Bowling alive and well, Bangor, Brewer owners say

During Sunday’s Maine State Candlepin Open championship matches at Bangor-Brewer Lanes in Brewer, an observer remarked that the turnout of fans wasn’t as large as he had expected it to be.

“Yeah, I know,” Charles Milan III responded. “If I were bowling, they would have come out.”

Milan wasn’t joking and wasn’t necessarily bragging – although Milan isn’t shy about sharing his bowling exploits with you.

“If I was bowling, that would have brought the senior crowd out,” he said.

The low turnout primarily included a few senior citizens, families of the competitors, and other competitors. Very few fans had marked the day on their calendars.

And it wasn’t as though there was no local competitor to cheer for. Bangor’s Chip Carson was in the finals. He is a somewhat controversial figure for leaving Milan’s Maine Heat team to join a Massachusetts-based team during the World Team Championships, but he should have turned out the locals.

Milan said that if two bowlers from Bangor-Brewer Lanes had been involved, a huge crowd would have been there. But Carson’s opponent, Al Joy, who won the title, lives in Windham.

“You had a guy from western Maine that, outside of the hard-core bowling crowd, no one had an interest in,” Milan said.

He also said not to mistake the low turnout, which he counted at 100, with the state of bowling in the area. And, before some smart-alecky columnist decides to write about the death of bowling in the area, he should know it’s alive and well, thank you very much.

“Business is good. It’s different than it used to be. It has changed, but I can’t complain about the bowling business,” Milan said.

One of the differences is that whereas he once had double leagues each night at 6 and 8 p.m., he now has it only once a week.

But he has made up for that in other areas. He was prepared for the changes in the industry.

Milan first heard about what to expect 12 years ago, while attending a Bowling Proprietors of America convention. Owners were told of a trend toward other activities. Satellite and cable TV were adding channels at a high rate, the home personal computer was made affordable, and kids were doing other things such as video games.

Milan said “glow-pin” bowling became a big hit and birthday bowling parties have been a boon.

Across the Penobscot River in Bangor, Andy Meucci’s Family Fun Lanes, a tenpin bowling establishment, was facing the same problems. After he made some adjustments, things are going well.

“Our league bowling seems to be holding its own. Our open bowling seems to be up. We need to do some more recruiting,” Meucci said.

The introduction of “Cosmic” bowling has affected Meucci much the same way that Glow Pins helped at Bangor-Brewer Lanes.

Meucci said that the old “Moonlight” brought in a drinking crowd, while Cosmic bowling has attracted a much younger crowd by using prizes, colored pins, modern music, black lights, strobe lights and fog for an exciting atmosphere.

“We also renovated,” Meucci said. “We added automatic scorers. It cost us about $160,000, but they say you have to spend money to make money.”

Also aiding the lanes are bowling programs run by local parks and recreation departments.

“The Bangor parks and rec program has brought in a lot of new bowlers,” Meucci said.

Brewer Parks and Recreation has announced a version that would introduce youngsters to candlepin bowling.

So, Milan and Meucci say business is good. Bowling is alive and kicking – despite a low fan turnout for the state candlepin championships.

Besides, Marie Milan, Charlie’s wife, has the answer to the low turnout. She points out that the matches were taped and will be televised this weekend.

“Marie always was the brains in this bunch,” Charlie Milan said.

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net.