It's a STRIKE!

Walk into Skyways Lanes on Friday afternoon during First National Bank Senior Mixed League bowling time and several things are instantly obvious.
First, the place is packed. There are 16 teams in the league, but more than that it’s the players’ excitement that fills the room.
Second, everyone there is having the time of their lives.
“I just like having fun with the people around me,” 80-year-old Roscoe West said. “Whether I do good or bad, I just have fun with everyone.”
“This is the best group of people in the world,” Ed Bush adds.
Bowlers must be 50 to be in the senior league, but senior coordinator Dee McCurdy (LHS Class of 1953) said many are now in the their 70s and even 80s.  Most say the company is the best part of bowling in the league, and after spending part of an afternoon with them one can see why.
“I was tired of just sitting at home,” Dick Bell, now 88, said of why he joined the league.
The bowlers all watch intently as others take their turns, and are there to congratulate one another after a good throw. And the good throws come fairly often.
“We have some terrific bowlers in the league now,” Eileen Sturgis, the secretary of the league, said.
“Oh, all the good people that are in it,” league president Marv McCurdy said of what keeps him coming out. “We have a lot of good bowlers, for this age group especially.”
One of the league’s top bowlers is Bush, who others in the group say has one of the best averages in the area though he’s more modest about his game.
“I wouldn’t say I’m one of the best in the metro, my son averages more than me,” Bush said.
He’s been in the league for two years and said he enjoys it more than the competitive leagues he used to play in Kansas City because of the atmosphere.
“This is about having fun,” he said.
Bush has rolled two 300 games so far this league season. He said what he really enjoys about bowling in general is that everyone gets a level playing field.
“I love the game and it’s one that everyone has the opportunity to compete on the same level,” Bush said. “There’s no bench warmers like there is in football or something. Everyone gets to shoot at 10 frames.”
While there aren’t bench warmers in the league, there are those who are no longer able to play but still come out to cheer on and spend some time with friends.
Virginia Chaar, age 94, had to stop competing last spring but still comes out on Fridays.
“It’s a lot of fun out here. I really miss it,” Chaar said. “I still want to, but my legs won’t let me. ... I think I could probably still throw a ball, but I’m afraid I’d fall.”
Fellow nonagenarian Virginia Augenstein, 98, is in the same boat.
“There’s still a bowling alley,” Augenstein says of why she continues to come out. “As long as it’s here, I’ll be here.”
Many refer to bowling as a lifetime sport, and many of those in the Friday Senior Mixed League have been at it for more than half of their lives, most even longer than the league’s 31-year history.
“I started when I was 18 or 19,” Sturgis, now 83, said. “I said I’d never bowl because the skating rink was where I lived, ... then low and behold somehow I started bowling. I have no idea why I started, it was just the thing to do.”
“Friends (got me started),” West said, noting that was back in the 1960s. “We started going after work, then got into a league the next year and I’ve been at it ever since.”
Others are newer to the game. Peg Jerrit, 88, said she got into the league after her husband passed away.
“My husband died and my brother and his wife asked me to go bowling with them,” Jerrit said. “I told him I’d never thrown a ball before, so he took me to practice and I kept it on the lane. I’ve been at it ever since.”
The universal availability of bowling is something that helped some of the league’s players get involved.
“My husband was in the Army and every place we went they’d have a bowling alley,” Augenstein said.
Regardless of how it began, the ending seems to be the same. The members of the Friday Senior Mixed League are in it for the long haul and only stop playing when they have to. The bowlers agree that there are benefits even beyond the friendships forged on the alley.
“It’s very good exercise, it just keeps you going,” the 94-year-old Chaar said. “Everyone should try to (exercise) as long as they can.”
For Marv McCurdy, who turns 80 in two weeks, being able to get out and have an active hobby is important.
“At this age, it’s just good to have some activity and exercise,” Marv said.
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