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Raasch’s Bowl
Watertown Bowl
102 West Cady Street
Raasch's
Bowl, 102 W Cady, WHS_005_701
1942 BOWLING ALLEYS CONSTRUCTED BY EARL RAASCH
IN 1942
The 12-lane plant was one of the best
in this part of the state at the time of its construction and is still modem in
all respects. The building
itself measures 86 by 132. The building
has a basement that is used as a locker room and also a small office on a
second floor.
1951
RAASCH’S BOWL
1955
09 26 SALE
OF THE RAASCH BOWL
Sale of the Raasch Bowl, 12-lane
bowling establishment on West Cady Street, was completed Thursday and the two
new owners, Earl Reynoldson and Ray Siebold, both of Racine, will take over the
bowling alleys on Saturday. The
transaction for the property was concluded in the law offices of Niemann and
Hibbard. Siebold is the son-in-law of
Reynoldson and both men plan to be active in the business.
Siebold is president of the Racine
Bowling Association and was a member of the Racine’s VFW national championship
team in 1953. He is a World War II
veteran, is married and has two children. Reynoldson formerly was associated
with the Western Printing & Lithographing Company at Racine.
1961
03 19 EXTENSIVE
REMODELING
An extensive remodeling job that will
include the installation of automatic pin spotting machines will be undertaken
at the Watertown Bowl during the off-season this summer, Earl Reynoldson and
Ray Seibold, co-owners of the bowling plant.
Included in the proposed program is modernization of locker room
facilities, revamping of the bar room, installation of new flooring, and major
alterations in the bowling desk. The
automatic pin machines will be the first to be installed in this immediate
area. Watertown Bowl, a 12-lane layout,
was constructed here by Earl Raasch and was opened for bowling on August 14,
1942. Reynoldson and Seibold purchased
the business from the original owner in 1955.
1967
04 07 SIX
NEW LANES ADDED
Construction began Thursday on the
addition of six new bowling lanes at Watertown Bowl, 102 West Cady Street. The six new lanes will be fully automatic and
all lanes including the existing 12, will be equipped with new Brunswick
telescores and ball returns. All lanes
will be resurfaced during the remodeling project and all lanes will have new
kickbacks and drop gutters for better pin action. A meeting room will be constructed in the
basement of the building for the purpose of league or team meetings. There will also be a bar in the carpeted
meeting room to serve small parties and match games.
08 15 MAJOR
REMODELING JOB
Watertown Bowl, originally opened with
12 lanes as the biggest bowling facility in the city back in 1942, has
undergone its second expansion and renovation under the guidance of Ray Seibold
and Earl Reynoldson, owners-operators of the lanes. The Seibold-Reynoldson duo purchased the
alleys from Earl Raasch in 1955 and promptly set about to make the lanes more
attractive. They made some changes in
the original pin plant in their early years in the business, then did a major
remodeling job on the establishment eight years ago. Now they have completed another step in the
growth of the bowling lanes. A 38 x 162
addition has been added to the original building and six new lanes now expand
the Bowl to an 18-lane layout.
1973
1978
12 18 COMMEMORATIVE
CUPS
1984
06 23 NEW
OWNERSHIP
Watertown Bowl 18, 102 West Cady
Street, will be under new ownership on July 1.
Ray L. Seibold and his wife Marion, 611 Labaree Street, have sold the
business to Robert and Inez Schmidt, route 4, Watertown. Schmidt has been manager of the business for
the past several years, and has been employed at the center for the past 11
years. Seibold and his father-in-law
Earl Reynoldson, both then of Racine, purchased the bowling establishment, then
known as Raasch Bowl, back in 1955 from Earl Raasch. In 1973 Ray and his wife took complete
ownership of the business and have been operating it since that time. The establishment originally had 12 lanes,
but an expansion project in 1966 increased that total to 18. The automatic pinsetters were installed on
the original lanes in 1962 and were part of the new six lane addition four
years later.
1992
07 08 LANES
REPLACED
Watertown
Bowl 18 is in the process of replacing 12 of its 18 lanes with new wooden ones,
according to owner Robert Schmidt. He
said the $200,000 project, which began June 15 is expected to be completed by
July 26. “The lanes needed replacement,”
Schmidt said. “They were the original lanes installed 50 years ago when the
bowling alley was built back in 1942.
The new lanes will be made of maple and pine wood similar to the old
ones. “We decided against synthetic
lanes because we wanted to match the other six wood lanes,” he noted. “The old lanes lasted 50 years and the new
ones should too. Six lanes were added in
1966 and do not need to be replaced.
1993
07 28 ELECTED
PRESIDENT OF THE BOWLING PROPRIETORS OF WISCONSIN
Robert Schmidt,
president of Watertown Bowl, Inc., has been elected president of the Bowling
Proprietors of Wisconsin. His election
came at the group's annual meeting at Pier Three Restaurant in Milwaukee. Schmidt's term is for one year but he will be
eligible to stand for election to a second term. The new president ascended to that position
after having been elected to all other offices of the association. He is a past
sergeant at arms, treasurer and vice president.
Cross
References:
Ray L.
Seibold, 1959,
Bowling instructor certificate
History of Watertown, Wisconsin