The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Give fun a roll at Rebman’s
Family fun at Rebman Recreation Inc. in Lorain
Patti Rebman no longer notices the deafening crash of balls striking pins when she walks through her family’s business.
This may not come as a surprise, as three generations of the Rebman family has owned and operated Rebman Recreation Inc., 5300 Oberlin Ave. in Lorain, for 76 years.
The bowling alley was started by Patti Rebman’s grandfather, Dominick Rebman, in 1946 when he wanted to open a bar with her father, Dominic Rebman, somewhere in Lorain.
“They actually found a place in downtown Lorain and it came with a bowling center, it had eight lanes upstairs and four lanes downstairs and there was a bar, so everybody was happy,” she said.
The business stayed on those premises until 1955 when Dominic Rebman had a flash of inspiration.
“My dad had a vision,” Pattie Rebman explained. “He said, ‘I know the west side of Lorain is going to be a real growth factor. We need to come out this way.’”
In those days, Rebman said, Oberlin Avenue was pretty much a dirt road. But the business made the move and the family built the first 24 lanes of their current location.
As time went on and the bowling business boomed, Rebman said her father saw the possibility of she and her siblings taking over the company.
“At that time, U.S. Steel was there, Ford, Steam Shovel, they were all thriving,” she said. “So, in 1976, we added the other 24 lanes.”
The alley’s unique layout is due to the realities of adding to the original structure, Rebman said.
“They made it a split house at the time, with the 24 and 24 (on the east and west sides of the building),” she said. “In the day, not many people did that and said it could be a detriment because they’re not all in a row, but it’s worked obviously.
“To this day, we are still able to, if we need to have one event on one side without bothering the other side, it works out perfect,” she said.
As Lorain took an economic downturn, the alley was not immune, but the Rebman family decided to attack the problem from a different angle.
“You needed to know what to do with bowling then,” Patti Rebman said. “We thought that we should look at it as another venue.
“We had a good league base, but losing people, you’re losing families, you’re losing everything around you so we started doing
more groups,” she continued. “The schools came in at that time, we had more corporate groups coming in, we had fundraisers. The birthday parties grew bowling quite a bit because everyone had a bowling birthday party.
“You had to get more creative with the business, and think outside the box,” Rebman said.
The Rebmans continue to think outside of the bowling box, as they also have a stage that goes over the lanes which they use during the summer.
After Dominic died in 2009, Patti and her siblings, Rick, Rob and Mary Lou, took over as owners of the alley.
“We’re all college graduates and we all came back to the family business,” she said.
Patti said she and her siblings seek to continue the legacy of their father and grandfather and also to open up bowling to those who may not be exposed to it.
“We always host a special needs pro am,” she said. “So, we invite every special needs man, woman and child, they’re able to bowl for free because we have sponsors for that. They get to bowl with the pros and that absolutely makes their day.”
After 72 years and three generations, with talks of a possible fourth generation in the form of a nephew who may want to take over, the alley has seen the city change around it, but some things stay the same.
“The biggest thing is families,” Patti said. “My dad always said he wanted to have a place that would be clean and nice for families to do something together, and it’s still is very very family based.
“It’s one event where everyone in your family can participate, no matter what the age, no matter if they’re physically challenged or whatever the situation might be.”