Tech City Bowl, located in the Bridle Trails Shopping Center on the border of Redmond and Kirkland, celebrated its 51st anniversary in style by hosting its second annual Tech City Bowl Days last Sunday.

Kids and adults alike enjoyed $1 black-light glow bowling and shoe rental, a carnival featuring a dunk tank and kids’ games, an outdoor barbecue, raffle prize drawings to raise money for charity and a live band, “Rock Classix,” which belted out classic tunes all afternoon.

“Tech City Bowl and Jimmy G’s is such a family-oriented place. It’s the family fun center of Kirkland and Redmond,” said Cristen Gallagher, the bar supervisor at Jimmy G’s 70th Street Grill, the full-service restaurant located inside Tech City Bowl. “This is a very tight-knit community, they like to have fun and they like to get together.”

Gallagher and fellow bartender Tia Smith took turns getting soaked in the dunk tank, at which guests could purchase three throws for $1.

“When we do our anniversary, carnivals and promotional events like giving away bowling balls (to support breast cancer research), I know people really take that seriously around this community, added Gallagher. “With the live band and our bartenders and servers getting in the dunk tank, it just makes it that much more exciting for everybody to come and be a part of it.”

Tech City Bowl, formerly known as Totem Bowl, was founded in 1958 by the Gaines family in downtown Kirkland where the Howard/Mandville Gallery currently resides, and is still family-owned and operated.

The 32-lane center underwent an extensive interior remodel and name change in the early part of the decade and earned the distinction of hosting the 2002 Professional Bowlers’ Association Earl Anthony Memorial Classic.

Tech City was also revolutionary in the bowling industry, being the first center in the state to host glow-in-the-dark bowling events, known as “X-Bowl,” and was also the first in Washington to ban smoking on the lanes, long before 2005’s public law went into effect.

Known as Microsoft’s official bowling center, the staff at Tech City hopes that the Bowl Days attracted some new local residents to the facility and helped them get introduced to the sport of bowling. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, approximately 50 million people in the United States age seven or older bowled at least once last year.

“We think it’s a great opportunity for the community to come in and see what we’re all about,” said Lyzz Wells, Tech City’s league coordinator. “By doing the less expensive games, we think it brings more people in and introduces us to the neighborhood.”

Her favorite part about hosting the Bowl Days?

“Just seeing all the new faces, definitely.”

For more information on Tech City Bowl, visit www.techcitybowl.com.