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He got a job at Town & Country in 1962 as a house promoter.Ī few years later, he met his wife Ann there and eventually had an opportunity to become co-owner of the establishment, which he's called home ever since. Lebold returned to his hometown, bowling still in his blood.

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Bowling alleys with stadium-style seating were built.īut with no TV contract like the more established PBA, the National Bowling League struggled financially.

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The league was designed to rival the Professional Bowlers Association, focusing more on team success than individual achievements. Cities bought franchises and put together teams to compete in a league like the NFL and other pro sports.Ī point system was devised. His roommate was Billy Hardwick, future Hall of Fame bowler. He was one of nine bowlers on the team when the Bombers opened league play that October. Lebold was 22 at the time and a senior at what was then Oregon College of Education in Monmouth. NFL Hall of Famer: Anthony Munoz to speak at Salem YMCA in April Reports in the newspaper estimated he stood to make $12,000 for the season, including exhibits and tournaments. He still has his copy of the contract, printed on blue paper and folded neatly in a box of memorabilia at his Keizer home just a stone's throw of the bowling alley. His contract called for him to be paid $6,250 for 26 weeks of bowling, beginning that fall. Photographs of Lebold with Phipps and his parents, Lloyd and Mildred, were published in The Oregon Statesman and the Capital Journal. The signing took place at Cherry City Bowl with owner and operator Dick Phipps acting as the Bombers' representative. He signed a standard players contract in May 1961 with the Fresno City Bombers. His circumstances changed significantly the following year, when he was one of two Oregon bowlers drafted by the National Bowling League Association.

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was announced, Lebold questioned the location: 'I was poor, had no driver's license and remember thinking, 'Who is going to drive that far out of town to go bowling?' ' When the plan to build the new 'pin palace' on River Road N. Town & Country opened in 1960, long before Keizer was incorporated. Residents had their choice of six different places to bowl. I dream about that.' Going pro and back home againīowling was popular in the Salem area in the 1950s and '60s. 'I just imagine what I could have done with the equipment we have now. 'Scores have gone up astronomically,' he says, crediting or blaming the reactive resin bowling ball. Just a few years ago, 210 was the 10th-best average in the house at Town & Country. Even Lebold scoffs at how unimpressive that sounds today.

When he was 20, he had the state's high bowling average of 205. 1 singles spot on the South Salem High tennis team. He claimed $300 in prize money for winning a tournament his senior year, which cost him his amateur status and No.

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By the time he was 14, he was bowling in a men's league.Ī series of titles and trophies followed. He was even more skilled on the front end, but there were no youth leagues back then. On a good afternoon or evening, he could make upwards of $3 in 2½ hours, which today would equate to better than minimum wage. Vote for Athlete of the Week: Nominees from South Salem, Central, Cascade 'Pins and balls would be flying from both sides.' He worked as a pinsetter, getting paid a dime a game to manually reset pins to their correct positions, clear out fallen pins from the lanes, and return balls to players.īefore automation, because of limited space between the pins and back wall, bowling alleys would hire young boys to squeeze into position to do the work entirely by hand.

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He grew up in Salem in the 1940s and '50s, spending much of his free time at University Bowling Alley just a few blocks from his house. Lebold's life reads like a bowling fairy tale, if there is such a thing. The grandchildren may or may not know they're getting tips from a former pro. The 81-year-old is as much of an icon as the 60-year-old bowling alley, if not more so. Lebold has watched many of these people grow up here, raise families and then bring their grandchildren back for lessons - which he never charges for.

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