Northeastern Open gives bowlers competition and community

Feb. 26--A s much as the Northeastern Open Championships at Yankee Lanes is about bowling, to a community of bowlers, it is about friendship, a son spending time with his father -- and there's even a love story.

The six-week tournament is celebrating 50 years of strikes and spares with over 160 teams competing over six weekends.

Jeff Barden started attending the tournament when he was 10 years old to keep score for his father, Ray, and his team -- when scores were done by hand with pencil and scoresheet. Forty-two years later, Barden owns Yankee Lanes and has been running the tournament since creators Ernie Johnson and George Hill passed it on to him in 2006.

And since the first tournament in 1967, Charlie and Diane Harris have been volunteers every February.

In 1965, Diane was working with the junior bowling program in Keene. Charlie was working at the lanes as a mechanic. Two years later, the two were married.

Every year, the two have dedicated their time to the tournament, Diane filling out entry forms and calculating handicaps while Charlie catches rounds on the lanes and helps teams with their scoring sheets.

"It is good to see the bowlers come back year after year," said Diane, 75, a retired executive secretary in the insurance business. "Of course, everything has gotten easier for us since it first started with electronic scoring now."

Charlie is amazed at how the sport has grown technologically, as well.

"The equipment they use now is so advanced, they can really whip the ball and put spin on it," he said. "But people have always been the same, great people."

Charlie, who turns 78 on Thursday, is still a volunteer for the Keene Fire Department. At the lanes, he worked his way up from mechanic to manage the bowling center for 21 years. He gave Barden his first job at 13 years old painting gutters for $3.10 an hour.

The Harris' still bowl once or twice a week, though they both admit their games have slipped a little over the years. Watching the tournament grow exponentially through the years, they are amazed by the support.

"The bowlers really love the area and people are so great," Diane said. "Jeff has done an amazing job with the bowling community here."

When Barden took the reins of the tournament in 2006, 44 teams sent in entries and the purse sat at $12,000. Last year, the tournament grew to 162 teams and this year is on pace to match or top that number. The purse is $40,000.

Barden has started broadcasting the tournament on Facebook Live, and hopes to add color commentary next year. In 10 years at the helm, he has turned Keene into one of the premier bowling centers in New England.

"Day for day, dollar for dollar, this is the biggest tournament in New England," said Barden, who became the owner of Yankee Lanes in 2014. "You don't think of Keene being this bowling mecca, but this place draws a lot of buzz."

"They really pack the place, they basically book up the Best Western," Barden added. "They come up to have a good, fun weekend. They want to go out to eat, they go to bars. I haven't seen any numbers but I imagine it's a good thing for all local businesses."

The tournament is unique in that it is an open competition. Anyone is welcome to come in with a partner or a team and fill an open lane. The tournament is broken down into teams, doubles and singles with scratch and handicap divisions.

Back when the tournament was first created, scores were logged on sheets of paper. Hill, Johnson and Barden used to peruse through the entries to find winners. Now, every score is copied and logged into a database created by Barden.

On Saturday morning, bowlers began packing in the Park Avenue joint at 9 a.m. for the fourth weekend of competition. Down on lane eight, John Van Hees and Alex Aguiar settled in with their group of 19 bowlers.

A pitcher of beer and a deck cards on the table, and bowling bags sprawled across the floor, the atmosphere is laid back, but the competition is spirited. Van Hees, who travels internationally with the PBA, rolled three consecutive strikes to start off a fresh game.

"There have always been a ton of good times up here," said Van Hees, 35, of Cumberland, R.I., playing in the tournament for the 16th consecutive year. "It has always been a really relaxed and loose weekend. Over the years it has gotten more competitive but it has been a fun time and a place to bring a big group of friends."

Barden speculates that Van Hees is one of about a dozen PBA affiliated bowlers that roll into Keene over the tournament's six weeks. A large portion of the bowlers also roll for the New England Bowlers Association.

"It's the atmosphere. Its the small town feel," said Aguiar, 37, of Dartmouth, Mass., who first bowled the tournament at 17. "This is the one you circle on the calendar every year. I hold this tournament very near and dear."

Competition carries through the next two weekends at Yankee Lanes, concluding on March 12. Spectator admission is free.

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(c)2017 The Keene Sentinel (Keene, N.H.)

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