It was immediately clear the last official Saturday of this summer was no beach day. The morning began with rain and continued into an equally drippy afternoon. Anybody expecting the wet day to dampen the mood inside of Meadowbrook Lanes bowling alley, however, would be mistaken. In fact, rainy days and cooler weather tend to have the opposite effect on the Meadowbrook mood. This past Saturday was no exception, as there was more than one reason for excitement as the lanes lit up and families brought their kids together and away from their phones.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Meadowbrook Lanes, which has been in business since 1954. This coming week, the bowling alley celebrates by holding a weekend-long celebration to mark the milestone. Lanes will be available for a discounted price in the afternoons and evenings between Friday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 29; Saturday will also feature appearances by Iggy’s Food Truck from 4 to 7 p.m. and by guest speakers from 5 to 6 p.m. All weekend, groups containing up to five people will be able to rent shoes and spend an hour bowling for a special $19.54 —a salute to the bowling alley’s founding year.

Even when Meadowbrook Lanes isn’t celebrating a major milestone, however, autumn is often an energetic time for the business. On Saturday morning, the youth bowling league returned to the lanes for the beginning of a new league season continuing through May. There are summer leagues as well.

League bowlers have formed an important part of Meadowbrook Lanes’ clientele throughout the bowling alley’s history. Local churches, businesses and community centers are among the organizations that run the leagues; there are also senior citizen leagues, men's leagues, women’s leagues and youth leagues. For many of these Meadowbrook patrons, participation in the leagues is a family affair — and has been that way for generations.

“We have people who remember this place being built, and they’re still coming,” general manager Robert Farrell said. He explained that it’s common for long-time bowlers to bring their families with them: “Their kids, grandkids, great-grandkids… That’s what keeps it going.”

Generations of players

Bob Coker is a veteran Meadowbrook Lanes bowler. Coker joined the Warwick Church Bowling League in the early 1950s before Meadowbrook Lanes began business. He first got involved working as a pin boy in Pawtuxet Village, setting up the pins for bowlers and playing in games while he wasn’t working. When Meadowbrook Lanes opened, the Warwick Church Bowling League began playing at Meadowbrook, which used machines rather than pin boys. He stopped bowling with the league three years ago, but his son, Dave, continues to play. He joined the league in 1964.

Farrell cites this generational aspect of the bowling alley as one of the highlights of his experience working there. He knows about it firsthand, having joined a youth bowling league himself in 1978 when he was just 7 years old; he’s been working there ever since. The Warwick Police Athletic League (PAL) began organizing Meadowbrook’s youth league in the early 1970s and continues to partner with the bowling alley to bring young people bowling on Saturday mornings. This past Saturday marked the first week of the 26-week youth bowling league season this year.

Farrell remarked on the inclusivity of bowling as a physical and social activity, noting that the youth leagues are welcoming to children and adults who have special needs. Meadowbrook Lanes hosts a statewide Special Olympics tournament every year as well. According to Farrell, one of the biggest draws of bowling lies in the fact that it is such an enjoyable and inclusive sport.

“Bowling is fun,” he said simply. “It literally is for everyone to enjoy.”

Change throughout the years

Farrell said that bowling is a perennial activity during days that are cold or rainy and during months when the days are short. Outside, it may be miserable, but inside, the sight of kids enjoying their birthdays at the lanes is as familiar as it is amusing. This has been true for as long as Meadowbrook Lanes has been around; Coker said that holding birthday parties at the bowling alley became common practice in the late 1950s when it became common for schools to run bowling programs there.

But like any establishment that has stayed in business for seven decades, Meadowbrook Lanes has witnessed a great deal of change. The years-long golden era of the New England Patriots, for example, translated to relatively quiet Sunday afternoons — usually an ideal time for families and friends to head to the lanes — during the fall and winter seasons. Farrell recalled a period of several years when, on afternoons when the Patriots were playing, even those patrons who managed to prioritize a game of bowling over watching football would often wander into the lounge in the middle of a round to watch Patriots games on the television behind the bar.

Coker described changes in the sights that bowlers would see as they entered the bowling alley, as well. There used to be a First National Store and a shopping center next to Meadowbrook Lanes that have since been replaced by newer developments. He also noted that bowling shoes, distinctive in their style, have changed as well — they used to be all black. Today, the rental shoes that bowlers are seen wearing at Meadowbrook Lanes are a range of colors.

Other changes have been more existential. Meadowbrook Lanes was not immune to the problems that the COVID-19 pandemic posed to businesses everywhere, nor has it been immune to the elements. In the fall of 2019, a malfunctioning valve in the restrooms flooded the lanes forcing the alley to close for renovations at the beginning of the bowling league season. The onset of COVID-19 coincided with the end of that same season, once again forcing Meadowbrook to close its doors until August of 2020. Despite the challenges of that period, the bowling alley managed to survive the deeply uncertain months of mid-2020. Farrell credited the reliability of the sport with its enduring success.

Despite the major transformations that Warwick has gone through since 1954, he said, the inside of Meadowbrook Lanes looks much the same as it did when it was built, aside from a few changes to the carpets and the scoring system; the lanes themselves still operate using the same machinery that they used in the 1950s. The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Meadowbrook Lanes’ first bowlers are playing the same game that their relatives were playing seven decades ago.

Other bowling alleys in Rhode Island have not been as lucky as Meadowbrook Lanes. The Warwick bowling alley has inherited bowlers and a staff member from other Duckpin bowling alleys that have gone out of business in recent years. At one point, Farrell counted 12 in the state. Now there are four. Farrell noted that in this aspect too, consistency and simplicity were essential in facilitating continued success for Meadowbrook Lanes: the uniformity of Duckpin bowling meant that entire leagues from bowling alleys that closed were able to transfer to Meadowbrook Lanes and continue playing there.

Relationships make Meadowbrook Lanes special

Perhaps what has kept Meadowbrook Lanes in business for 70 years is the special way in which people find different aspects of their lives converging there. All of next Saturday’s guest speakers — Mayor Frank Picozzi, State Rep. Joe Solomon Jr., Councilman Ed Ladouceur and Sen. Anthony DeLuca — are personally tied to the bowling alley in one way or another, whether it’s their preferred venue for holiday parties or their family members were once members of the staff. Meadowbrook Lanes’ status as a hometown favorite is clear from the familiarity it holds for so many people in the area. “It is totally Rhode Island,” Farrell remarked.

Farrell also shared that no matter where in the country he happens to be, he runs into people who recognize him from Meadowbrook Lanes. “That happens a lot,” he said.

Farrell’s favorite part of the job is the relationships he has forged with other people throughout the 47 years he has been there. Since the time he was growing up, Meadowbrook Lanes has been a home to him and a vehicle through which to get to know all kinds of people from the community around him. 47 years after he began working there, Farrell still goes into Meadowbrook Lanes every day.

The 70th anniversary will celebrate not only 70 years of business, but also the 70 years’ worth of friendships and enjoyment to which it has given life.

Editor’s note: Haley Long spent her Saturday morning losing to her friend by an unspecified number of points at Meadowbrook Lanes. Her personal assessment: “It was fun.”