After a combined 70 years in the business, Mike and Deb Gilliam said they are happily unemployed.

And while the business the Warsaw couple ran - Gilliam Lanes on Ind. 15N - was sold and closed down during the spring, it will soon open under new ownership and management and with a new name.

The Gilliams - Mike, 54 and Deb, 52 - sat down and talked for roughly an hour over Memorial Day weekend inside the silent bowling alley.

They told stories of league play and friendship. Tales of a successful youth program and how two truckers drove from Chicago to participate in a league. They told the story of how Gale and Pam Estep held their wedding at Gilliam Lanes.

"We always had great people working for us and Warsaw is a great place to raise a family," said Mike, who said one of his fondest memories of Gilliam Lanes - other than a large number of friendships made over the years - was when professional bowler Earl Anthony came to town for the day.

Deb said they were grateful for each person that came through the door and that she would particuarly miss the youth program, which included high school teams from Warsaw Community High School and Whitko High School.

"I'm definitely going to miss the high school bowling program," said Deb. "We finished our seventh season this year. It was so much fun beinig a part of that."

While the Gilliams talked about the end of an era, John Hersha talked Wednesday afternoon about the future of the lanes.

Hersha, the owner/operator of Warsaw Bowl, will lease the bowling center from its new owners, the Loren Stichter family.

The bowling center will now be named Northside Lanes, and Hersha, who has been in the bowling business for 18 years, said the goal is to open Aug. 1.

"We're not trying to change any of the league structure," said Hersha. "We also want to keep the family atomsphere. We're pushing to have a family time on the weekends, maybe non-smoking and non-alcohol. We're hoping to rejuvenate bowling and keep the family atmosphere."

Loren Stichter, who also owns Warsaw Masonry, said talks of buying the bowling alley came up over the winter.

"It came up for sale right next to our property," said Stichter. "It seemed like the right thing to do."

Stichter then went through the lengthy process of finalizing the deal and then met with Hersha, who said he hopes rejuvinate bowling in Warsaw.

He said he doesn't foresee a rivalry between the two bowling alleys, rather a way to accomodate all interested bowlers.

"We hope to rejuvenate bowling," said Hersha. "We hope to let everything flow together. If we can't accomodate them at one place we can bring them to the other. I foresee it being better for the future having both centers."

Hersha said he would like to keep the high school bowling program and enhance some of the programs that are already in place.

Hersha said he knows it'll be a challenge managing both bowling alleys, but said it was a challenge he's up for.

"When it's too tough for anybody else, that's when I like it," said Hersha. "This will be a good test."

Just as Hersha would like to keep the league structure the same, he also said he would bring back some of the staff that worked at Gilliam Lanes.

"We're going to bring back some of the staff, bowlers will recognize some familiar faces. We want to keep the same attitude and atmosphere," said Hersha.

While in some ways it's the end of an era, it's also the beginning of another. [[In-content Ad]]