Rotary telephones, encyclopedias, printed road maps, and film cameras are just a few things made obsolete by technology.
Nevada County’s American Legion Frank Gallino Post 130 will do whatever it takes to ensure that same fate doesn’t await its emblematic four-lane, manual pinsetting bowling alley.
“Most of the community doesn’t know about our bowling alley,” said American Legion Adjutant General Mike Hauser, “but when they see it, it blows them away.”
The bowling alley and its adjacent bar, nicknamed The Bunker, are downstairs beneath the modern auditorium on the main floor of the Grass Valley Veterans Memorial Building at 255 S. Auburn St. (GVLegionPost130.org/Facilities).
“Beale Air Force Base had the components of this bowling alley and donated the equipment and flooring to the American Legion,” continued Hauser, a Vietnam War veteran. “There are no electronics. It’s a manual bowling alley where someone rolls the ball down, hits pins, and someone in back scoops up and sets the pins.”
Modern bowling alleys operate with highly automated, infrared sensor-driven pinsetting systems, which clear fallen pins, return balls via underground conveyors, and reset new pins in roughly 10-15 seconds.
Manual pinsetters are typically teenage boys, many of them Boy Scouts. While other teens are playing video games or earning money flipping burgers, pinsetters love flipping bowling pins. Pins knocked down by bowlers fly in all directions while pinsetters wait on benches above the fray.
Then they jump into action. Setters first roll bowling balls down a ramp back to bowlers, allowing 10-15 seconds to clear and load fallen pins into the cage or rack. Last, setters pull a cord to send the cage back down to the bowling lane floor and dislodge the pins.
Each teen handles two lanes. They must monitor first and second balls – keeping track of strike and spare attempts – to know when to set up all 10 pins for the next frame.
Colton Montre, 13, just finished his first year as a pinsetter.
“You’ve got to focus and make sure to put the knocked down pins into the right spaces of the cage,” said Montre. “You’ve got to think fast.”
Pinsetters are paid $40 per night plus tips. Each gutter ball nets the bowler a $1 penalty that pinsetters share; gutter balls mean extra pay while strikes mean extra work. At the end of the night, pinsetters are invited to bowl a few frames. Bowlers bet on the youths, placing money in red solo cups at each lane, and some lucky teens earn extra money.
Modern, automated bowling alleys became all the rage in the 1940’s. There are fewer than a dozen bowling alleys with manual pinsetters remaining in the United States, making them rare, historic, and special places.
Competing for more than five decades at the American Legion bowling alley has been the Veteran’s Hall Men’s Bowling League. It features eight teams of four bowlers competing in Fall and Spring seasons that run October through April.
At their end-of-season tournament, bowlers wore shirts with clever team names such as Gutter Ballz, Hair Ballz, and Sweater Vests. Some men bowled shirtless. All were jovial as they tossed bowling balls amid strobe lights, spinning disco balls, and smoke generated by a fog machine.
“We play for dignity,” qiupped one bowler.
There is no computerized score-keeping, so bowlers’ scores are hand-written and displayed via an old-fashioned overhead projector. The league offers creative specialty prizes: bowlers who make a 7-10 split win a bottle of whiskey and the Iron Man Trophy is awarded to players who don’t miss any of the 63 games.
“It’s definitely a unique atmosphere,” said league president Robbie Gruber. “There’s no public, and we have our own cool personal bar. I’d love to start a women’s league and hire teen girls as pinsetters.”
Mike Haire is one of several Men’s League players who worked as a pin setter during his teenage years and graduated to competitive bowler as an adult.
“When my dad bowled, I worked as a pinsetter,” says Haire. “I remember the important thing was not to get hit by the pins or bowling balls. It’s a workout. Quite a few of us pinsetters became bowlers because we saw how much fun the bowlers were having and we wanted to join them.”
There is a reason many pinsetters are Boy Scouts: the Legion has strong ties with local Boy Scout troops. The Legion hosts dinners and organizes an annual bowling tournament just for Scouts.
Next door to the four-lane bowling alley is The Bunker, aka Oral’s Bunker. Oral Stallings was a longtime Post member who started the Veterans Stand Down more than 25 years ago. The annual Nevada County All Veteran Stand Down supports veterans with essential resources, health screening, and benefits counseling.
The Bunker is a full bar staffed by Legion members or auxiliary volunteers. There’s also a commercial kitchen. Post 130 rents the bowling alley, bar, and kitchen for private parties, fundraisers, and other events. The standard rent runs around $500 for an evening and all proceeds go to veterans in need.
“When I’m bartending, I hear the bowlers’ excitement about getting strikes and spares,” said John Madeiros, Legion CFO and a Vietnam War veteran. “But our number one mission is to help veterans, financially and physically. I get emotional when money raised by the bowling alley and bar makes it possible for us to give clothing or a debit card to a veteran in need.”
The American Legion not only built the bowling alley with materials donated by Beale Air Force Base, the Legion built the entire Veterans Memorial Building August 1931 – March 1932. Members have modified and maintained it over the years.
Nevada County Government took over daily operations of the building in the 1960s when it formed its Buildings and Grounds Department and now operates the hall in partnership with Legion Post 130.
“Both organizations are focused on support of the community, veterans and active military by providing them a safe, strong, asset-packed structure,” Hauser said. “The building allows families, schools and businesses to get together. It’s a fun, relaxed environment. It unites the community.”
The County recently secured grant funding for a major renovation of the Veterans Memorial Building. Work is scheduled to begin in Spring 2027 and conclude by Summer 2028, and the building will be closed during that time.
The project is funded by a $10 million grant from the California Strategic Growth Council. Renovations include modernizing the commercial kitchen and restrooms, upgrading plumbing, improving energy efficiency, strengthening the building against earthquakes, and making it ADA-compliant.
The Legion’s cherished bowling alley is not part of the planned renovations.
“It’s like stepping back in history,” said Madeiros. “A lot of people say, ‘My dad used to set pins here or bowl here.’ That’s the excitement and draw of our bowling alley with just four lanes, old hardwood floors, and manual racks operated by pinsetters.”
Instead of becoming a victim of modern technology, the revered American Legion bowling alley will continue to be a nostalgic nod to a gloried past and provide part-time jobs for teenagers, a place for boisterous bowling, and a means to care for local veterans in need.
Timeline of the largest construction project in Nevada County during the Great Depression
May 6, 1931: Less than two years after the October 1929 stock market crash sparked the Great Depression, newspaper headlines proclaimed, “Legion Hall to Be Built Immediately.” To speed construction, Nevada County Supervisors approved a financing plan with the Hague-Thomas-Hegarty Post 130 of the American Legion – precursor to today’s Frank Gallino Post 130. The paper reported, “The building will be constructed and financed by the American Legion Post and at completion will be purchased back by Nevada County with the money now in the veterans building fund, amounting to approximately $25,000. It is expected that a marked saving will be made by present construction over prices that will prevail when the era of depression is over.” The building fund was financed by a multi-year 10-cent tax per $100 property valuation.
August 19, 1931: When the general contractor laid out grade stakes and lines, The Union reported, “Stakes as laid out yesterday indicated a building of unusually large proportions.”
January 21, 1932: As the American Legion prepared for the building’s grand opening, the newspaper praised the building itself and its location on the main approach to Grass Valley and Nevada City: “Every person entering or leaving cannot fail to see the structure, and the residents of the community can rest assured that no visitor can depart with a degrading description of it, for it is one of the finest and best buildings of its kind in the state…”
March 20, 1932: Elaborate plans were made to open the new Veterans Memorial Building to the public: “The opening will be in the form of a huge ball. This dance, which will be the largest affair of its kind ever attempted in the county, is to be the culmination of many months of work and planning by the local post… From the amount of interest that is being shown in it, both locally and from all parts of northern California, it bids fair to be a grand success.” (The Union)
April 24, 1932: The morning after the grand opening, The Union reported, “Last night’s affair was undoubtedly one of the most successful ever held in this city on any occasion. A 10-piece orchestra performed for 750 couples on the dance floor and an additional 400 spectators in the gallery… The huge throng warmed to the spirit of the affair and in a short time the floor was swarmed with swirling, happy dancers.”
December 2, 1946: The Legion planned improvements to and expansion of the Vets Hall, including a bowling alley. “Hague-Thomas-Hegarty Post of the Legion is considering enlargement of its present meeting quarters in the Veterans Memorial building to include a room for bowling,” the Nevada City Nugget reported. “Due to the enlarged membership roll following World War II, the post finds its present quarters too small and plans renovation of another part of the building which will give more room.”
April 12, 1948: Four teams were honored as the first to compete when the bowling alley opened: “Four spanking new bowling alleys, recently installed at the Veterans Memorial Building, will be used in competitive play tonight for the first time as the new American Legion League of bowling opens.” (The Union)
April 21, 1948: After the renovation, American Legion Post 130 planned an open house to include “…inspection, a delightful stage program, free buffet luncheon, free dancing and many other surprises.” The open house was billed as “an opportunity to see this renovated building as a real tribute to veterans of both world wars.” (The Union)
July 11, 1979: At the Legion Convention in San Diego, the Grass Valley Post’s name was officially changed to Frank Gallino Post No. 130. Gallino served with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office for 27 years and was Undersheriff for 25 of those years.
November 10, 1979: Local Veterans Day ceremonies featured dedication of the new Frank Gallino Post No. 130. A full day of activities included a “Fizz” breakfast, flag-raising, changing of the post colors and rededication, steak dinner and social hour. Gallino, who worked with his family on the Gallino Dairy in Hills Flat, entered the US Coast Guard during WWII and saw active duty in the Pacific during the war.
Timeline compiled and written by Lorraine Jewett with special thanks to Nevada County Historical Society Secretary Dakota Stroh for his research.
Lorraine Jewett is a freelance writer who lives in Nevada County. She can be reached at LorraineJewettWrites@gmail.com.