Good Wood
Candlepin bowling is cheap, fun, and a Maine sports tradition. So why haven't you bowled a string lately?
By Ken Textor, Photography by Carl D. Walsh
When she was a teenager at Gardiner High School, Erin Needham's favorite place to hang with her friends wasn't the mall, the video arcade, or some secret corner of a nearby park. It was her local candlepin bowling "house," as they are known in Maine. "We could always afford to come here for a few strings," says Needham, 18, who last year became one of the youngest All-Events Maine Candlepin Bowling champions on record.Indeed, Needham is just one of the thousands in Maine -- young, old, and in between -- who are still devoted to New England's offbeat contribution to the world of professional sports: candlepin bowling.
