Nothing is stopping Lew Slocum from bowling, not his age, nor his family—he is set to turn 100 on Feb. 2, and still taking to the 12 lanes at Slocum’s Bowling Center with gusto. His father, Lewis Slocum Sr., started the business back in 1939, passing the property, and his name, on.
Lew Slocum’s son, “Chip” Slocum, currently runs the business, having taken over in 1984. Slocum’s Bowling Center shares the space with Sloc’s Grille, facing the street along Pennington Road. Their sign whimsically transforms the ‘o’ in their last name into a bowling ball, and for three generations, the Slocum family has been bowling perfect games.
With a building that originally served as a truck repair and automobile dealership, Chip told the Observer that when men were drafted in the first world war, his grandfather decided to put in eight lanes of bowling, as well as a small snack bar.
Lew was drafted in 1942 for WWII, and after basic training, he was sent to Kelly Field, Texas, to join the 84th Depot Repair Squadron.
Prior to the formation of the U.S. Army Air Forces, the aviation-focused unit of the military was known as the U.S. Army Air Corps. With his squadron, Lew went to Africa for three months, then onto Italy at the Foggia Airfield Complex.
At the air bases, Lew and his team would repair planes to go back into service. Following a year and a half of being in southern Italy, the war ended in Germany, so Lew’s team headed to Spokane, Washington.
There, he joined the baseball team, reminiscing of playing the sport in his younger years.
“We were practicing on the field one day, and all of a sudden those sirens and whistles start blowing, so the lieutenant says to one of the fellas there on the team, ‘take my jeep and go up and see what happened.’ He came speeding back and he says ‘Japan just surrendered,’” Lew says. “That was the end of that.”
But it was not the end of his career, because back in Italy, his father had written him a letter asking if his son, now newly-discharged from the service, was interested in the business.
The answer was simple.
“I wrote back and told him ‘yes, if he could hold on, I’d like to try it,’” Lew says. “I’d go in the morning and clean up, which took about four hours in those days.”
Then, he would help get business started until the second shift, come home for rest and then make the journey back the next morning, seven days a week.
For two years, Lew worked for his father, and when the latter retired, Lew went from renting the property to purchasing it from his dad.
Lew settled down with “a very wonderful wife” and had children—two daughters and Chip, as well as another daughter from a previous marriage.
In 1955, the successor and son installed four more lanes, then bought the bar next store to it.
Lewis Sr. passed away the same year. Not only did he receive the business from his father, but Lew was given his gun for trap shooting—a hobby long-enjoyed by the family.
“I was trap shooting up until a few years ago. My father was the state champion trap shooter five times, and actually, my mother was state champion once for women in 1930,” Lew says. “[My father] was very good. He was one of the best in the east at the time.”
In 1956, Lew officially attached the bar to the bowling center, running it all for several decades afterwards. He has since handed down the business to Chip, but comes over from his house right next to the location, where he was “born and raised.”
Putting his own spin on the center, Chip added a small restaurant in 2000 called Sloc’s Grille. The decision to open an area specifically for food is an extension of the similar work his father did with the bar, and although it was added on a whim, the inclusion of an eatery has continued building upon the Slocum legacy.
Customers have the ability to freely walk through the connected space from one part to the other with ease, meaning that waitresses can serve patrons who wish to dine either at the bowling alley itself or the restaurant.
“It’s all one business really, now,” Chip says. “Each time we did something, we got a little busier, but because of inflation over the years, it always never seemed to make what it should.”
“But we’re ‘people’ people. We like dealing with people, and that’s the way we were all brought up,” he continued.
Sloc’s Grille offers catering too, extending their services to events with platters, party trays and even buffets available at a price per person.
“For a small place, we do a lot of catering,” Chip says. “That’s what’s keeping us going.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Chip employed about 12 people. With the national climate surrounding the workplace, that number has been cut in half, making it difficult for him to find new staff.
“It’s a tough business. It’s seven days a week, it’s (difficult) getting help, and you’re working a lot of hours. It’s almost impossible to keep up, for one person to do,” Chip says.
Coming from a family that works together, now including his youngest son, Danny, Chip says that this path always felt right for him—even from a young age.
“That’s what I grew up around, so it just seemed normal to me to work six, seven days a week. That’s the way it is now, that’s the family business,” he says.
Lew says he wants to “do as little as possible” for his birthday, but Slocum’s has events in store, with plans to offer one-dollar specials on bowling games and draft beers.
It is all to celebrate the man himself, who never shows his age, just his high spirits. He lives alone, cooking and taking care of his needs as independently as possible.
“My father’s in very good shape,” Chip says. “He’s very active.”
Now, the family owns four houses in addition to the business. Lew says he looks forward to bowling on Tuesdays every week, but he acknowledges that the sport has changed over the years, both generally and aesthetically.
“It’s an entirely different game now,” he says. “The conditions are different. We had wood lanes, in our day, and now they have synthetic lanes that they put on top of the lanes and use that instead of the wood lanes.”
Players at Slocum’s Bowling Center can rent shoes for $5 a pair, then bowl for anywhere from $3 for college students on weekdays, to $4 for seniors and all other ages, with the prices changing according to the time of day or day of the week.
A full schedule on their website dictates when bowling is open or reserved for specific groups and leagues, all to ensure that there is enough space during their hours of operation.
Slocum’s Bowling Center has several leagues including ladies, men’s, junior, daytime and various other teams. Their reemergence, as well as successes, surprised Chip.
“[Leagues] came back strong after the pandemic. I didn’t think they would, but they definitely came back to being normal. I have at least two leagues a day other than Sunday, and some days I have three. We’re quite busy right now,” he says.
Tournaments are still going strong, too, and Slocum’s Bowling Center’s Thanksgiving Eve Mini-Marathon completely sold out last year.
There is usually a Hangover Tournament on New Year’s Day as well, but it was canceled due to concerns surrounding COVID. Chip says that unfortunately, about 16 bowlers backed out due to fear or exposure.
“I’ve been running a tournament since 1984, three every year, and they’ve been sold out since then. It’s tougher because the other bowling centers in the area are closing down, so it’s tough getting bowlers to bowl in the tournaments because they’re getting less and less bowlers,” Chip says.
Besides the leagues and tournaments, Slocum’s also offers children’s birthday parties at group rates. They have a Pro Shop for any specific needs pertaining to bowling balls, such as resurfacing and installing finger grips.
For Lew, seeing the success and longevity of the business is a pleasure.
“It means a lot to me. I worked hard at it. I worked seven days a week at it, just as Chip’s doing now, and Chip’s done an excellent job,” he says. “We have quite a piece of property now that we’re very proud of.”
About where the business goes next, though, Lew is leaving that decision up to his son.
When asked about the enduring benefits of working alongside his family, Chip recalls a memory from childhood that has stuck with him.
“It makes it so much better. That’s why we’re into this. We love dealing with people,” he says. “Years ago, we closed on Thanksgiving. People came into the bar, they had nowhere to go. My mother would cook a turkey for them, a Thanksgiving meal, and then she’d go over and serve it to them at the bar, so that’s the way I was brought up.”
“As a little kid, I remember that,” Chip says. “I guess it’s in me now.”
Lew Slocum, center, turns 100 this month. He is pictured with his grandson, Danny (left), and son, Chip (right).,
