Sunday, February 16th, 2025

After 57 years in the lanes of the Duntroon Hall, the Duntroon Bowling League disbanded at the end of 2013.

Originally a league of numerous teams with members from the area, it only had enough participants to form one team of six last year.

“There was no one to play against,” said Marjorie Ferguson who bowled with the league for about 20 years.

The Bowling League was started by an interested group of citizens who raised money to build the bowling lanes after the Duntroon Hall was built in 1955, said James Campbell, Chair of the Hall. “Since that time, it has operated as a separate organization from the Hall Board.”

Ted Wilson, who passed away last year, ran the league and the hall with his mother, Norma. When the Bowling League disbanded, it turned over its savings to the Hall, which will upgrade and operate the bowling alleys.

“At one time it was full,” said Margaret Hennessy, who started bowling with the league after moving to Duntroon in 1957. “There were four teams playing a night.”

In fact, there were so many players in the beginning that Hennessy had to wait for a spot on the team for a few years because it was full.

“I was a spare for a few years,” she explained. “Then, somebody quit and there was a place. But it started dwindling in the late 70s and early 80s, and after that it got smaller and smaller.”

Ferguson now finds herself missing the exercise and the socializing the bowling games offered.

Is there is a chance the league will get revived?

“I don’t think so,” Ferguson said. “It’s hard to make up a league. In the last couple of years the number of people has been going down. More people are playing cards. It can be hard to pick a time to play, and if you work shift work, you can’t be in the league if you are going to be working.”

If you are interested in using the bowling lanes at the Duntroon Hall for $40, contact 705-446-2506 or jim@rockside.ca.

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