Rolling along: Bowler still going strong at 96

CHUCK WU ~ cwu@semissourian.com Windy Winchester gets ready to bowl Wednesday at Jackson Lanes. Winchester, 96, still bowls every Wednesday night. [Click to enlarge]

Windy Winchester is still going strong at 96 years old.

Winchester bowls every Wednesday at Jackson Lanes in Jackson with the Young at Heart League, a senior citizen league. His wife, D'orsay comes along with him but has not been able to bowl for a few years because of her dependence on a cane. She comes to watch him bowl.

The couple drives about 30 minutes each week to bowl at Jackson Lanes from the small town of Arbor, Mo., between Delta and Advance.

Winchester said he's been bowling about 40 or 50 years and started in the Jackson league in 1979. Before that he bowled in St. Charles, Mo. The Young at Heart league takes the summers off, but Winchester still comes every Wednesday.

"He's got to be pretty sick not to bowl," D'orsay said.

Winchester said he's used the spot method for bowling most of his life. The spot on the floor he releases the ball at depends on what he's trying to knock down.

"I have a spot I roll the ball down over for a strike or a spare," he said.

CHUCK WU ~ cwu@semissourian.com Windy Winchester 96 go to bowling every Wednesday at Jax Lanes in Jackson, Mo. This year his average bowling score is around 132. [Click to enlarge]

He doesn't have a good luck charm or any rituals but said it's important to have your own ball because, "you just bowl better." His is solid black and weighs 14 pounds.

"He bowls real well," said Mike Rice, a league member who has known Windy for 11 years. "He's very steady and committed. He's not at the bottom but in the middle of the league."

Winchester's average last season was 141 and although he said he bowls for fun, he also said, "I want to be the best I can at anything I do."

"About 20 years ago I bowled a 195 average for five games," he said. He wasn't sure of the year, but Winchester said he also remembered bowling one pin shy of a 300 -- a perfect score.

Rice said Winchester is probably one of the oldest bowlers in the country.

"He's seen about everything there is to see in bowling," he said. "About five years ago he was selected as a member of the Senior Hall of Fame within our district."

Winchester said a recent highlight was beating his 16-year-old great-grandson, Evan Lewis of Collinsville, Ill.

"I beat him every game," Winchester said.

Winchester said one of the reason he bowls is for exercise.

"I like action. When you retire you should have activity," he said.

He and his wife walk, and Winchester still mows his own yard. He has the tan to prove it.

D'orsay said their days include eating out, going to church and playing music. The couple begins their day around 8 a.m. at the McDonalds in Advance. They like to eat at the Grecian Steak House in Cape Girardeau at least once a week. Winchester said his favorite foods are casseroles, meat loaf, spaghetti and Chinese food.

His favorite thing to do is play music. Winchester sings and plays guitar and harmonica at his church and visiting churches two to three times a week.

"His home church in Dongola has him booked every year," D'orsay said.

People know Winchester. When he's at the lanes, people stop and ask him how he's doing.

When the Young at Heart Bowlers have a meeting or dinner, he is asked to lead the prayer.

"It's just like a family, the proprietors and bowlers," D'orsay said. "Last year he fell. Everyone gathered around to see if they could help."

The accident cost him eight stitches in his head, but as soon as he was able, Winchester was bowling again.

"It's pretty amazing. I hope I'm able to do that at that age," Jackson Lanes assistant manager Ron Brown said.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133