Port Dalhousie bowling alley turns 60
Niagara Falls office has help for region’s small businesses; Firstontario chips in to ensure Niagara students are well fed
Aport Dalhousie bowling alley has a new look for its 60th birthday.
Freshly painted ceiling, refinished wood benches and bar stools, new wall covering, renovated snackbar and washrooms — Pla-mor Bowling Lanes, on Main Street, hasn’t looked this new in years.
Owner Bryan Bridgett said he originally planned to get the work done this summer, but when bowling centres across Ontario were closed in March due to COVID-19 he got an early start.
“And as the time extended with the closure, we did more work and more work,” he said. “We didn’t expect to be closed for almost five months.
“But at least when we did reopen (in July), our bowlers were like, ‘Wow, at least you took the time you were closed and put it to good use.’ ”
And it was time: “You could just tell that the decor was like a retro1980s, with carpet on the walls and stucco. You could tell it was time for a change.”
Looking back, it seems inevitable Bridgett and his partner, Shelley Smart, would buy Pla-mor.
He started bowling there as a youngster and when he was in his teens he worked there part time. He left and came back a few times, then eventually was property manager for the former owner.
The couple purchased the land and building eight years ago, then eventually bought the business two and a half years ago.
Bridgett has always been a five-pin bowler. And what could be cooler than owning his own alleys?
“There’s a lot of stuff to deal with,” he said. “If you’re not much of a bowler, it’s kind of tough to walk into this business. It would be hard for somebody who has never bowled in a registered league to take it over.”
Bowling alleys often become like little communities unto themselves, the sort of place where everybody knows your name. Many of the league bowlers have been coming for years. Bridgett still bowls there in two weekly leagues.
And while five-pin bowling can be like the middle child compared to the attention-grabbing 10-pin game with its professional leagues, its players are devoted.
When the alleys were finally allowed to reopen in late July, they were limited to
50 people inside at a time. With 10 alleys, Bridgett said, that wasn’t a problem.
Still, with the second wave of COVID-19 underway, league play is down about 30 per cent at Pla-mor compared to other years, and drop-in public bowling has been slow.
Alleys across Niagara are all dealing with it. Not only that, Bridgett said, but until the weather gets colder most people aren’t looking for indoor recreation yet.
“I can guarantee you one thing, that anybody who comes into our centre is not in danger. I mean, they have their own area, we have glass between each pair of lanes … and if anybody comes in we put them at the opposite end of the bowling centre anyway.”
Shoes and bowling balls are regularly sanitized, and cleaning measures have been stepped up.
“I hate picking on Costco or Walmart, but that is the unfortunate example I use with people,” Bridgett said. “I say I feel safer in my own bowling centre … than I do walking down the aisleway at Home Depot or Walmart.”
Help for budding businesspeople
Applications are open for the Starter Company Plus program overseen by Ni
agara Falls Small Business Enterprise Centre.
Offered by the provincial government, it offers people 18 and older and not attending school full-time help to start a business.
That includes one-on-one guidance from staff at the enterprise centre, mentoring with local businesspeople, workshops on topics such as budgeting, and marketing and writing a business plan.
There is also the chance to compete to receive a micro-grant of up to $5,000.
More information is at NiagaraFalls.ca/business/small-business.
Firstontario feeds fund to keep students well fed
Niagara school kids will have a better chance at doing well in class, thanks to a donation by Firstontario Credit Union.
Firstontario is giving $250,000 to groups that provide snacks for students in Niagara, Hamilton, Haldimand-norfolk and Brant. Since 2014, the credit union has awarded close to $1.7 million to that cause.
“At the best of times fundraising is tough, but during these times it’s even tougher,” said chief operating officer Dave Schurman, adding those groups’
need for assistance is greater than ever.
He said Niagara would likely receive at least half of the $250,000, and the money will go toward Niagara Nutrition Partners, which until this year delivered a hot breakfast, lunch and snacks to 17,000 children at more than180 Niagara schools each day. Due to COVID-19, it has had to re-think its operating plan and for now is providing only snacks, while phasing in its program a few schools at a time.
Schurman said Firstontario’s Blue Wave program encourages staff to volunteer in the community, and many help with programs to ensure students receive a healthy lunch or snack each day.
He said “my eyes were opened, as well as many of our staff, as we went out to volunteer at schools.”
He pointed to studies showing kids who are properly fed perform better at school, absorb more of what they are taught and are better able to stay focused.
Schurman said he expects Firstontario’s donations to top the $2-million mark by next year.