Bowling on Main Street

April 5, 2009

Bowling on Main Street
By Kristi Kates

Paul Heneks has lived in Harbor Springs for over a dozen years. And that’s long enough to be fully aware of the seasonal changes that occur in this small tourist town.
While neighboring Petoskey still bustles during the late winter/early spring with its movie theater and big-box stores, Harbor Springs slowly rolls out the sidewalks. The crowds are nonexistent - and it’s both the perfect time for Harbor Springs residents to rest up for the big summer season ahead, and a great time for a few community activities that, shall we say, are a little more quirky than usual. This is where Heneks comes in.
“It’s a well-known phrase around here that time of year things are so quiet you could literally bowl down Main Street.” Heneks says. With little traffic and few visitors, downtown Harbor Springs becomes a bit of an elegant ghost town for a month or two, with plenty of parking spots and many stores closed as their owners prepare to reopen in May. So bowl they do.
No, really.
“Yep - we decided to do just that,” Heneks confirms.
On April 1 - April Fool’s Day - Harbor Springs residents converged on downtown to bowl their way into spring.
“The police shut down a segment of Main Street and we set up two lanes right in the middle of the street,” Heneks says. “People just line up to get a chance to bowl!”
Heneks - who’s in his 12th year running the event - inherited a set of old, traditional bowling balls and pins from when “Bowling Down Main Street” began some 16 years ago. He’s added to the bowling arsenal since then, purchasing some smaller-weight bowling balls and adding some newer pins, which were contributed by a bowling alley downstate. “We’d been doing this so long, the pins and balls were starting to get a little beat up.”

CHALLENGES AND COCOA
It’s a quintessential small town activity. Not only does the neighborhood show up in force to socialize and, of course, try for that strike or spare, but unsuspecting visitors driving through downtown on April Fool’s Day can be seen pulling over, gaping, and, if they’ve got their cameras, you can bet there will be photos snapped as the balls roll down the street right next to the Hollywood Market.
Speaking of which, that’s another element of the bowling event - local camaraderie fueled by hot beverages.
“The base for the bowling lanes is actually right in front of the Hollywood Market,” Heneks says, noting that the bowling extravaganza is close to Cornichons Market and Kilwin’s, too. “So the community can stop in and purchase hot cocoa, coffee drinks, sandwiches, or other snacks.”
A few friendly Main Street bowling rivalries have sprung up over the years, as well. “Each year, some of the locals will challenge Harbor Springs’ police chief Dan Branson,” Heneks laughs. “That’s always interesting.”