![]() ![]() "We’re hopeful that what we see in January and February is a somewhat normal high school bowling season," Bowers said. Bowers says if all goes well, Northrock will host the state championship in early March, as it has for years. The high school bowling season starts soon, so that will bring more bowlers back to lanes under Kansas State High School Activities Association guidelines. And so there’s no question everybody’s doing that little bit differently now." "And you want to sit at a table and enjoy some nachos and talk about your week. "So it’s really tough because you want to high five your friends and you want to hug and you want to say hi," Bowers said. But the social camaraderie at the heart of bowling isn’t advised during a pandemic. Due to the pandemic, the national governing bodies for competitive leagues changed some of the rules and regulations regarding what is certified league play.īowers says the first customers to return to lanes after the shutdown were league bowlers, the “regulars.” They were familiar with the building and felt safe with the new protocols. Bowers says about 1,000 league bowlers are based at Northrock, a traditional bowling center. Northrock is surviving because of its strong league base and tradition of hosting tournaments. Bowling is exempted from some rules because it is an organized athletic activity. ![]() Masks are mandated if a patron is not actively eating, drinking or on the lane for bowling. We don’t know if we’re a fitness club," Bowers said. ![]() So we don’t know if we are an event venue. "Sometimes when we get the new update, whether it be from the city, the county, the state, the federal government, they very rarely talk about bowling center facilities. Northrock general manager Brent Bowers says navigating constantly changing pandemic rules is tough. Large groups are divided into small teams due to local restrictions on gathering sizes.īecause the bowling alleys offer food and beverages, they have an 11 p.m. Groups of bowlers space out in different sitting areas until it's their turn on the lane. Social distancing in this 56,000-square-foot facility means every other lane is closed. KMUW Northrock Lanes in Wichita is a traditional bowling center with 48 lanes, a restaurant, an arcade and banquet center. "But it’s very important we think to make sure that we’re giving them a sanitized space." "It makes us a little slower to turn over and get people out onto the lanes," DeSocio said. Now the shared equipment and bowler areas closest to the lanes get extra attention. The alleys have always used disinfectants on the house bowling balls and those infamous flat leather bowling shoes. We have sanitizing procedures in place that are pretty stringent," DeSocio said. Reopening meant reimagining operations so bowling could continue in a safe way. Like most businesses, bowling alleys were forced to shut down last spring when the coronavirus started to spread. No leagues are playing this day, so just getting bowlers through the door is a win. A few families are celebrating birthdays with a game or two and spending time in the arcade. Some are warming up for a casual tournament that’s about to start. Bowlers of all ages are on the lanes rolling balls. "We’re doing everything we can to stay open, but also 100% keeping our employees and our customers as safe as humanly possible."Īt Northrock Lanes, less than half of the center’s 48 lanes are in use on a recent Saturday afternoon. "Our business is down considerably," DeSocio said. Now, DeSocio is trying to find a way, and lead other bowling proprietors, through one of the biggest upheavals in bowling since the Prohibition era in the 1920s when bowling alleys had to separate from saloons. They have been involved on the local, state and national levels of the bowling industry. Her father, John Crum, grew the family business over the years and was a Hall of Famer in the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America.ĭeSocio and her husband, Frank, bought their first bowling center in 1993. Her grandfather built his first bowling center, Boulevard Bowl, at the corner of Harry and George Washington Blvd in southeast Wichita. She’s in the Crum family, whose bowling roots go back to the 1950s and ’60s. ![]()
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