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The prey they hunt is the quirky turkey that rears its head only in the 10th frame of a game and it brings with it a giddiness no mere child can understand. It is the overwhelming feeling of pride that washes over the psyche, which only someone truly aware of the rarity of the achievement can appreciate. It can bring forth the child from even the most mature bowler.

Though many try to bag this bird of prey, it is elusive — hiding, watching and waiting to spring upon its surprised yet hopeful victim, promising to leave them whooping, hollering and writhing in bodily configurations unnatural to men.

Those in the community might not think Waynesboro the place to find such a sought-after beast. But while many of its common citizens toil away at their daily drudgery, there is an elite group of hunters who scope out a small, but known vista that has been preserved for such good times in old downtown. Their bag of tricks is stocked full to flush the bird out.

The senior bowling league at Wayne Lanes brings to mind the old-style warrior hunter, fierce and unafraid inside, but in being a modern age, these hunters are gentle and sweet on the outside.

Senior bowlers vary in size, age and experience level, and the group is not gender specific. Women definitely have a place in this once boys-only arena.
Angela Cirabolo, Angie, as she’s called, is 91. She drives over the mountain from Nellysford to participate. Her husband, Charles, taught her to bowl almost 50 years ago.

“It’s a bunch of characters here,” the former schoolteacher said. “We come to mingle. Everybody has a good time and looks forward to it every week.”

Though grand-motherly and fatherly in nature, the turkey trackers possess the spirit of the hunt, something akin to the feeling of excitement that wells up inside a person who has just achieved a life goal. The feeling is that good.

But they also exhibit another tendency and use it in an unassuming manner to catch their prey off guard.

They have a good time, laughing and smiling at each other almost constantly. That friendliness surely must give an ol’ turkey something to consider.
After all, the name of the game is to have fun.

“It’s great fellowship and there’s no pressure to win,” said Mark Droughman, 75, who moved to Waynesboro in 1965. He’s one of the original members of the senior league, in existence the past 20-plus years he said. “It’s an opportunity to meet people who come from all over the area.”

This game, where three strikes mean far from being out of play, might just be the doorway to anyone who has ever dreamed of going back in time with all their accumulated wisdom and knowledge.

No unique uniform is needed to hunt this gobbler except for specially designed footwear that allows the bowler to glide across the ground quietly and gracefully, as if on air himself, before flushing the quarry to flight.

And every once in a while, Lady Luck smiles upon a novice and a turkey is bagged without much effort at all. Others are only fortunate enough to witness a friend capture his reward.

Bowling season runs from August through April, when the participants hold an awards dinner to celebrate the year.

Harold Crickenberger, 83, originally from Crimora, is one of the lucky few to have been designated for awards. He was inducted into the Shenandoah Valley Bowlers Hall of Fame.

“I don’t know why I got inducted,” Crickenberger, who has bowled since he was 13, said. Though he doesn’t like to brag, he shared that his highest attained average was 286. Currently his average is 175.

“He got inducted because he has been a longtime bowler,” said Carl Irwin, another in the league.

Irwin points out other members’ highlights in the 60-80 member league.

“We’ve got a retired New York City firefighter, a Baltimore police officer, some retired Dupont employees, a couple minor league ball players and that man over there was a physics teacher locally.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of really neat people.”

Crickenberger agrees.

“It is good fellowship, it’s good exercise and it’s not really competitive,” he said.

Even though this group of elites has given its services to its community for many years, they are not a high-brow bunch and weekly fees are modest, giving former blue collar wearers a chance to participate in the frivolity.

“Someone is always telling jokes and bringing in stuff from the Internet,” said Cirabolo. “They all look out for you. We bring in cookies every week for them and they eat them all!”

All joking aside, these youngsters-at-heart take their fun seriously and it is garnished with relish (and loads of good cookies) weekly. Turkey, or none.

“All you have to be able to do is pick up a ball,” Droughman said. “Handicaps put everyone on an even keel. Everybody feels pretty equal, which is nice for those who haven’t bowled in a while.”