Walnut Bowl, 3101 Washington St., showed off its major makeover by hosting this week’s Great Bend Chamber of Commerce Coffee. Owner Jim Mayberry talked about the bowling alley and its bar and grill.
The work has been done in stages, so the new ball returns are now two years old. “This summer, we decided to make the plunge,” he said. “We pulled all of our gutters out, all of our caps that have the lights on, and then all of our pinsetters are brand new and we bought a new (Kegel Walker) lane machine to go with it.”
The 1961 pinsetters have been replaced with a state-of-the-art system where string pinsetters use strings attached to the top of each pin to reset them after a roll.
The Cosmic Bowling lights are a fantastic sight, and there are lane bumpers that come up automatically when children with small balls bowl – then go down when adults bowl.
The bowling alley can host parties and has a meeting room that holds 50 people.
“We’re doing a lot of specials right now. We’re going to do a Halloween one where ladies bowl free if you’re in costume.” There are specials and leagues for all ages.
The meeting room now has some big posters of historic Great Bend photos that the Chamber used for its annual banquet one year. That inspired Mayberry to order more photos from the Barton County Historical Society and they are featured above the 24 lanes. Lane 12 shows the courthouse and Lane 13 shows the original courthouse built in 1880. The photos date from 1889 to around 1970.
Chamber Announcements:
• Chamber members were challenged to donate food to the Community Food Bank of Barton County . It was announced that if the government shutdown continues, people receiving SNAP assistance won’t be getting Food Stamps as of Nov. 1, until the government reopens. Also, Federal employees have not received their last two paychecks. Catholic Charities accepts items for its non-food bank. People’s Bank and the Great Bend Tribune are also collecting non-perishable food items for the Food Bank.
• Wheatland Electric’s “Power the Pantry” competition in Great Bend schools starts Monday, so non-perishable food items and cash donations can also be dropped off at participating schools.
• At Trinity United Methodist Church’s annual coat giveaway on Oct. 18, volunteers gave away 306 coats, Arlen Schroeder said. He is a member of the church and also volunteers at the Chamber Office; anyone who has coats at home that are no longer needed can still bring them to the office to be given away next year. He told people to be thinking about hats, scarves and gloves as well.
• Great Bend Community Theatre is showing “The Savannah Sipping Society” at the Crest Theater. It’s the start of the 2025-2026 season, and season tickets are available. It can be seen at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, and the doors open one hour before curtain time. “And for those of you that aren’t aware, the Crest Theater now has alcohol,” cast member Joni Haines said.
• Looking ahead, the Heart of Kansas Heart Walk for 2026 will be on Feb. 28.
• The next Chamber Coffee will be at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30, at Fuller Industries, 15 SW 40 Ave.
