52 Ancestors Week 34: Play Time

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 34:

The theme for Week 34 is “Play Time.” (This should be fun!) Who in your family tree had a playful demeanor? Anyone play a sport or an instrument? How about someone who was in a school play?

Be careful with that Wii Remote!

   I was initially going to write a blog this week about family game night and how we have a wide variety of board games in our house. Seriously. We have everything from "Monopoly" to "Trivial Pursuit". You name it, we likely have it. There's not really much to write about as my brother and I typically just played with our parents on rainy days like most other kids our age. Even then, our attention on those games didn't last very long.

    Instead of writing about how I trounced my brother in "Monopoly" by buying the orange properties, I'll be diving into the world of Candlepin bowling and how my parents ruled the lanes from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. Ironically enough, it was through bowling that I became interested in video games. Shocking, right? I'm such a '90s kid. 

    Before we get started, let me explain what Candlepin bowling is and how it differs from the more widely known sport. In New England and in the Canadian maritime provinces, we have a variation of bowling where we use smaller bowling balls without any holes. The pins are also taller, narrower and you guessed it are shaped like candles. Hence the name.  Apart from that, the rules are pretty much the same. We still have to wear other peoples' clown shoes. Gross.

    My father, James Ferraiolo, was always interested in hitting the lanes. He had joined various leagues in his hometown of Haverhill and when he and my mom returned to New England in the mid 1970s to raise a family, they joined the league at Park Place Lanes in Windham, New Hampshire.

    There they would bowl in either the Women's League, the Men's League or the Couple's League.  If they were really, really good they would even have a chance to be on WNDS, the local television station that aired bowling tournaments every Sunday at noon. "Candlepin Stars and Strikes" was the name of the show and thankfully you can find the action on YouTube! Check the channel out here! 

    It was fun watching my parents bowl every Monday night while I was growing up and I loved every minute of it. They did exceptionally well and eventually my brother and I were taught how to bowl. I can't say how good or bad I was. However, I could tell you that I had heart. And that would be lying. I did the best I could even though I had the coordination of a wounded gazelle. Chris was out of his element for sure.

    At least Park Place Lanes had something else for the kids to do. While our parents bowled, we had four options for fun activities. We could watch the action on the lanes. We could get laughed at mercilessly by other kids as we attempted to bowl ourselves. We could eat burgers, pizza, grilled cheese and other goodies at the restaurant called "The Alley Cat Diner". And lastly we could spend our parents' hard earned cash at the state-of-the-art arcade. 

My kingdom for a working X-Men cabinet.

    The arcade was the best option for us by far because they had the best games and while we obviously went to other arcades around the Merrimack valley, it was at Park Place Lanes that I was introduced to the likes of "Mario", "Pac-Man", "Donkey Kong" and other gaming icons.

    My brother and I would play the games and just before we went home my parents would come over and see what we were up to. I can safely say I did better at games like "X-Men" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". I preferred games where you could work with someone. Plus beat 'em up games are great for stress relief if you had a really rough day at school.

    As the '80s continued, my brother and I were introduced to home consoles like the Atari 2600 and the Nintendo Entertainment System. Friends of ours had the NES and it was through that console that I grew to love not the just Mario games but the "Legend of Zelda" series as well. My parents knew that eventually we had to bring the arcade action home from the bowling alley. 

Begun, the "Console Wars" have.

In 1989, my parents bought my brother and I a Sega Genesis and we played that thing nonstop throughout the '90s. Don't worry. We let our parents play, too. Our father enjoyed playing games like "Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf" and a few other launch titles. It was fun and we played with him all the time. We also enjoyed several other titles like "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Toejam and Earl" "Ecco the Dolphin" and many, many NBA, NFL or NHL related games. In our house, the Genesis ruled over Nintendo even though we definitely liked several Nintendo games our friends were playing.

    The funniest thing in the world was showing the games and everything to Grandma Ollie whenever she came over to the house.  For the longest time Ollie was the only grandparent who was within driving distance. I don't remember if we showed the games to my dad's cousins or our great-aunts, Louise and Ellie. We might have. 

    When we got the Genesis, my brother and I were excited to show grandma the ins and outs of the system. My brother talked about the technical aspects, of course. Me? My contribution was "Look at how fast Sonic the Hedgehog goes!" Hey. Not all of us are interested in how things worked. I was just glad it did.....once I blew into the cartridge.

    In all honesty, I think she was more interested in the toys my brother and I were playing with at the time. Like the board games, we had pretty much every major toy line of the '80s and '90s represented in our rooms. We had everything from "Legos" and "Transformers" to "Masters of the Universe". I'm not sure why. I think she liked seeing us play with the toys more as we were very creative. She definitely liked the weird and not quite aerodynamic Lego spaceships I created back in the day!  

    The introduction of video games didn't end our trips to the bowling alley by any means. No, we still went there every once in a while. After a certain point we got older and my brother wanted to stay home. Jim would make dinner we dined on those lovely microwaved dinner kits from Budget Gourmet. It was never anything elaborate. Trust me. 

Wii would like to play.

    Eventually, my parents stopped bowling and by that time my brother and I created our own arcade of Genesis, Nintendo Game Cube, Wii, Game Gear, Game Boy and PC games. Those games became the highlight of every Christmas eve party as my cousins and I would play those games for hours on end. To list every game we ever had would take quite some time.

    Grandma Ollie still never quite figured the games out despite sleeping in our game den whenever she stayed over.  However, she was glad we enjoyed them.  In the end, that was all that mattered to her. She was a kind person and just enjoyed seeing her grandkids happy. Thankfully, we always finished our game before she had to go to bed!

    As for bowling? Well, even though "Wii Sports" had a bowling minigame, my father never really played it. We did play the then newest edition of "Punch Out". I just don't think the Wii was ever his thing and those motion control games really give someone a workout. Don't get me wrong. Both of my parents have tried using the Wii and everything. I think they were content to do other things. It's not like I never asked them if they wanted to play!

    Once my nephews were old enough, we went back to where the gaming adventure began. We went back to Park Place Lanes and sure enough the arcade was still there even though the roster of games changed many times. It's a lot of work maintaining thirty to forty year old arcade cabinets.

     It was amazing to me because by the 2010s arcades became a rare commodity through no fault of their own. Home video game consoles just took over the market. At least they banked on nostalgia and that kept them afloat for quite some time. We even took the kids to an actual arcade that was still operating. It was nostalgic for us and a blast for the kids! We introduced the kids to the classics and they loved every minute of it. Some things never change!

    Park Place Lanes eventually closed for good a few years ago and the memories are still fresh in my mind. My parents weren't the only ones in the family to bowl, by the way! My Aunt Linda joined in on the fun on more than a few occasions when she wasn't busy showing dogs. The alley may be gone. However, I have to give it credit for getting me excited for the gaming hobby I now enjoy and watching my parents bowl was always fun. And we did bowl together every once in a while, too. Those were good times and good memories!

See ya next time!

P.S. It's also interesting to note that after the so-called "Console Wars", Nintendo ended up publishing Sega games in various collections. Mario and Sonic have crossed paths many times. Many classic video games are also now available on various consoles and Steam. You can now have an arcade in the palms of your hand.

The image of Park Place Lanes is property of Google Earth.