No one knows exactly where the “Peabody Women’s Church League” name came from, as even the longest-tenured members of the 60-and-over women’s bowling league have no idea what church the league may have been associated with when it began more than four decades ago.
When the league began, it offered an opportunity for mothers to get a little time to themselves as their kids played in Metro Bowl’s babysitting room, which has since been closed off, league organizer Diane Belleville said. But even as their children got older and the need for child care diminished, women kept coming back.
Now the league, which has been rebranded as the Peabody Women’s League, is still in full swing. Ten teams of four women gather every Thursday morning — still at Metro Bowl — from Labor Day until the third week of May for competition, yes, but also for camaraderie and an opportunity to meet new people.
“It’s just the friendship. Everybody gets along great, we joke around, it’s a good time,” Belleville said. “Plus, a lot of the older people like it for the exercise. (It) gets them out, gets them up for the day.”
Not all of the league’s members are from Peabody, Belleville said, with numerous communities across the North Shore represented, including players from Danvers, North Andover, Marblehead, and beyond. Each league member is responsible for paying dues, which go in part to helping the league pay for the lanes, with the rest of the money comprising a prize pool divvied up at the league’s annual banquet in June. There, awards are handed out for highest average score and highest single-game score in descending order.
That way, Belleville said, “everybody gets this envelope full of cash at the end of the year.”
“It’s a great little league. You make a lot of new friends,” she said. “90% of us are not competitive. We’re just here to have fun and to socialize and to laugh.”
Belleville, who was lauded as the best player of the bunch by fellow organizer Sue Kelley, of Saugus, admitted that when she joined the league she had a competitive streak. But now, she said, she has let the desire to outdo her fellow bowlers subside.
The league runs from September to January and then from January to May, meaning those interested in joining will have to wait until the new year to get their spot.
Betty Wozniak, of Danvers, came to the Women’s League through golf, which she had been playing in Peabody since her retirement. There, she met a few league members and the rest was history. Wozniak joked that she joined the league because she “fit in.”
“Anybody from probably the age of three or four to the age of 90 can bowl,” she said. “It’s ageless really.”
“Golf you have to have a decent swing, you kind of age out of it sometimes, but bowling you can walk up and drop the ball and still be able to play,” she added.
Wozniak said she sets out to compete against herself — always looking to improve her score from the previous week.
Some members of the league have really taken up the team mentality, with one group, the Pinheads, donning custom merchandise.
Rosemary Blanks, of North Andover, is behind the merchandise, which features a minion on the front along with the team name. Blanks emphasized that no names are printed on the backs of the shirts because any member who departs the team must give up their shirt to their successor.
Blanks said she was drawn to the league by a family member who was already a member. She added that joining reinvigorated her love for bowling, which she had not done for the better part of three decades.
Now, she tells her teammates to make sure they leave Thursday mornings open.
“We’re coming on Thursday morning no matter what,” Blanks said. “Thursday morning has to be clear.”
