Natick bid farewell to Fairway candlepin bowling lanes 10 year ago

May 3, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

I wouldn’t call myself a closet candlepin bowler, but I never did mention to colleagues at my old job in Framingham when I’d head over to Fairway Bowling in Natick to get in a few strings during my lunch break. That made sure I was ready for our annual company bowling outing, where I was only too happy to trot out my own shoes and balls as an intimidation tactic in advance of inevitable victory.

But all that ended in 2011 when Fairway Bowling closed, and the building wound up as part of Dover Rug’s carpet and squash empire on Rte. 9 west.

Fairway’s demise after around 60 years in business has been one of many among candlepin bowling alleys, with just 18 centers now listed on the Massachusetts Bowling Association website. Perhaps venues like the Level99 one coming to Natick Mall will be the future of entertainment, but I keep hoping against economic reality that somehow candlepin can make a comeback more than 100 years after first appearing on the scene.

The Bowling Browns

I come from something of a hometown bowling dynasty: My parents were perennial champs in their respective leagues, and my brothers and I largely dominated Saturday morning leagues at Milford Candlepin. I don’t ever recall us returning from one of the endless bowling banquets we attended without hardware.

The TV in our house was tuned into locally-produced bowling shows on the weekends, and my Dad did the “rolloff” rounds at regional bowling alleys to try getting on those shows (came sooooo close a number of times). Gifts for my Dad ranged from bowling towels to new bowling bags to bowling gift certificates.

Working at the now-defunct Milford Candlepin as a teen, first as a custodian and later as a pin machine mechanic, gave me no edge against my competitors. My bosses never let me bowl a free string, figuring my minimum wage afforded me the free cash to pay my own way. I’ll chalk that up to a life lesson or something.

bowling trophies — Not sure why I still have these, think I’ll whittle the collection down to 1 keeper.

Bowling returns

I largely abandoned candlepin bowling after high school, though toyed with joining an adult league now and then, coming out of nowhere to once again rule the lanes. Bowling didn’t really return into my life until we had kids, when the alleys became part of the birthday circuit.

We’ll always be thankful to Fairway Bowling for that time we had a birthday party for one of our boys scheduled for the Village Green miniature golf course that got thundered and lightninged out, and Fairway hesitantly worked our crew of 8- and 9-year-olds in at the last second.

fairway bowling party — Last-second Fairway Bowling birthday party

We’d visit the lanes from time to time with the kids outside of birthdays, and always for their spectacular animatronic Christmas decoration display.

While I’ve stopped lugging my candlepin bowling balls in my car’s trunk—just in case I came across an alley in my travels—I will to this day defend the small balls as being more fun than tenpin bowling (nothing against tenpin, just prefer candlepin).

And once the pandemic truly subsides, we will be paying a visit to Norwood, Needham, or one of the other communities that is still home to candlepin lanes, bowling bag in tow.

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Have we rescued a piece of South Natick’s red footbridge?

March 25, 2021 by Bob Brown 3 Comments

Update 3/27/21: The owners of the bridge got in contact with us and we were able to reunite them with their bridge part. Happy ending!

We consider ourselves stewards of the Charles River, keeping a sharp eye on the area in South Natick from around Elm Bank Reservation’s Cheney Bridge to the South Natick Dam.

So when we saw a big chunk of red wood cradled in a giant tree that fell across the Charles several years ago and now collects all manner of junk, we headed over to explore. The wood was the color of picnic tables we’ve seen, but too hefty to be from one, and we haven’t seen any ships on this end of the Charles sizable enough to have ejected such flotsam.

We could be completely wrong, but suspect it can only be one thing: A piece of the iconic red footbridge that traverses the river just west of the dam along Rte. 16. The wood had traveled at least a mile, including over the South Natick Dam spillway, which has been known to snag a log or two.

According to the Natick Historical Society, the bridge was bequeathed to former property owner Daniel Sargent, who died in 1987. We’ve seen the structure referred to as the Sargent Bridge.

We last paddled under that span during an epic kayak adventure this past November, and the waterlogged hunk of wood we found looks to be of the same hue as the footbridge. We’re just glad the piece didn’t fall off while we or anyone else was going under.

Doing my best impersonation of whichever storied explorer isn’t known for evil doings, I kayaked over to the tree and dislodged the hefty 3-plus foot long and 6-inch wide/deep beam from the tree. I propped it atop the front of my vessel, doing my best to keep balanced and bring it safely to shore.

Our find is pretty punky on one side, apparently breaking off from another piece, though one end is in great condition, with grooves intact.

Not having heard any reports of the Japanese-style bridge collapsing, I assume the wooden piece we found had plenty of backups. The privately-owned bridge connects land on one side of the river to a Grand Georgian Revival home on the other that my wife has visited for an open house.

Crossing the bridge remains on our local bucket list, and we’ll no doubt check that off at some point.

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Oldtown historical walking tour tickets going fast

March 20, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Join local historian Terri Evans for a stroll through the heart of South Natick at a free Natick Historical Society walking tour on June 6 (April 3 and May 2 tours are full). The tours include discussion of the 17th-century “Praying Indian” settlement and of the 19th-century local residents who inspired the characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Oldtown Folks.

Tours are capped at 10 people. A mask must be worn properly at all times. This program is free and open to the public. The tour will last 45-60 minutes and requires registration. Tours start and end at Bacon Free Library/Natick History Museum at 58 Eliot St.

Private walking tours of Oldtown can also be arranged.

Happy 240th, sort of birthday, Natick

February 19, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Natick was incorporated 240 years ago today, Feb. 19. The Town was founded in 1651, though settled many years before that by native Americans.

The dates are shown on the Natick town seal, which is being re-examined now by a review committee in light of the current seal being widely seen as inappropriate in its depiction of Indigenous People.