Glacier Lanes a community gathering place with eclectic flair
Nick Kardelis bowls a frame at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
The bar area at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Kristen and Derek Larson with their son, Hakon, and daughter, Sunniva, at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Gavin Gray selects a pair of bowling shoes for a customer at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Pinsetters installed in 1960 work to continuously set up pins at the end of each lane at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Neon signs and lights at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Barak Evans, a friend of the Larsons, works on a piece of spray-paint art for the alley at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Bowlers at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Nick Kardelis bowls a frame at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Fred Vanhorn selects a ball to bowl with family at Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier Lanes in Columbia Falls on Friday, Nov. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Customers are flooded with nostalgia when walking into Glacier Lanes.
There’s a little bit of every decade on display in the bowling alley — the 80s in the linoleum flooring and the 60s in the original mural displayed above the lanes. There’s a long history of the Columbia Falls community gathering at the bowling alley, and owners Derek and Kristen Larson want to keep it that way, with their own eccentric twist.
Kristen said when she and her husband purchased the bowling alley in 2018, they turned a former casino area into a stage and took out the carpeting, which blanketed much of the space. The bowling alley originally opened in 1961, according to an article in the Hungry Horse News.
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