BATON ROUGE – It was Memorial Day 2005 in our city. It was also a normal day of bowling at the River Center much as it is now 20 years later at the River Center. Back then it was still called the American Bowling Congress Championship one year before the merger of all bowling entities under the United States Bowling Congress.

At The Advocate, that year, we were doing daily notes on the tournament and keeping up with things it seemed around the clock. So when my phone rang mid-afternoon and I saw it was tournament PR coordinator Lucas Wiseman I figured someone must be bowling pretty good on this holiday.

The call was quicker than I expected. “Train derailment. We’re evacuating. Call you later,” he said.

In a message exchange recently, Wiseman, who is now a part of FloSports admitted: “A lot of what happened that day is a blur now, but I remember sitting at my desk in the media office when I heard a horrific sound outside. It wasn't long before we realized a train had derailed and there were concerns about chemicals leaking. That forced an evacuation of the River Center and created a lot of confusion about how we would continue the tournament. Once it was clear the situation wasn't dangerous, I worked to get the word out to affected bowlers through press releases and local media. It was definitely a unique event.”

Back then there was a web cam the tournament had to see what was happening in the building (before the days of worrying about who knew the pattern and equipment the bowlers were using) and sure enough people were quickly getting out the big hall with 48 lanes.

On the tracks by the USS Kidd Veterans Memorial and Museum (and just down from the River Center), three rail cars owned by the Canadian National Railway Company overturned. Inside at least one of those cars was something called propylene oxide, a volatile flammable gas.

Over the course of the afternoon and evening of Memorial Day Monday (May 30) and early into May 31, the River Center sat empty and some 700 bowlers missed their scheduled bowling time. Especially crucial were the team shifts that were lost on that Monday evening, one that was just under way and another that was set to bowl that night.

In all 3 doubles and singles shifts and those two team shifts were lost in the 17 hours that bowling was halted. Gradually, officials were allowed back in on that Tuesday morning to get the lanes ready and Wiseman was able to get the word out that the tournament was back on. 

Now the question was what to do for the bowlers. How do you reschedule when the tournament starts at 7 a.m. each day and often runs until 2 a.m. the following day? Remember there were less lanes in the River Center in 2005 then there are in 2025 and there were also some 13,000 teams involved. Bowlers from all over the country that were here to bowl their scheduled times were only in town for an already planned amount of time.

There would be some refunds, which was the proper thing to do. But tournament director Brian Lewis decided there was a spot to put the displaced teams and that was on a Wednesday overnight after the final shift, which meant resuming or in some cases starting from the beginning a team shift at 2 a.m.

What ended up happening was several bowlers rolled a doubles and singles shift into the morning hours and then made up their team event, starting at about 2 a.m.

In all, some 41 teams chose to bowl the all-nighter and a few more took the remaining lanes to get their double and singles games finished as well.

We’ve talked about the Baton Rouge hospitality of 2005 which made the USBC want to come back so quickly and make a deal with Baton Rouge and late Mayor Kip Holden, but it was the volunteers who were the heroes throughout the building that stayed for the 2 a.m. shift to make sure it would happen like a normal shift.

There have been other delays in the history of this tournament such as a tornado warning in Huntsville, a freak snowstorm in Reno and many Baton Rouge bowlers can tell you about the power outage when bowling in Albuquerque. But 20 years ago on Memorial Day was such a unique occurrence when the Open Championships were at the mercy of a turned over rail car across the street from the River Center and bowling’s biggest event came to halt.

Look Who’s In Town

If you are a bowling fan and have kept any eye on the PBA, you know the name E. J. Tackett, who is probably going to win the Bowler of the Year honor again this year after winning two majors (the PBA World Championship and the U.S. Open) and just missed Saturday in capturing the PBA Playoffs.

Tackett will be in Baton Rouge to bowl the team event at the Raising Canes River Center Tuesday night at 7:45 p.m. and doubles and singles at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. I have a feeling a few people will be on hand to check out the best bowler on the planet at this time in the sport.

Next Monday, we’ll tell you who the distinguished bowlers are who have joined the Greater Baton Rouge Bowling Association Hall of Fame and much more.

                 Until then, good luck and good bowling!

                                      Kent Lowe