Move over Bird, Orr and Brady! Candlepin Bowling TV shows made bigger stars out of local pro bowlers!

“Hang on to your tray tables, boys and girls!” was the signature call of Boston TV sports legend Don Gillis of Channel 5. It let viewers know something exciting was about to happen on the show, Candlepin Bowling, a Saturday staple for 38-years on WCVB.

Candlepin bowling the game and show were cultural juggernauts through the 1990s. With over 300,000 weekly viewers, Candlepin Bowling often outrated Boston’s Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots telecasts. Because of massive TV exposure, many local pro bowlers became as popular as Larry Bird and Carl Yastrzemski.

Players like Stasia Czernicki and Tom Olszta were recognized everywhere and enjoyed star status wherever they went in New England. Their stories are surprising and heartfelt. Mike Morin knew them all and shares their lives.

Presented by Mike Morin.

 

Registration is requested, but not required. Snacks will be served.

 

About Mike

Mike began his 53st year as a radio and television personality in January. After retiring in 2014, Mike returned to the airwaves in 2019 as host of Morin in the Morning, on Frank FM, heard on four stations in New Hampshire. He has since embarked on what he calls Retirement 2.0, leaving Frank FM at the end of 2020. He now hosts business talk shows on 99.9FM/AM 1370 WFEA. Along the way, Mike also worked at stations in Detroit, Toledo, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston and served as 12-year co-host of New Hampshire in the Morning on 95.7-WZID in Manchester. His writing career began in 2004, where after 18 years, Mike still produces a humor column every other Sunday for the Nashua Telegraph. He is a contributor to New Hampshire Magazine and has had articles in the Boston Globe and Chicken Soup for the Soul books. His TV credits include work as a television weatherman and nine-years co-hosting nearly 300 candlepin bowling TV shows.

Mike’s first book, a career memoir, Fifty Shades of Radio: True Stories of a Morning Radio Guy Being Wired, Tired and Fired, came out in 2013. His latest book, released in 2019, is Lunch with Tommy and Stasia: TV’s Golden Age of Candlepin Bowling. In 2022, he released his newest book, If These Walls Could Talk, on the history of New Hampshire’s Red Arrow Diner, which turned 100 in October. Mike lives in Nashua with Barbara Baker and their Westie dog, Portia Rose.