A look back -- Jerry Person

When I was young, my dad would never miss watching the popular TV show

“Bowling for Dollars,” with bowling greats such as Steve Nagy, Andy

Varipapa and Dick Weber.

Huntington Beach has had two bowling centers in its history, one at

214 5th St. and another at 19582 Beach Blvd.

This week, we’re going to look back at the latter, Huntington Lanes

Bowling Center, which was next to Newland Center.

The owners -- “Lucky” John Quinliven, president; John Kovach Jr., vice

president and general manager; and Ralph Ison, secretary -- opened the

doors on Aug. 27, 1961.

To introduce their new bowling alley, the owners enlisted the aid of

two nationally known bowlers, Joe Joseph of Detroit and Merle Matthews of

Long Beach, to be on hand that Sunday in a “beat the pro” stunt dreamed

up by Quinliven.

Joseph bowled that opening day with 192 bowlers in two sets of 32 each

in junior, ladies’ and men’s divisions.

Earl Rush won a bowling ball, tickets to bowl and a trophy for first

place, and Jack Seibert received a bowling ball and trophy for second

place in the men’s division.

Lil Aims walked away with a bowling ball, tickets to bowl and a trophy

for first place in the ladies’ division, with Dorothy Agard taking second

and Jo Mitchell placing third.

In the junior division, Bill Farrell came in first, with Steve Gruber

and Dean Pasquall tying for second.

During his freshman year in high school, Huntington Beach businessman

Andy Arnold and his friend Jerry Worthylake would earn extra money by

keeping score for the bowlers. They would sit in the center of the room,

keeping track of two lanes each and earning $5.

“I used to go bowling there once in a while, but it was too expensive

then,” said Huntington Beach resident Jack Weide.

There were 32 Brunswick lanes, each made with highly polished maple.

The bowling center also had a lounge and coffee shop, where diners could

watch the action.

You could have lunch for $1.25 in the Top Hat lounge, which served

Swiss steak on Mondays, chicken chop suey on Tuesdays, beef stew on

Wednesdays, spaghetti on Thursdays and Yankee pot roast on Fridays. On

Sundays, you could enjoy a roast beef buffet for $2.

“Many of our large corporations formed bowling leagues and competed

there,” said former Huntington Beach Mayor Don MacAllister. “I bowled

there for fun, but I wasn’t good enough to get in a league.”

Over the years, many residents gathered to bowl a few games or just

sit at the bar and watch the action.

Huntington Lanes was demolished several years ago to make way for the

Hoag Hospital annex but lives forever in the memories of those who were

there.

* JERRY PERSON is a longtime Huntington Beach resident and local

historian. If you have ideas for future columns, write to him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.