gambling issues. To stay above the law many added a 10th pin to stay out of trouble. By the end of the century there were over 200 bowling centers in the country. If we fast forward to the early 1960's bowling had become one of the most popular recreational as well as competitive sports.There were over 12,000 allies across the United states, among some of the new centers was Gold Crown Lanes in St. Johnsbury. Bowling would have a rather short life span. Those 12,000 alleys slowly started to shut down until there was only around 5,400 left, in 1998. The trend continued to decline as in the next 15 years over another thousand allies would be closing its doors. From the time bowling had peaked, today only about 23% survived.

Chris Taylor has worked at Gold Crown Lanes for 14 years, and say the alley is not going anywhere. "We are very, very busy here, and we have a very good following". Taylor went on to say that the balance between the league play along with open play, is what helps them thrive. In the past various bowling alleys did not cater to both which would end up being their demise.

The bowling alley itself is all original, just minor cosmetic changes have been made to keep up with the times, along with spicing things up in order to keep people coming back. Additions included: New scoring system, cosmic lighting, fog machine, and internet video jukebox.

"The scoring is great and everybody loves it" Taylor says "It shows the scores and has all kinds of animations and sounds, you can put graphics on it. So those few things that we have done have helped our business for sure".

During the winter months there are bowling leagues every weeknight. When the weekend comes around Taylor explained that they could expect anywhere from six to eight birthday parties on a Saturday. While there is a lot older clientele that has been coming to the center for a long time, trying to get younger people into bowling is also a priority.

Walking into the alley last Saturday afternoon, there was still plenty of activity. One lane had a group of high school students from St. J Academy. The group ranged from kids who didn't bowl often maybe once a month, to someone who had just started to get serious about the sport. Another lane had a couple of league players who had been bowling at Gold Crown for sometime and were just getting a few practice frames in. In the final lane there was an athlete who was trying to get ready for a tournament. The staff had put down a more professional oil to the lane to help in their training.

While many other bowling lanes in Vermont have passed their time Gold Crown Lanes is and will continue to serve the community as a source of entertainment for years to come.