'It means so much. I never saw this coming.': Father and son to enter Bowling Hall of Fame
MILLIS – The “Hipp” or Bogey Lanes or Ryan’s. Steve Renaud refers to each bowling alley as a “house.”
More like a home. Where family gathers.
When Renaud delivers his speech Saturday at the International Candlepin Hall of Fame induction ceremony, he faces a challenge as difficult as staring down a 7-10 split.
Renaud (pronounced like the Nevada city) must speak about his late father, Harry, who is also being inducted at the Castleton Banquet and Conference Center in Windham, New Hampshire.
“I have to go up there and do the acceptance and say something nice for him; what would he want to say?” Steve said Wednesday at Ryan Family Amusements in Millis, where he is a bowling instructor and runs the adult leagues. “It’s a blessing to me and my family and to my dad. He’s my idol. He really is. I just loved everything about watching him bowl. Words are really hard to find. It means so much. I never saw this coming.”
The father and son were among the state’s top bowlers in the 1980s; either one or the other – or both – won championships during a three-year span. Steve, a longtime Southbridge resident, won three state singles titles and advanced to the final three other times.
Harry, who died in 2019, made his debut at the state championships in 1980 at Fairway Sports World in Natick and joined the professional tour a year later. But it was at the now-defunct Hippodrome in Southbridge that Steve recalls with such wonder.
He was 13 in 1977 when Harry began taking him to the Hipp on Friday nights.
“Those were the best times of my bowling life,” said Steve, who later met his wife, Cathy, at the bowling alley that closed in ‘88.
Steve, 59, remembers with awe the power that Harry and his fellow bowlers brought to the game and how just walking into the venue took over his senses.
“I thought it was amazing the way a strike blew out because they threw the ball so hard and so fast,” he said. “The lanes used a certain wax and the smell was orangey and it was strong and I liked it. The smell of the lanes – everything about the game, I really, really loved it. Once dad got me going it, I’ve just been doing it ever since, 46 years now. I’ve never taken a break.”
Renauds approaching a century of bowling
The Renaud family bowling tree rolls back to the 1940s, when Steve’s grandmother’s brother – Alfred “Babe” Bartlett – first took up the game. Steve’s aunt, June Renaud, also bowled and in the early ‘60s, missed the world record for three strings by just two pins.
Steve’s oldest child, Steven, is a bowler and if he sticks with the game for another 17 years, it will mark a century of bowling in the family.
Steven Renaud, 32, has the bowling gene, teaming with his father last year at Sparetime Recreation in Whitinsville to win a doubles event.
“That is one of my truly special moments,” said Steve.
Many others happened in the ‘80s. After Harry debuted with a third-place finish at the state championships in Natick – where he had the high string of 194, including four consecutive strikes – he joined the World Candlepin Bowlers Congress (WCBC) pro tour in ‘81 and was named Rookie of the Year.
“Dad always got a big kick out it, that at 38 years old, he’s still a rookie,” Steve said.
Harry won the state singles title in ‘85 and was supplanted by Steve a year later. They teamed up to win the doubles crown in ‘87. “Dad was high man that day – he carried me like he always did.”
The pair were also part of a squad that won the World Team Championship in ‘90 in Bangor, Maine.
“That was our greatest win of them all,” Steve said. “We accomplished a lot together. It was all just a special run.”
Steve Renaud also an avid memorabilia collector
When he is not bowling, Steve enjoys his growing sports memorabilia collection, which he started in 1989. His most prized items include a basketball signed by many of the 1962-63 Boston Celtics NBA championship team, including the signatures of Bill Russell and Thomas “Satch” Sanders, who Steve calls a friend.
Another basketball is signed by a different generation of Celtics stars, including Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Cedric Maxwell. Renaud no longer collects baseball cards, but owns a ball signed by MVPs Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose.
Renaud also has two signed boxing gloves: one by Muhammad Ali, whose autograph Steve acquired when he and Harry made a trip to Atlantic City; the other is signed by Joe Frazier. Steve also has a 1952 rookie card of Mays that is worth $8,000.
He says he may sell some of the items and pass along the proceeds to his children: Steven; Brandon, 26; and Alyssa, 23.
Handing out candy bars in Millis
Steve, whose high game is 191 (his father twice broke 200), has worked at Ryan Family Amusements for two years and is there five days a week. He is fond of getting on the alley’s microphone to announce his “Bowler of the Week” and passing out the candy bars (that he purchases) to recipients who bowl the highest above their average.
He started the tradition a year and a half ago and says he has handed out more than 200 sweet treats, including multiples on a given night.
“I had to cut back to one candy bar a night,” he said with a laugh. “I really love the bowlers that we have here in Millis. It’s like family. I’m really blessed with everything about bowling that’s been in my life.”
He bowled previously at Monson Lanes and has called Bogey Lanes in East Brookfield “his home house” for the past 30 years.
He once hosted a web-based show, Candlepins for Kids, and plans to continue working five days a week at Ryan’s. But his big day awaits Saturday at the Hall of Fame induction. He says his mother, Pat Lozier, will make the trip from Florida to attend. His children, sister and two aunts will be there as well. Al Labelle, former owner of the Hipp, will come up from his home near Washington, D.C.
“It’s such a great, great honor to be thought of and remembered for a game that you really love,” Steve said. “It’s going to be an exciting night. I can’t wait.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Steve Renaud and late father Harry head into bowling Hall of Fame
