Bowling through St. Charles Bowl's 50-year history

ST. CHARLES – It all started with a stock in the stock market.

It was 1960. Lambert "Bill" Manson was living in Barrington and working in Chicago for Stouffers, a restaurant chain at the time. (Now they only produce the frozen meals you would find at your local grocery store.)

His father, Lambert Manson, was retired. The elder Manson had been in the restaurant business before. He ran a motel/restaurant combination. But he was growing restless in retirement and wanted to go into business with his son.

That business became St. Charles Bowl, and it is celebrating 50 years of being a family-owned bowling center on St. Charles' west side.

They looked into buying a restaurant in the suburbs, but there weren't any for sale. But something was happening that they didn't realize right away. One of the stocks the pair had previously bought into was Brunswick. It was suddenly doing very well, so the family men decided to get in touch with the company to see if they could get involved somehow.

Brunswick suggested St. Charles as a place that needed a bowling center (not alley, as I've found out while working on this story), because St. Charles was what Brunswick called a bedroom community. Many people in the city did not commute far, and the town had a good number of strong, viable businesses, the younger Manson recalls hearing from Brunswick.

Both Mansons were concerned about opening up a center so close to another one. There was a small bowling center near what is now the Arcada Theatre and Chord on Blues, according to the St. Charles Heritage Center.

"We went down there – it was this old 8-lane bowling center," the younger Manson remembers, during a telephone interview from his home Naples, Fla. "This man owned it. I remember being with my father when he introduced me to him. My father said 'I really feel like we're going to hurt your business.' "

The man responded by saying that he's retired, they've been around for a long time and he's OK with the new venture the Mansons want to complete.

"I really appreciate my father for doing that," Manson, now 76, said. "He talked to the man first to make sure he wasn't going to severely hurt him."

Soon after that, the family secured a loan from what is now Harris Bank, a bank, Manson says, the family has been with since the beginning.

After construction on the building began, the order for 16 large lane machines came in from Michigan, but the bowling center was in no capacity to receive them. Ray Miller owned a barn and a lot of land nearby on Route 64, west of Randall Road. Manson says Miller generously allowed the family to "store the machines in the old barn, for well over a month, before we could bring them in."

Even before the center was finished, the Mansons had already made a connection with the St. Charles community – a connection, Manson said, that is still strong today.

"The biggest thing to me is the acceptance from the people of St. Charles," he said. "They've been there every step of the way for us. That's really, really important."

After retiring a few years ago, Manson handed over the operations of the center to his three sons, who live across the world. But the every day duties currently belong to manager Anne Kijowski who has been with the center for more than 20 years.

Kijowski talks to the younger Manson "at least three times a day," Manson said.

"I bowled here since I was 6 years old," Kijowski said in an interview in the lounge at the center, currently under a remodel. "I was bowling on a Tuesday morning ladies league, and Lambert the owner was here and I said I wanted a job. I can date back coming here since 1968 – a long time."

To honor the establishment's 50th anniversary, they are planning a day, Sept. 24, where many prices at the center will revert back to their original, 1961 pricing. They are still working out the exact details but can confirm that each game of bowling will cost just 25 cents.

"If it weren't for St. Charles and all the people here ... we wouldn't be where we are right now." she said. "That's the true boss, the customer, isn't it?"

The event will also feature a juggler, a balloon artist, a DJ, complimentary snow cones and cotton candy, bowling-related giveaway items and a moonwalk. It will run from noon-5 p.m.

Kijowski admits that business has slowed the last few years because of the area's economic conditions, but they are weathering the storm and are planning an expansion once the economy turns around.

Mike Sopper, a man of all trades for the center, said the center donates to nonprofits and tries to stay involved as much as possible with the community and the area's schools. He said they are the home bowling center for both St. Charles high schools and Geneva High School.

"This is still like a small-town," he said. "When you walk in the door, we try to know every [returning visitor's] first name. You're not just a statistic."

Unfortunately, though, Manson said he won't be able to make the trip to honor the center his family built from the beginning. He recently fell and hurt his head so he is not able to fly out to the area.

"We never tried to take advantage of the people who were so important for us," Manson said. "I'm just reflecting ... it's been wonderful."

If you go ...

What: St. Charles Bowl's 50th anniversary celebration

When: Noon-5 p.m. Sept. 24

Where: 2520 W. Main St., St. Charles

Cost: 1961 prices, including 25 cents per game

More information: www.stcharlesbowl.com