One sporting group is pitching the importance of keeping Vernon’s only bowling alley in town.
The Vernon and Area Senior Slo-pitch League (VAASL) recently held its annual bowling fundraiser, bringing awareness to Lincoln Lanes.
Lincoln Lanes is currently on the market to be sold, and Vernon city council rejected the option of purchasing it in August, stating that “it is not a recreation service contemplated in the Recreation Master Plan.”
For Stephen Feedham, a fellow bowler and president of VAASL, raising awareness of the importance of Lincoln Lanes was paramount.
“All of our 90 baseball players have joined into a couple bowling leagues as we bowl every week during the wintertime,” Feedham said.
“The city isn’t supporting the continuation of Lincoln Lanes so we hope that by doing this, it’ll at least help and we are trying to get people organized so we can come up with a way to save the alley.”
A total of 80 participants showed up to the fundraiser, where $750 was raised, which will go towards “the rental of the fields to the city and it pays the insurance to the city so that seniors can play baseball,” according to Feedham.
The news of not having a bowling facility in the city is disheartening to Feedham, as he understands the ageless ability the sport has.
“When you look at the city and the new active living centre, they don’t even include bowling as a sport or a function,” said Feedham.
“Yet the bowling alley, which has been operating for 50 years, caters to children, the developmentally challenged and disabled people, Paralympians, etc. We have 90-year-olds who go bowling. Now, you take this function away, you are basically taking a livelihood away from people who enjoy doing things, If you take that away, what do they have?”
Feedham added that youth bowlers have gone onto Canadian and provincial championships, and they hang banners, “just like the Vernon Vipers.”
“All the kids that have gone through the bowling system have gone to a lifetime sport, which is what bowling is, or can be if there is a bowling alley,” he said.
There are currently no clear next steps on what will happen to the alley. Feedham floated the idea of getting non-profit status to the facility, which would open it up to potential funding through the city, but as of now, those ideas are in the infant stages.