The little bowling alley that’s the heartbeat of the Fraser Canyon

Denise Normand pushes back from the swivel chair and walks out of her office with a handful of papers. She enters the dimly lit bowling alley, eyeing a wall filled with names and numbers. 

Her shoulder-length blond hair sways with each step. Normand walks by a book shelf and children’s play pit littered with miniature bowling pins. In a dozen paces, she reaches the four lanes in the alley. Overhead lights reflect off the sparkly hardwood floor, brightening up this corner of the building, Canyon Lanes, located just off the Trans-Canada Highway in Boston Bar. 

The first of a dozen bowlers are not expected to show up for another two hours, but Normand, the manager of Canyon Lanes, has an important job to do. 

On a Monday evening in December, she fiddles with plastic numbers and letters in her hand and glances towards a sheet of paper. Every week, Normand revises the highest average scores in three separate leagues on multiple marquees that hang on a wall. The scores date back to 1991, the year the bowling alley opened. 

“I have to put these up, or my Monday night bowlers will be upset,” Normand says to herself as she updates one board to read: JOE 229, ROD 225, DOUG 221. 

To many people outside of this rural community within the Fraser Canyon, bowling may be considered a dying sport. The number of bowling alleys in Canada and the Lower Mainland have shrunk in recent years. But for the residents of Boston Bar, North Bend, and surrounding First Nations, their hometown alley continues to be a source of pride. 

In more ways than one, Canyon Lanes is a source of stability for a town that has teetered on the edge of existence since gold miners first flooded into town.

Golden past

Boston Bar, an unincorporated community, sits between a pair of ancient Nlaka’pamux villages—Kopchitchin and Tuckkwiowhum’s origins date back thousands of years. Kopchitchin, located on the west side of the Fraser River, is believed to be 6,000 years old.

In 1858, the Gold Rush drew tens of thousands of people from across Canada and the US to the Fraser Canyon, sparking a brief three-month war between Indigenous peoples and settlers declaring their entitlement to the land. In the 1860s, shortly after the war ended thanks to the peacemaking efforts of Nlaka'pamux Chief David Spintlum, the Fraser River ran out of gold and many seekers went home. 

But not all. A small community remained behind, and although times were often hard, fortunes turned in the 1880s, when the Canadian National Railway was built through the canyon. A train stop was established in Boston Bar, a station house was built in 1914, and the community transitioned into a thriving rail and mill town.

The good times didn’t last. But the town has still endured.

Construction on Canyon Lanes began in the late 1980s. The work was backed by many corporate donors including Esso, Gateway Highway Maintenance, and Fletcher Challenge, a major mill in town. At the time, there were a few bars in town that were popular meeting spots, but there were not many socializing opportunities for children. Canyon Lanes was expected to fill that gap. 

Crews were made up of a ragtag group of people—bakers, waitresses, heavy-duty mechanics—who were living on employment insurance at the time. 

“I had to show this one girl how to use a six-foot ladder,” said Brian Krogsgaard, a former millwright for Fletcher Challenge who moved to Boston Bar in 1974. He was asked to oversee construction because of his experience in lumber. “Another young guy picked up a little desk and was going to take it to the office. He grabbed it, threw it over his shoulder, and dropped the thing. He dislocated his shoulder.” 

The bowling alley was ultimately finished in 1991. When it was done, the alley served as a popular hangout spot to socialize and exercise. 

There were other activities to do in town. Many people would drive down to Hope on Sunday evenings to play hockey, and others organized baseball tournaments and floor hockey in a gym at the local school. 

“A lot of different teams from quite a few places would come here, and people from here would go to other places that had ball tournaments,” Krogsgaard said. 

But over time the bowling alley has become increasingly important. 

In the early-2000s, the last mill in town closed for good, putting many people out of work. Many left for Hope, Chilliwack or Abbotsford. Krogsgaard stayed behind to start his own business. However, the exodus caused the recreation hockey and baseball teams to fold.

“That all disappeared,” he said. “It was a one-horse town and the horse died.”  

Bowling became the only organized sport people could do without travelling 60 or more kilometres. 

Setting up shop

The movement of people has not been entirely one way. In July 2021, Normand, 43, moved to Boston Bar to purchase her first home.

A lifelong resident of Surrey with an accounting job she could do remotely, Normand and her husband rented a house for 15 years before making the move to Boston Bar, a community she admits was out of the way but close enough to shops in Hope and Chilliwack. 

“It’s far enough that it’s isolated, peaceful and gorgeous,” she said. “It’s 40 minutes to Hope, and then you add another 20 minutes, you’re in Chilliwack, which has everything you need.” 

But moving to any new community can leave one feeling isolated.

“I’m a people person and I didn’t want to be in the house all day,” she said. “I can’t sit in front of my computer 24/7 doing numbers, I miss people. I need the interaction of people.” 

One evening, she dragged her shy and reluctant daughter to a youth bowling night at Canyon Lanes. They met many people and Normand was invited to a bowling league, where she quickly formed a close friendship with the alley’s previous manager. 

When the manager came down with a health condition that forced her to step down, the bowling alley started looking for someone to take over. They posted a two-page list of qualities—bookkeeping skills, party planning experience, tax knowledge—they were looking for in the next manager. Normand was the only person who applied. 

“‘This is a job I can do,’” Normand said to herself. “Taking care of the books, the inventory, the payroll: I could do all this, I am the perfect candidate.’” 

‘If you want to go ice skating, it’s a chore’ 

Boston Bar is just far enough away from amenities in Hope and Chilliwack that it can be tough for all residents to access. 

Unlike in many cities across the Lower Mainland, where people can swim, skate, and play softball in a park down the street or at a recreation centre a short drive away, Boston Bar has a bowling alley and swimming pool, which is only open in the summer. 

Activities other than bowling are nearly an hour away, said Pat Clelland, a Boston Bar resident who worked at the bowling alley for 15 years. 

“Here, if you want to go ice skating, it’s a chore,” she said. “You’re looking at 45 minutes to get down to the ice skating rink [in Hope].” 

Three times per week—Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday—anywhere from 12 to 16 local bowlers like Clelland play in a league. 

On one Monday night last month, about a dozen bowlers pulled up to Canyon Lanes as 7pm approached. 

The bowlers entered the building holding bowling shoes in one hand and trays of food in the other. With the holidays approaching, the group had organized a potluck. They dropped off their food on a table near reception and took seats steps behind the bowling lanes. 

The scent of macaroni and cheese hung in the room, mixing with the smell of fresh, oven-baked ribs. 

One of the first few who sat down is Doug Robinson, another new Boston Bar arrival from the Lower Mainland. Robinson moved to Boston Bar from Chilliwack a couple years ago and is now in his third season at Canyon Lanes. Although he occasionally bowled in Chilliwack for decades, Robinson and his wife picked up the sport again when they relocated to the canyon. 

“It was something to do and meet new people,” Robinson said. He brought homemade juice to the potluck. 

The last bowler shows up at 7pm and Normand walks in front of the group. 

“Do you want to bowl first? Eat first?” she asks.

She is initially met with silence and blank stares. After a few seconds, a man at the far end of the room raises his voice. 

“Food—definitely food.” 

An unofficial city hall

Canyon Lanes’ location isn’t the only unique thing about Boston Bar’s little bowling alley. 

Although the vast majority of bowling alleys in BC are private businesses, Canyon Lanes is more like a community recreation centre or curling rink.

The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) owns the building and partially funds the bowling alley. The FVRD provides the Boston Bar/North Bend Bowling Association, a non-profit organization that operates within Canyon Lanes, an annual grant of roughly $80,000, according to a 2023 report. The district set aside $88,000 for the bowling association in its draft 2025 budget. 

It’s a unique partnership that illustrates how bowling is not viewed as a business in Boston Bar and the surrounding area. 

“It gives a lot of people something to do,” said Diane Thomas, a resident who helped build the bowling alley decades ago. She’s now a councillor for the Boston Bar First Nation. 

Canyon Lanes has lasted for more than three decades because it provides people—some as far away as Lytton—and local First Nations with some form of entertainment and exercise year-round. The Boston Bar First Nation, specifically, has hosted monthly youth nights at Canyon Lanes for more than 20 years, said Pam Robertson, the nation’s chief. 

Open to all youth across the canyon, the monthly meetups provide kids with food, door prizes, and a healthy dose of competition, which Robertson said creates a strong sense of community among younger residents.

“It’s about them being social. It covers the whole mental, spiritual, emotional aspect of our lives,” she said. 

Aside from bowling, Canyon Lanes acts as the community’s unofficial city hall, pharmacy, and lunch-hour hangout spot for students. 

“This is where everything happens and there’s not much else,” said Cedar Loss-Walters, a Grade 11 student at Boston Bar Elementary-Secondary School who works part-time at Canyon Lanes. 

Canyon Lanes is where high school graduation parties and markets are held in the spring and summer. It’s where community meetings are hosted, students have P.E. class and residents come to vote in elections or referendums. And in extreme weather events like wildfires or floods, Canyon Lanes is a reliable place for people looking to fill up water bottles or catch up with others. 

“It’s the hub for everything,” said Kathy Monds, manager of the community’s food bank, which also operates out of the bowling alley. Monds moved to Boston Bar in March and now puts anywhere from 55 to 75 food hampers together per month. 

“There is not a lot in Boston Bar,” Monds said. “There’s nowhere else that’s open every day.” 

In remote areas with limited resources like Boston Bar, this sort of model can be useful, wrote Patricia Ross, chair of the FVRD board, in an email. The bowling alley allows people to connect, disseminate information, and receive health care.

Clelland, one of the Monday night league bowlers, organizes a shuttle bus that delivers prescription medication from Hope, Chilliwack, and Abbotsford to Canyon Lanes every week. She echoes that Canyon Lanes is the heartbeat of the community. 

Anywhere from 20 to 30 locals rely on the weekly shuttle service, which Clelland says is essential for the dozens of residents that can’t travel to get their medication. 

“When they get there, we phone every person to let them know their prescriptions are here and they can pick them up,” she said. 

“It’s a community centre—a hub for people.” 

Knocking down the pins

It’s the ninth frame of his second game, and Doug Robinson is approaching his average single game score of 221. 

Every few minutes, bowlers from other lanes will turn to high-five or fist bump their peers after a frame. A fist bump is warranted whenever a player clears all five pins in a frame. A high-five is for strikes and spares. 

Robinson holds the bowling ball in his right hand, puts his left foot forward and begins to swing his right hand back and forth in long, winding motions. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.

On the third swing, he fires the ball down the lane. It lands with a thump and knocks down each pin but one. Robinson turns and grabs his next ball. He does the same back and forth route and fires. The ball skirts past the left side of the pin. On his final attempt, he misses the final pin again. 

The pinsetter collects the pin and his score sits at 209.

Normand, sitting at a table a few steps from the bowling alley, slaps and bumps bowlers whenever they pass by. 

The sense of camaraderie is something she hopes to grow in the future. Back when the mill was open, the town had bowling leagues every night—sometimes twice per day, Normand said. 

“I would love to have the population back where we could run leagues almost every day,” she said. “We could if we had the people. I mean, we’re already doing so much in the community.” 

When it’s Robinson’s turn to go up for the 10th and final frame, he drops a handcloth aged with sweat and picks up a ball.

Once again, on his first attempt, he knocks down every pin but the far back right one. He grabs the next ball. Robinson winds his hands back and forth three times and sends the ball down the lane. It smacks the pin, launching it out of sight. 

Robinson pivots and extends his palm to the closest person he can find.