Reservations are alway recommended at ibowl.ca Family Fun Center so that when one shows up a lane is available and we can schedule the lanes to meet demand.

Most bowling alleys would prefer a reservation be made by bowlers, however there is one bowling alley that is almost impossible to get a reservation and that is at the White House. That’s right, you need to know the president or his family to bowl at the White House.

White House bowling action dates back to the Truman administration in 1947, when a two-lane alley was installed in the basement as a birthday present for the president. These were moved to the Old Executive Office Building in 1955 to make way for a mimeograph room. In 1969, President and Mrs. Nixon, both avid bowlers, had a new one-lane alley built (paid for by friends) in an underground workspace area below the driveway leading to the North Portico. Nixon was a very good bowler, often donning classic 60s and 70s bowling shirts for his games.

My first time bowling was 10-pin bowling as a 10 yearl old in New York city many years ago at Christmas time. My family visited my uncle and his family for Christmas, my uncle took us bowling one day and my family loved bowling so much that we asked to go back again.

Back in Canada some time later, I went bowling with friends only to find out it was only 5-pin bowling. I was shocked as I did not realize that bowling was also 5-pin but I was happy the balls were light compared to 10-pin.

The Canadian inventor of 5-pin bowling is Thomas Ryan who was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1971. Here is a great web link on how to be a better 5-pin bowler:

Did you know that 5-pin bowling is a Canadian invention?

My name is Neil Pinheiro and my wife Brenda and I purchased ibowl.ca Family Fun Center December 1/2009. I am a 1983 Ryerson Business grad with a major in Accounting/Finance and worked for 26 years in Accounting before making the transition to self-employed.