My Nickel’s Worth                                         by Randy Ooney

 

Best of the West

 

I was born during the administration of Harry S. Truman.  It was many years before I learned that President Truman didn’t have a middle name, and the “S” was inserted for political reasons.  In 1957 I learned my first Russian word, “Sputnik”, and ate my first McDonald’s meal, a hamburger, french fries, and a shake for 45 cents.   There were only a handful of McDonald’s restaurants then, we went to the one in St. Louis Park near the High School. 

 

On warm days, we would walk the railroad tracks to Target (T2) to get a bag of popcorn for 9 cents.  If we were wealthy that day, we could maybe get one of those donuts, made right before your very eyes, for another 9 cents of so.  The Target enhanced the new Knollwood Shopping Center, also in St. Louis Park.  Knollwood was built to compete with Miracle Mile, another center in the Park, and home of Star Bowling Supply.  Seems like St. Louis Park had everything except……….

 

A new bowling center.  Tom Sheehan was a business pioneer in Hopkins.  He owned a liquor store on Excelsior Avenue between 8th and 9th.  Travel up the stairs, and there was a small 6 lane bowling center in a dingy smoke filled environment.  Pins were set by pinboys in the back, and the price of a “line” of bowling was 30 cents.  My first games were bowled there, but progress loomed on the horizon.  Mr. Sheehan, along with business partner Earl Rodgers, built and operated a beautiful 16 lane center on the west side of Shady Oak Road.  State of the art, with automatic pinsetters and ball returns, and overhead projected telescores, so you could see how everyone was doing.  Saturday was kid’s day.  Three games and shoes for a dollar.  You did not need your own ball, they had plenty that you could borrow.  I started out with one of the speckled ones, but as I acquired the strength and hand size of a teen, I outgrew the speckled ball.  There was a certain status among youth, to be able to roll an all black bowling ball.  I settled for a Brunswick Black Beauty, number 44.  If it was in use, I found that number 45 was almost as good.

 

 

In the 60’s, a new building was constructed on the east side of Shady Oak Road.  The 16 lanes were moved across the street, and eight new lanes were added.  The previous center became the Hopkins VFW.  Hopkins Lanes has changed hands a few times since then, and is now owned and operated by my friends, the Tuttle’s. 

 

I don’t think there was a lot of profit for Mr. Sheehan in the dollar we paid to bowl on those many Saturdays.  We weren’t old enough to drink anything stronger than a ten cent root beer.  But we grew up and Hopkins Lanes became the place to display the skills we learned on those many Saturday mornings.  Mr. Sheehan has gone before us to his rest, but his wife, my Mom’s “Raspberry Rockette” teammate,  Vivian remains comfortable in the west suburbs.  I salute these folks for the foundation they helped build for our sport today. 

 

    

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