Oak Orchard Bowl celebrates 65th anniversary, including 20 years with Hanks family
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Randy Hanks and his son Robbie are shown are Oak Orchard Bowl last Thursday when the center had a full house for its men’s league.
The Hanks family is celebrating 20 years of owning the bowling alley, which is also marking its 65th anniversary this year. The 18-lane bowling center is on Route 98 at 3291 Oak Orchard Rd.
The Hanks family has tackled numerous improvements to the bowling center during their two decades at the helm, including a new oil machine, synthetic lanes, flooring, carpeting and remodeled bath rooms.
Hanks was named “Proprietor of the Year” in New York state in 2014 by the United States Bowling Congress. The family has improved the facility, promoted youth bowling and backed several fundraisers in the community, especially for the PAWS Animal Shelter and a memorial for Scott Whittier. The bowling tournaments for PAWS have raised about $40,000.
Randy Hanks is shown at the check-in counter. He has owned Oak Orchard Bowl for 20 years. The first 13 years he juggled a full-time job with FedEx while managing the bowling center full-time.
“Its been a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” he said.
Hanks said his family – wife Renee, daughter Regina, and sons Robbie and Ryan – have been a big part of Oak Orchard’s success.
Many of the long-time bowlers praise Hanks for the steady improvements at the bowling center. Joe Morlino is part of the Thursday Men’s League.
“Every year he does something to make it better,” Morlino said. “He’s a great guy who is very fair. He puts money back into the place.”
Since the old wooden lanes were replaced with synthetic lanes, Morlino said there have been many more 300 games and 800 series.
“The most important thing is there are no breakdowns,” Morlino said.
Hanks praised his head mechanic, Marty Clemino, for keeping the pin-setter machines in good working order.
Randy Hanks calls out the winning 50/50 number. That fundraiser supported the Thursday Men’s League which runs from September through April.
Oak Orchard also has a kitchen with a fryer and grill serving pizza, wings, salads, pretzels, nachos and cheese, and other food.
Hanks has rolled some 300 games himself. He said he wanted to be a pro bowler but had to abandon that dream because of bad knees.
He also dreamed of running a bowling center. The Spencerport resident has been able to pursue that passion in Albion for the past two decades.
Oak Orchard Bowl has hosted hundreds of birthday parties, corporate parties, church groups, Albion High School sports teams, band, chorus and other functions during the 20 years of ownership, Hanks said.
To celebrate the Oak Orchard Bowl anniversary, Hanks said the center will be giving away a few 65-inch TVs in a contest that deals with a game/series ending in 65 or 20. There will be drawings for open bowlers, too.
Randy Hanks is shown by a wall leading into the men’s bathroom. He used old wooden lanes to redo the bathrooms about two years. It’s the improvement project that gets the most compliments from the public, he said.
This year’s improvement project was replacing all the pins.
Mike Pettinella, one of the long-time bowlers and retired associate manager of the Genesee Region for the USBC, said Hanks has created a very welcoming environment for bowlers of all skill levels in Albion.
“He is very customer-oriented,” said Pettinella of Batavia. “He will go above and beyond to make people feel comfortable. He’s well respected and people enjoy coming here to bowl.”
