By SALLY BELL
Staff writer
Seneca Lanes is hoping that an upcoming event helps break down some barriers between kids and community service officers.
A “Cops n’ Kids” bowling party is planned from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 6, at the bowling alley.
The idea is catching on at bowling centers nationwide.
“I’ve seen it at other bowling centers,” Seneca Lanes owner Stephanie Felmlee said.
The point of the event is to give youth and officers a fun environment in which to relate and to help youngsters be more comfortable and familiar with the officers.
“I’m really trying to open those doors,” Felmlee said.
Police officers from Franklin and Oil City have been invited to participate along with firefighters from Oil City and Seneca and the county’s juvenile probation department, she said.
Kids are welcome, of course, along with their parents, and youngsters ages five to 18 will bowl for free.
Felmlee, who used to work with at-risk youths, said many young people are raised with mistaken notions of community service officers.
This event will help youngsters get to know officers as people, she said.
The timing of the event is intentional, as well, and is right before students head home for summer break from school.
Felmlee and her husband, Dean, were the owners of Plaza Bowling Lanes in Meadville when it was destroyed by fire in 2001.
On that night, more than 1,000 people gathered in the parking lot of the bowling alley and an enormous outpouring of support from the community followed, Felmlee said.
“Bowling is excellent as an outing,” Felmlee said. “It’s a social gathering.”
Anyone who would like more information about the “Cops n’ Kids” party can call Seneca Lanes at (814) 676-4618.
