Rescuing a candlepin bowling alley helps bolster a Maine community
Autumn Mowery was 18 when she took over a candlepin bowling alley threatened with the wrecking ball, challenging herself to maintain a pillar of the community.
Before streaming, smartphones, and social media, bowling leagues used to bring people together. And in New England, it was candlepin bowling. Alleys stretched from Massachusetts all the way into Canada's Maritime Provinces. But it never really caught on anywhere else.
But in Ellsworth, Maine, Autumn Mowery is fighting to keep the candlepin flame flickering.
Asked what the difference is between candlepin and regular bowling, Mowery replied, "Well, this one's better!"
In short: it's thinner pins, and smaller balls. And it's not easy.
Mowery has been coming to this alley since she was six years old, especially during Maine's winters. Ellsworth doesn't boast a lot to do when the days are long and the snow is deep.
At 17, she started working at the alley, not in the front, but in the back, where she became fascinated with the old-world engineering of the pin-setting machines. "I remember my first time going back there, I'm looking up at these machines and I'm like, 'Whoa, like, this is so cool!'" she said.