Lucky Stryx was ‘super busy’ with bowlers during March Break

While there are new owners of Fort Erie’s only bowling alley, it can still be nostalgic for local residents who frequented it in the younger years.

Lucky Stryx on Klauck Street has been operating under Jeff Ellis and his team since 2019, taking over from Larry Carroll, who was the face of Carroll’s Bowling Lanes for about 50 years.

Ellis previously owned Jeff’s Bowl-O-Rama in Welland on Niagara Street, which has been demolished to make way for a development.

But Lucky Stryx in Fort Erie was “super busy” all March Break, said manager Lisa Randall on Friday afternoon as each lane was full and parents and kids were seen enjoying themselves.

“It’s a reasonable way to entertain your family for an hour or two,” said Randall.

During the break, the local business offered a deal for $35 (tax included), which booked a lane for an hour and provided up to six bowlers with their shoe rental.

The venue has always been a five-pin format, the only one of its kind in this end of the region. There are five-pin alleys in St. Catharines and Dunnville, the two nearest ones, said Randall.

Shortly after taking over the business, COVID-19 hit and the local alley was closed for about two years, Randall told Fort Erie Radio in an interview on Friday.

They are have been “steadily” getting back to normal since the pandemic was declared over and restrictions started to become lifted.

Winter is peak season, she noted.

“Once the warmer weather hits, it tends to get a bit slower,” said Randall.

Birthday parties are a popular reservation they take, and there are mixed-league nights on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The ‘Kids Bowl Free’ program, which requires registration, runs all summer, she said.

There is also a senior’s group on Wednesday afternoons.

She said some of the bowlers are “more serious than others,” but that it’s a great social activity for everyone who participates.

Kathleen Buonocore, a long-time Fort Erie resident, was there Friday with several family members, which included a total of nine children.

“It kind of brings back memories from my childhood,” she said, admitting she attended many birthday parties for classmates many years ago.

Still hanging on the wall is a Niagara Falls Review article from November 1991 about local resident Angelo Sansano after he bowled a perfect game at Carroll’s.

The story was written by former Review reporter and editor Gord Howard, who is also a Fort Erie resident.

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