Kent Street bowling alley brings glowing game to Centretown
By Julie Delaney
Kathleen Kerrigan stands at the foul line of lane five watching a glowing pink ball roll down a 60-foot stretch of what looks like motionless violet-blue water.
Strike.
She quickly turns around to face her friends, her toothy celebration smile glows while she dances to Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” playing on the sound system.
Kerrigan, 35, one of the many bowlers that packed Kent Bowling Lanes’ first evening of glow-in-the-dark bowling last Saturday, says she’s impressed by the experience.
“I don’t think I could ever go back to regular bowling, this is fantastic,” says Kerrigan.
Kent Bowling Lanes, located at the corner of Kent and Catherine streets, is one of the only places in the region to offer glow-in-the-dark bowling.
Lynn Stevenson, who owns the five-pin bowling centre with her husband Richard, says the couple wanted to make bowling more of an evening out.
Glow bowling originated in the United States and was picked up in the Toronto area a couple of years ago. Stevenson says they started getting requests from bowlers about glow bowling last year.
After spending approximately $6,000 on black lights, electrical fixtures, lane coating, new balls and labor, the Centretown alley is bowling over patrons.
Every Saturday night from nine o’clock to midnight, one half of the bowling centre will be glow-in-the-dark, while the other 10 lanes will remain rock’n’bowl, complete with a disco ball, flashing lights and fog machines.
“The bowling centre is completely transformed with the flick of a few switches,” says Stevenson. “It’s like you’re in a discothèque.”
Over in lane 10, Lacie Sauvé, 10, is spelling out Y-M-C-A with her arms while keeping her family’s score. The first-time glow bowler sums up the evening succinctly.
“It’s neat. You glow in the dark,” Sauvé says while admiring her glowing white shirt and socks.
Sauvé’s mother, Lise Sauvé, agrees glow bowling is unique, adding the music is her favorite part of the night.
The spectrum of songs drowning out the sound of pins knocking down ranges from rap to oldies. Dubbed by some patrons as “The Funky DJ,” Richard Stevenson slides a CD titled Life of the Party into the stereo.
“You can always count on “The Hustle” and “The Bird Dance” to get people going,” says Richard Stevenson as he watches a woman dance across the carpet from the rock’n’bowl to the glow bowl side of the alley.
Lynn Stevenson predicts the novelty of glow bowling should last a few years.
She says she expects all age groups will enjoy glow bowling, but notes 13 to 19-year-olds will probably be her biggest customers because three hours of bowling and shoe rentals costs a group of four less than $10 each.