<p>Joey Thurman: This is a church, and this is a bowling alley inside of that same church. I'm at St. Paul's Lanes that's been here since the 1940s. The hidden gem of Aurora. We're going to speak with the seniors who bowl here religiously. This is St. Paul's Lanes.<br /><br />Speaker 2: [inaudible 00:00:29].<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Almost. We're in a church/bowling alley here. Ed Raab, what's going on, man?<br /><br />Ed Raab: Well, it's the basement of a school. It was formally a Lutheran school, St. Paul's Lutheran, and they've had this bowling center here for years. I believe since the 1940s, '42 if I remember correctly, and it's been here ever since. I've taken it over two years ago from my brother, who was in here for 33 years, I believe, and been taking over.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Definitely no church I've been to has had a bowl bowling center, lots of church leagues and things, but actually having one physically on the property seems to be quite unique. Why do you think this is such a... Well, a best kept secret?<br /><br />Ed Raab: Well, it's in a family neighborhood and everything, and basement of a school. There's really not much for signage or anything around, and you have to actually know it's here to actually get here to be here.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Right. Right. Right. Right. And today we have a senior social bowling league. Is that correct?<br /><br />Ed Raab: Yeah. It's basically just for fun. They come in, they bowl two or three games, whatever they feel like, just to get together, and usually they go to lunch afterwards altogether and everything. They have just a good time.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Wow. How long have you been playing here?<br /><br />Dan Diercks: Oh, probably 30 years.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: 30 years. How did you first find it?<br /><br />Dan Diercks: I think a friend told me about it.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Yeah, and you've been here ever since, never left?<br /><br />Dan Diercks: Right.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: You sleep here?<br /><br />Dan Diercks: Yeah. Just about... No. Once a week.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: What do you like most about bowling in particular at the St. Paul's?<br /><br />Dan Diercks: Well, it's good exercise.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Yeah.<br /><br />Dan Diercks: It's about the only sport I have left. Played basketball until I was 40, and softball until I was 58.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Yeah. And it's nice socialization as well. You guys go for lunch afterwards?<br /><br />Dan Diercks: A lot of times. Yeah.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Yeah.<br /><br />Dan Diercks: Good people. Fun to be with.<br /><br />Speaker 6: We're actually here because I even read an article that people who bowl... It's good for older people, because it's their balance.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Great for balance, socialization.<br /><br />Speaker 6: That's right. That's right. So, we're here for a social hour. I will tell you when I moved here 57 years ago, I started here, and then I went to Valley, and now I'm back here.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Now, I notice a lot of these seniors have nice bowling shoes. Why aren't they ugly?<br /><br />Ed Raab: Well, basically, if you buy your own shoes, you buy a nice pair of shoes. I got fluorescent bowling shoes. They're orange and yellow, that glow underneath the black lights and stuff-<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Oh, that's fun.<br /><br />Ed Raab: ... for disco bowling type deal.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Oh, cool. The bowling shoes are meant to be ugly, so people don't steal them. Right?<br /><br />Ed Raab: That's it. That's it.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: [inaudible 00:03:50]-<br /><br />Ed Raab: Although it has become trendy for the high school kids.<br /><br />Joey Thurman: Stop stealing the shoes kids.</p>