Posted on Dec 31, 2023
Meet the Colorado Blind Bowling Association, the Saturday league that has rolled for 50 years
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Marlene Kaiser and Veronica Rodriguez have bowled together pretty much every weekend since the 1970s. It was just three of them when they started playing all those years ago. They had no idea they were starting something that would last for decades.
“Did we do it because we were bored in the winter? Why did we do it?” Kaiser asked Rodriguez when she had a break between frames.
“I don’t know,” Rodriguez replied, laughing.
Fifty years later, they’re still bowling together, and they’ve made some new friends. Over time, their weekly meetup blossomed into the Colorado Blind Bowling Association, a group of about 35 members who roll balls every Saturday at Federal Boulevard’s Crown Lanes. Teams include players ranging from fully sighted to fully blind; blind players use rails to navigate to their lanes, then sighted players call out numbers to fill in their teammates on which pins remain, or whether they shot too far to one side, to help them get positioned for their next throw.
In pursuing the sport, Kaiser and Rodriguez have created space for fun, competition and community that’s become extremely important for those involved. Nobody is bored.
“I don’t let Mr. Boredom in,” Rodriguez said, flashing a grin behind her wide sunglasses.
“Did we do it because we were bored in the winter? Why did we do it?” Kaiser asked Rodriguez when she had a break between frames.
“I don’t know,” Rodriguez replied, laughing.
Fifty years later, they’re still bowling together, and they’ve made some new friends. Over time, their weekly meetup blossomed into the Colorado Blind Bowling Association, a group of about 35 members who roll balls every Saturday at Federal Boulevard’s Crown Lanes. Teams include players ranging from fully sighted to fully blind; blind players use rails to navigate to their lanes, then sighted players call out numbers to fill in their teammates on which pins remain, or whether they shot too far to one side, to help them get positioned for their next throw.
In pursuing the sport, Kaiser and Rodriguez have created space for fun, competition and community that’s become extremely important for those involved. Nobody is bored.
“I don’t let Mr. Boredom in,” Rodriguez said, flashing a grin behind her wide sunglasses.
Meet the Colorado Blind Bowling Association, the Saturday league that has rolled for 50 years
Posted from denverite.com
Bowling
Denver
Posted 6 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Today, Crown Lanes hosts a handful of adaptive bowling leagues, a few that are involved in the Special Olympics and others whose wheelchair-using members rely on the ramp the Falzgrafs installed for Shanna when they bought the place.
The last few years have been tough for the family – not just losing Shanna but also weathering COVID-19 shutdowns a year later. But Jackie and KC say they need to keep the place alive, for reasons that go beyond their own financial security: so many people have found community in their space.
“This is a place to give back. God’s been good to me,” KC said. “Being able to have a place this special, with its roots and everything, it’s more than I ever dreamed.”
..."Today, Crown Lanes hosts a handful of adaptive bowling leagues, a few that are involved in the Special Olympics and others whose wheelchair-using members rely on the ramp the Falzgrafs installed for Shanna when they bought the place.
The last few years have been tough for the family – not just losing Shanna but also weathering COVID-19 shutdowns a year later. But Jackie and KC say they need to keep the place alive, for reasons that go beyond their own financial security: so many people have found community in their space.
“This is a place to give back. God’s been good to me,” KC said. “Being able to have a place this special, with its roots and everything, it’s more than I ever dreamed.”
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