By BILL SNIER
MINERVA — When Beverlee and Bill Palmer were going together, their parents were both shopkeepers in this small Stark County town.
But Bill’s parents also were bowlers. Which is where this story of 50 years of consistent bowling center ownership begins.
“Bill told me his parents wanted us to go bowling with them. I told him I never bowled before,” Beverlee said. “My parents owned a billiard hall and lunch counter so I only played pool.
“He convinced me to try it. So he showed me how to hold the ball and I got up there, took my backswing and the ball went straight back between my future mother-in-law’s legs.
“She said, ‘See Bill, she’s trying to kill me.’ I told him then, ‘Don’t ever take me in a bowling alley again.’ ”
Five years later, the pair — who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in January and are both age 85 (Beverlee is 15 days older) — bought Minerva Bowl.
“Now,” Bill said, “she won’t leave.”
“Now,” Beverlee added, “it’s our life.”
The Palmers, who will be enshrined into the Stark County USBC Hall of Fame in August, are celebrating 50 years of ownership at the eight-lane center, which they bought from Dick Mount. Mount, a former Minerva councilman and mayor, built the center in 1947 — making it the oldest active center in Stark County.
“I was in the Rotary with (Mount). At the time, I owned a pool room, clothing store and picture show,” Bill said. “I told him then that if he ever wanted to sell that place to let me know.”
Mount agreed to the sale, with the Palmers buying the equipment and paying on the building until assuming full ownership in 1975.
But Bill Palmer was never a bowler.
“I think I went in the place one time to see someone for about 10 minutes before we actually bought it,” Bill said.
But to say it has been their life is an understatement. They actually live at the center, with only a soundproof wall separating their residence from the lanes.
LIVING AT CENTER
The Mount family originally built the residence adjacent to the bowling center. The Palmers raised three boys there with Brad, also a Stark County USBC Hall of Fame inductee in 2017, now running the business.
“There is a wall that is soundproof. All you can hear is an occasional muffled sound in our living room,” Beverlee said.
“Upstairs in my bedroom in the closet, you could hear balls hitting the Lane 8 heads,” said Brad Palmer, who now owns resides right next door to the center. “But when you closed the closet door, you heard nothing.
“Now, I live about 25 steps from the place.”
And he needs to with his center responsibilities.
“We worked our butts off for about 30 years,” Bill said. “But since (Brad) got out of college, he has pretty much taken care of things.”
“We wouldn’t still be here at 85 if he didn’t,” Beverlee said.
But it’s not all bowling for the Palmers. There’s the painting business — B&B Painting Co. — and rental properties, a number that has dropped over the years after the Palmers had 48 at one point.
And the business has endured through personal and health issues.
Bill has gone through three hip surgeries and lived through a stroke he suffered several years ago.
“We almost lost him then. He had to be life-flighted to the hospital,” Brad said.
Then there were the health issues of their late son, Greg, who was diagnosed with spina bifida as an infant and was paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.
“We were told then to make (funeral) arrangements, that he was not going to live,” Beverlee said. “But we had him for 35 years.”
Greg was a Wright State University graduate, who also had a master’s degree from Ashland University. He was a teacher for 11 years and a former athletic director prior to his death.
‘You learn that you can change the things you can and accept the things you can’t,” said Beverlee, whose other son, Kevin, is not involved in the businesses.
But Brad remains heavily involved in every aspect.
THE FAMILY BOWLER
Brad was the bowler in the family. But that also has changed over the years.
“I’m the pro shop guy, cook, mechanic … everything I could possibly do .. and still do it,” Brad said.
As a youth, Brad would get up and bowl at 5 a.m. before school. He led the state junior bowlers in average at 217 during his sophomore year at Minerva — long before high school bowling became a true varsity sport in the state.
“I think my low series was 609 over 25 weeks,” said Brad, who was 15 when it occurred in 1984. “That’s what made me the most proud … not having a series under 600 in a junior league. I couldn’t even drive yet.”
He also operates the painting business. “I think we painted every building on Main Street,” Brad says proudly. In addition, the family once had an exclusive contract for painting the former Ames department stores.
It was in 1998 when Brad felt the center needed an upgrade. He found the setup that he wanted to model it after — Park Centre Lanes in North Canton. The renovation, which cost in the neighborhood of $250,000, “was the right thing to do.”
“It was the right time in both my life and in Minerva’s life. It was the best thing for the town and us,” Brad said. “It we didn’t have the rental properties, we probably don’t have this bowling alley,
“It’s hard to make it unless everything is paid for … you have to bring in outside money. We feel this is a service to the community. It set Minerva ablaze when we first did it … the lights, the music (for glow bowling) … our bumper leagues had about 40 kids in five-on-five leagues the first couple of years. A lot of those kids are now parents of the ones coming up.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
But Bill and Beverlee aren’t ready to step away entirely just yet.
Bill, whom Brad refers to fondly as the center’s “custodial engineer,” still opens the center in the morning, cleans up and makes sure the lights are turned on.
Beverlee, whom Brad refers to as “the accountant,” still works the lunch counter on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
“People say that once their parents are gone, they wished they had spent more time with them and made sure they were taken care of,” Brad said. “I work with my mom two nights a week and with my dad in the daytime. I feel that’s the important part … for the family and the town.”
As for Brad, he quit actively throwing a bowling ball regularly about 10 years ago.
“It was probably the best thing I did,” Brad said. “If I could shoot 220 every game, I’d probably still do it. But I lost that killer instinct. I felt it was not important if I strike, but if other people were striking. It just made it easier on me working as many parts of the center as I do.”
But the Palmers have stuck with one aspect over the years — closing from the first week in June until after Labor Day in September.
“We tried (to stay open) a couple of times, but people got tired of it,” Bill said. “In a small town, you don’t want that to happen.”
It also allowed for summer family vacations — producing some of the family’s fondest memories.
“We did do it right, traveling and going places during the summer when we closed,” Beverlee said. “We’ve been to Alaska, Hawaii … we had a camper that we used a lot.”
They also have a couple of properties at Guilford Lake in Columbiana County.
“I’d like to go more out there, but we really haven’t much since the pandemic,” Bill said. “But we were always vacationing with the kids.”
The center also gives free bowling to the Minerva High School bowling team, which is a member of the Stark County High School Bowling Conference.
“I think it’s important for the future of the sport. It also helps us have a say in things, like guiding and coaching the kids,” Brad said.
But what keeps the son around after all these years?
“Doing something different than just working at a bowling alley or just painting or working on rentals would drive me crazy,” Brad said. “Going back and forth gives me a break and something different.
“And, keeping up the junior leagues that fuel the high school program. Seeing those kids faces when they get a trophy motivates me.”
Brad admits his parents give him the freedom to make decisions on the day-to-day operations.
“I have to convince them if we need something,” Brad said, “but they really don’t make any suggestions any more.”
But both parents still have their own memories.
“It’s the people … we had them come from Lisbon, Salem, Alliance, Canton … we even had some come up from West Virginia over the years,” Beverlee said.
“That’s what I miss … talking to the people,” Bill said. “Every 300 game that was shot is a good memory because it happened to people we cared about.”
And the family legacy … now 50 years strong … continues to make more memories for a new generation.