When the Ann Arbor Service Clubs League was formed in 1952, bowling was a much more common activity than it is today. Everyone bowled! There were company bowling leagues and church bowling leagues, so it was only natural that the service clubs of Ann Arbor formed their own bowling league.

The Ann Arbor Service Clubs League consisted entirely of teams from service clubs in the area. The Rotary Club of Ann Arbor was a founding member of the league, as were teams from Kiwanis, the Lions Club, the Exchange Club, and the Jewish Community Center. Kiwanis, the Lions Club, and the Jewish Community Center each had two teams in the league.

While league records are long gone, I know this because the league’s championship trophy has recorded the name of the league’s champions. The trophy is the “Stanley Cup” of bowling trophies. As the years progressed, tiers were added to the trophy, just like hockey’s Stanley Cup.

The Little Kiwanis team was the league’s first champion for the 1952-1953 season. Kiwanis has won the most championships with 10 total, but the Lions Club is a close second with a total of 9 championships. You can see the complete list of league champions below.

Our Rotary Club has only three championships. Rotary first won in 1959-60, but had to wait 50 years—until the 2009-10 season—for our second championship. That year, we actually had two teams in the league.

Rotary’s third championship was in 2018-2019. At that point, we were down to only one team, and we were the only service club team in the league. As you can see in the photo below, the team consisted of Chris Georgandellis, Norman Herbert, Sara Maddock, Dick Elwell, and yours truly, Dan Romanchik.

The way this works is that the bowling season is split into two halves. The last week of the year, the team with the best record for the first half of the season plays the team with the best record in the second half. Somehow, we’d managed to win the first half. The team that won the second half was a bunch of young guys, with two of them sporting averages more than 200.

It didn’t look good for us going into the match, but the bowling gods were with us. Our opponents had one of their worst nights, while everyone on our team bowled really well. We won the first two games, but things were still tense heading into the final game. Our opponents could still find their groove and overtake us.

That didn’t happen, though. We won the third game and the championship. How fitting that the only service club team left in the league won the championship and forever took possession of the league trophy.

Bowling Team Rolls On

The Ann Arbor Service Clubs League is gone, but the team is still rolling. We are now bowling in the Monday Fun League at Station 300 (formerly Maplewood Lanes) in Saline. Bowling starts the first Monday of September and we would love to have you join the team. You don’t have to be a great bowler, nor do you have to bowl every week. Please contact FanFan Zheng, team captain, for more information.

Ann Arbor Service Club League Champions