Sawyer's is Still Rolling After 59 Years

In the beginning, it was a pool hall. A place for folks to get out and enjoy some time together. Today, it is home to many. A place that holds memories of young mom's and their children, a place for good company and a place to guarantee a strike if you play often enough.

located on Blake Street, is a candlepin bowling alley. No ten pins found here.

"We have folks that have bowled here since the day we opened our lanes," said  Co-Owner Ernie Sawyer, Jr. "

Sawyer began Sawyer's Bowladrome in 1953 along with his dad, also named Ernie. Today, he is co-owner with his daughter Debbie and her family.

"We started with pool in 1946," Sawyer said. "My dad loved to bowl and there was a lot of interest in bowling at the time. I would strongly recommend it as a sport to anyone."

Opening the building was not an easy task, but one the Sawyer's felt would be worth it.

"When we first found the spot it was a crawl space," Sawyer said. " We came with wheelbarrows and shovels and for five months we moved dirt."

When Sawyer's first opened their doors for candlepin bowling, pin boys were a common site as the lanes were not automated.

"That didn't work out so well," Sawyer said, "so we chose to go ahead and automate the lanes."

Sawyer's has always welcomed families, and they look forward to seeing familiar faces week after week. One group that regularly attends calls themselve the coffee league. Ernie calls them his loyal girls.

"I have been bowling here for 40 years," said long-time resident Pat Larson. "I come for the girls from way back and Ernie. He always made it feasible for moms to get out by offering a place where both mom and child could play."

Larson, along with several of her girlfriends, credit Sawyer's with some of the best times they had as young mothers looking for a day out.

"There is nothing like this place...the atmosphere...the girls," Larson said. "This is a place you could never replace. Honestly, if Sawyer's closed, I think I would stop bowling."

Susan Tasse, a Northborough resident and member of  the coffee league, agrees that this feels like home.

"I came back again after retirement," Tasse said. "The biggest change is that the pins are no longer manually set up. The girls are still here and so is Ernie."

Another member of the coffee league cannot imagine a life without bowling.

"Years ago my neighbor brought me here," Jane Sugarman of Hudson said. "She got me started with the kids in tow, and years later the kids are long grown and my neighbor has moved, but I'm still here bowling."

Sawyer believes that candlepin bowling will always be a part of the American culture, particularly in Worcester where the sport originated in 1888.

"Bowling will not go out," Sawyer said. "It seems to be coming back. I still run ten leagues daily and we are open from 9 a.m. until the last bowler leaves."

At Sawyer's, bowlers come from all walks of life, but the family is most grateful to those who have been coming for so many years. Now, they hope to draw the younger generation to bowling so they can stay around for many years to come.

A humble man, Sawyer believes that Sawyer's Bowladrome is still open and successful for one reason.

"Luck," Sawyer said. "That's the secret to success, plain old hard work and luck."