Bowlers bid farewell to Route 19 alley
Marna Hicks of Washington bowls at Route 19 Bowling Center on Tuesday.
Kathryn Hess, left, high fives her bowling partner, Charlene Atkins, at Route 19 Bowling Center on Tuesday.
Route 19 Bowling Center
Carol Gostic, left, of Canonsburg and Maryann Sharver of Speers are shown Tuesday at Route 19 Bowling Center.
Vicky Bedilion of Carmichaels laces her she shoes one last time at Route 19 Bowling Center in Washington on Tuesday.
Members of a bowling team pose for a photo in 1969.
The bowling alley on Route 19 was surrounded by open land in this 1961 photo.
The lanes will soon fall silent at Route 19 Bowling Center.
A fixture in Washington for 57 years, the bowling alley closes permanently Monday.
For the hundreds of bowlers who spent at least one night a week at the alley knocking down pins, the closing is a sad occasion.
“It’s been a great run. We hate to see it close,” said Carole Gostic, a member of the bowling alley’s Women’s Tuesday Night Handicap League, which gathered at the lanes for the last time on April 12 for a Scotch doubles tournament (two bowlers on each team played alternate shots throughout the games) and a farewell party. “I’ll miss the camaraderie with the ladies.”
Also among those mourning the closing is Nancy Walker, 74, who has bowled at Route 19 at least once a week on various leagues since 1960 – the year after the lanes opened.
“It’s like my second home,” said Walker, who was inducted into the Washington County Bowling Hall of Fame in 2005.
Walker plans to continue to bowl, upon the advice of her doctor, because it helps with her arthritis.
She recalled having five holes drilled into her bowling ball in 1992, at the urging of her doctor, who said it would be better for her hand.
“I said, ‘I’ll never be able to bowl this way.’ And my husband said, ‘Let’s go down to Route 19.’ I bowled a 214 with it,” Walker said.
Opened in 1959, the bowling alley remained steadfastly old-school (the wood barrel tables and chairs have been staples for decades), and it never offered cosmic bowling.
“There are no bells and whistles, no lights and sound systems or fog machines, no glow-in-the-dark designs on the walls, or big-screen TVs,” said Diane Cameron, another member of the Tuesday night league. “We laugh about the furniture there because it is probably the original stuff from the 1960s, old barrels with legs and upholstery.”
Margaretta Sadler, 75, of Washington, said she was the only black woman in the Tuesday night league when she joined in 1972, and she always felt welcomed.
“They accepted me. I remember hearing they were looking for bowlers for a Tuesday night league, so I signed up. When I walked in there, I thought I was in the wrong place,” said Sadler. “I was the only black lady in the place. I’ve been there 44 years, and I’ve loved it. The ladies and our love of bowling has stood out to me. It was a variety of different people from different backgrounds – we had doctors and lawyers and other professions – who enjoyed bowling.”
Joey Vasquez even found love at the lanes.
The Washington resident met his future wife while he was tending bar at Route 19, where she was on a date with another man.
“You could see it wasn’t going very well. We were talking, and we kind of just hit it off,” said Vasquez. “The first time I saw her, I fell in love with her. Wow, she knocked my socks off.”
The couple will celebrate their 10-year anniversary on May 21.
Vasquez, 51, has worked at Route 19 for 12 years. He and his wife will miss spending time at the place they found each other.
“It’s very sad because we have a lot of fond memories there,” said Vasquez. “She still comes down to hang out with me. She speaks to all the bowlers, chit-chats. For 10 years, she’s been by my side.”
Tuesday night league bowler Joann Brownlee celebrated her 80th birthday during the farewell party, blowing out the candles on her birthday cake after her fellow bowlers sang “Happy Birthday.”
The women in the Tuesday night league have shared significant moments in their lives together, including the deaths of parents, spouses children and league members, and the births of children and grandchildren.
Owner Cathy Dennison thanked everyone for supporting the bowling alley throughout the years.
A real estate sign in front of the building indicates that it is “under contract” but future plans for the site aren’t known.
Sylvia Harris of Washington started bowling in the Tuesday night league with her sisters in 1977, and often bowled with and her brothers at Route 19.
She fought back tears as she described how much she and her family enjoyed bowling there.
“It’s been a family affair. My sister Jane bowled two 300 games here, I bowled a 300 game here, and my brother Ed bowled his 300 game here,” she said. “It’s a fun place to be. It was very family-oriented. The Dennisons were always very kind, very good to us over the years. It’s sad, but I have a lot of good memories.”