Trading verbal blows, exchanging “pleasantries” and generally communicating via insult, to a casual observer, you’d be hard pushed to believe this group of guys was actually friends.
And with the few (OK, more than a few) F-bombs that were being dropped — there was more colour in their language than a rainbow — it was difficult to comprehend that these four retired gents were part of a 30-strong battalion of 10-pin bowlers who even remotely liked each other enough to acknowledge one another’s presence, let alone meet every Tuesday for the last 19 years at The Zone at Riverport.
That is, however, what they did do; once a week for a couple of hours, as well as getting together on four of the other days at Richmond Centre’s food court for a coffee and “discussion” on how to save the world.
After learning that The Zone had been locked out by its landlord for unpaid rent, thus shuttering Richmond’s only 10-pin facility, four of the group’s “members,” all in their 70s, met with the Richmond News to lament the loss of their Tuesday session.
Perched on the high stools near the top of the escalator into Richmond Centre’s food court, the guys, bearing an uncanny resemblance to The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, were already in full banter mode when the News arrived.
“But it’s not really about the bowling; it’s more about the social aspect; we’re actually shitty at bowling, especially Wayne,” said one of the group’s founders, Roy Stevenson, while bracing for the inevitable retort from his “friend” Wayne Milne.
Deflecting attention away from said bowling skills, Milne made poetic reference to lack of coffee in the cup given to him a moment ago by Stevenson.
“We have lots and lots of laughs, the camaraderie is great,” added Stevenson.
“We only ever had to ask one person to leave in all those years; he was kicking things around, but he was shitty at bowling, as well.”
It all started, according to Stevenson, at an alley called Top Gun 23 years ago, which used to be where Aberdeen Centre now sits.
They were originally a group of Tuesday golfers out at Quilchena in west Richmond, which evolved (devolved) into 10-pin bowling, reportedly due to some of the golfing group’s lack of golfing acumen.
“We started bowling because some of us couldn’t golf; we were shitty at that, too,” said Stevenson.
Four years later after forming their Tuesday bowling session, they had moved to The Zone and went there every week for 19 years, except when the Tuesday fell on Christmas Day.
“We walked up to the door (two weeks ago) and there were locks on it. It was closed. Our balls, shoes, everything, was all inside,” said group member Cam Varcoe.
“So, we called a place at Fraser and Marine (in Vancouver) and they accepted us straight away, so we’re very grateful to them.
“It was pretty nice at The Zone, but it was very quiet; we always wondered how it survived.”
Stevenson said he could “kind of see it going down; that’s the way it goes, I guess.”
The News reported last week how The Zone Bowling and its sub-tenant, Big River Brew Pub, also known as Be Right Back Brew Pub, in the Riverport Sports and Entertainment Complex closed over The Zone owing $55,000 in unpaid rent to its landlord.
The Zone, owned by a numbered company, has initiated bankruptcy proceedings after failing to pay its rent.
