Regina bowlers have somewhere to throw again

For the past two months, the shoes haven’t been worn and the balls haven’t been thrown.

Kevin Clark has been staring at empty lanes at the Golden Mile Bowling Centre.

But now, as part of Step One of Saskatchewan’s Re-Opening Roadmap, bowlers in the Queen City can rejoin the rest of the province by actually bowling again.

“People want to get back out and they want things to do. We’re trying to hit it as hard as we can,” said Clark, who manages the bowling centre.

Measures were brought in specifically for Regina and area when COVID-19 cases started to rise in March and throughout April. However, people in other parts of the province were allowed to keep bowling.

Clark decided to reopen Monday, admitting it’s a slow time of year for the centre with the temperature warming up and more people taking advantage of that outside.

His phone doesn’t reflect that. Clark said over the May long weekend, he was constantly getting calls from people wondering if and when they could come back.

March 27 was the last time the centre was open, the last time someone physically picked up a bowling ball and threw it down the lanes, he said.

At the Glencairn Bolodrome, it wasn’t the pins but the business that was knocked down.

“When this all started, it was probably going to be our best year in over 40 years to being the worst that we’ve ever dealt with,” explained co-owner Shelley Baer.

She said the bolodrome will be open Monday as well. Not only will it be a challenge to let people know they can return, but Baer also said she realizes some will still be fearful of coming back.

She needs those customers for the health of her business.

“I don’t know if we could take another year of this,” Baer said.

Both the Bolodrome and Golden Mile heavily rely on league bowlers to keep their businesses afloat, since it’s a guaranteed source of revenue each week.

That’s especially significant for Baer, as there’s a full restaurant attached to her facility.

It’s more than just a sport for many of her regulars. It’s a place to connect, or reconnect.

“It’s a social life for these guys, for so many years,” Baer said.

Clark agreed the social aspect is paramount for him too.

“That’s what we need,” he said. “We need people that want to come enjoy themselves and have their kids’ birthday parties here and have their Christmas parties here.”

For now, both bowling centres will have to contend with a capacity limit until those measures are eased in subsequent steps.