Don't be alarmed if you see people hurling heavy balls down the street in Uptown on Saturday night.
By MYDRIA CLARK
Published June 4, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - What started as a 49-cent thrift store buy has turned into a friendly competition between two of the city's historic neighborhoods.
On Saturday, residents of the Historic Uptown Neighborhoods (Historic Round Lake, Historic South Crescent Lake and Historic Bon Air) and Roser Park will compete to see which neighborhood has the best bowlers at the city's third annual street bowling tournament. From 7 to 10 p.m., Granville Court, between Ninth and 11th avenues N, will be blocked off as a bowling lane.
Street bowling hit the pavement in St. Petersburg three years ago. Roser Park resident Patrick Kelly, now 12, borrowed 49 cents from his father to buy a scuffed-up 12-pound black bowling ball. He wanted to test the ball by sending it down the steep slope of his street, Prospect Court.
The ball shot about 200 feet down the hill, hit the granite curb and careened to the left, fortunately not hitting anything. But that wasn't the end of the ball's use. Chris Kelly, Patrick's father, saw the potential for fun in his son's experiment.
"What better an excuse to have a party than to throw bowling balls down the street?" he joked. Using old pins from Sunrise Lanes and his street as a lane, Chris Kelly introduced street bowling to his neighbors at the semiannual block party that year.
The street bowling atmosphere is different, but all of the rules are the same. Participants can choose from two regulation balls - the original one from the thrift store or a shiny 10-pound pink marble ball - to roll down the shady, rough pavement of Granville Court. There are no gutters. A wooden board serves as a backdrop against the 10 standard white and red-striped bowling pins. Two young bowlers serve as the pit crew, rolling the balls back to the players.
The Roser Park Neighborhood Association hosted the tournament for two years. As a challenge, the Historic Uptown Neighborhood Association will host this year. The winning team will receive a 12-by-6-inch Rice Krispy treat, as well as the glory of victory.
Kristy Light, president of the Historic Uptown Neighborhood Association, sees the tournament as more than just a way to have fun with her neighbors. Street bowling is a creative way to improve the neighborhood and take back the streets, she said.
Although the police and the mayor play a part in improving the neighborhood, Light said, she thinks the ultimate responsibility is the residents'.
"It's about neighbors working together to bring change," she said. "It's about each resident doing their part."
Light thinks it is important that residents get out onto the streets and make their presence known.
"People who are involved in criminal activity aren't going to participate in it if families are out on the street street bowling and having a good time," Light said. "They are going to go somewhere else."
Saturday's tournament will also feature a bowling shirt contest, a pig roast and possibly a band. Adults can bowl for $5, and children can bowl for free. Parking for the event will be available on the southeast corner of 11th Avenue N and Crescent Lake Drive. For details and to register to bowl, contact Light at 894-0286 or kristy@historicuptown.com
