BUTLER TWP — Duckpin bowling is alive and well in Butler County.

Four of the duckpin lanes housed for decades by the Knights of Columbus Hall resurfaced at Butler's Bon Aire Bowl last season and more may be on the way.

Duckpin bowling had taken place at the K of C Hall of North Street since the 1940's, but the building was solid to First United Methodist Church last year, leaving the future of the sport in doubt locally.

“A family friend urged me to go down there and check them out,” Bon Aire Bowl owner Don Clark said of the duckpin lanes. “He stayed on me about it until I did.

“I figured I'd buy four of them, put them in and see what happens.”

Bon Aire wound up with three duckpin leagues last year. That number may increase this season.

“Those lanes probably brought me 100 bowlers,” Clark said. “The Armco League has 32 guys, our Wednesday league has 24, the Saturday league 32.

“We get some people who come here to bowl tenpin, see the duckpin lanes and wind up giving them a try.”

George “Spike” Meehan rolled duckpins at the K of C and has followed the lanes to Bon Aire. He said his father-in-law, Dean Bowser, “was one of the best duckpin bowlers around here.

“He was the custodian at the K of C, so he fixed the alleys along with bowling on them,” Meehan added.

Duckpins are much smaller than regular tenpins and the balls used to knock them down are the approximate size of a softball.

“I bowled in a (tenpin) league for a while, but the best part about duckpins is that everybody stinks at it,” he said. “If you break 100, it's an unbelievable feeling. It's a very challenging game.”

Don “Duck” Young, who rolls duckpins on Wednesday nights and tenpins on Thursday evenings, concurs.

“I started doing duckpins in 1988,” he said. “My highest average in a season has been 154 and I bowled a 256-game once.

“That's something to remember in duckpins. It's special.”

Young said his league had 40 or more bowlers at the K of C Hall. Those numbers dropped somewhat last year.

“A lot of people don't realize the (duckpin) lanes are up there yet,” he said of Bon Aire.

Jim Huselton has undergone five shoulder surguries since 2006 and used to bowl tenpins on a regular basis.

He says he can still throw a regular bowling ball.

“The much smaller ball is much easier on me,” Huselton said. “The game itself is not.

“Years ago, a bunch of us regular bowlers — some of the top ones like Tom Fry and Wayne Geisler — used to go down to the K of C and bowl the duckpins guys in match play ... and we would get killed.

“For a while, we didn't win a game. But we slowly got better,” Huselton added.

Steve Newcomb, 57, started a Thursday league at Bon Aire last year. Most of the bowlers in the circuit are older than 50.

“The game is frustrating, but it's easier on our bodies,” Newcomb said. “We got guys to join this league who haven't bowled in 10 or 15 years.”

Outside of Butler, the nearest available duckpin facilities are in Erie and Pittsburgh.

“There's a lot of duckpin history here,” Meehan said. “A lot of memories ... Some of the guys still bowling duckpins used to be pinsetters for them.”

Young is pleased the duckpins haven't had to stray far from their original location.

“Yeah ... I was pretty happy when I found out those lanes would be sticking around,” he said.

Bon Aire Bowl is scheduled to reopen for the season Monday.