Albrecht first New Ulmite in state bowling Hall of Fame

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Joel Albrecht remembers back to 1958 when he began his involvement in bowling at the old Concordia Lanes then located on Second North and State Streets.

Forty-five years later, Albrecht will receive the highest honor when he is inducted into the Minnesota Bowling Hall of Fame.

The ceremony honoring Albrecht for meritorious service to bowling will take place today in St. Cloud at the Kelly Inn at 7 p.m.

"I knew that I had been elected to the Hall of Fame last fall," said Albrecht, who at that time was campaigning for Mayor of New Ulm. "But to break (that) story then would have been unfair."

While Albrecht has only been Mayor of New Ulm since January, his involvement, commitment and genuine love for the game of bowling goes back many, many years.

After the 1958-59 bowling season, Albrecht and then partner Jim Witt moved Concordia Lanes to Second North and Broadway.

"We had six bowling lanes then, and when George's Bowling Alley went out of business, we added two more lanes," he said. Concordia Lanes then moved to their current location in 1988.

While Albrecht has been active in bowling all of his life, his selection as the first New Ulmite to be elected to the Minnesota Bowling Hall of Fame was because of his activity in youth bowling.

He, in fact, may well be called the Grandfather of New Ulm Youth Bowling.

"Back in 1961, we got automatic pin setters," he said. Prior to that, pins were set by pinboys. But with automation coming in, it allowed kids who set the pins to become bowlers.

Albrecht went to become a Certified Bowling Instructor -- the first step in building a youth bowling program.

"Prior to that, everybody taught the way they bowled," he said. "If you were a good bowler, you taught younger bowlers to bowl the way that you did, whether it was a three-step (approach) or a six-step."

He said that Joel Wilman, who was the instructor in the bowling school, "found a way that was mathematically correct with the right number of steps combined with the swing of the arm, the delivery of the ball, to work for everybody with some minor modifications."

The Minnesota Bowling Proprietors, with the addition of pin setters and certified instructors like Albrecht, "began to work with the school systems. Back then there was the GAA (Girl's Athletic Association) because girls did not have the sports that they do now. GAA came down to the lanes after school hours and that grew into the idea of contacting area schools and have 'in-school' activities during their phy ed period," Albrecht said. "And at that time, we were only two blocks away from the (then) high school and time was not a big thing because of travel."

Albrecht found then District 88 Superintendent Ted Olson receptive to the idea, and soon after, the phy ed program began.

"We were only the second school district in Minnesota to have the in-school program. The other one was one school in the Metro area," he said.

"The in-school program was so successful here that there were proprietors outside of New Ulm who wanted to start that same program in their cities.

"I got invited to Tracy, Sleepy Eye, Gibbon, Winthrop, Fairfax -- there were many towns that wanted to see how it works," Albrecht remembered. "We would take the proprietors of the bowling lanes in that town and meet with the Superintendent of Schools there. Some schools were receptive to that and some weren't, but at least we made the effort."

The success of the in-school bowling program in New Ulm would lead to the beginning of a strong junior program.

Albrecht also formed the first ladies bowling leagues in town.

"That would start at 1 or 2 p.m. -- back then (in the 1960's) the women were not as much a part of the work force as they are now, and the kids were in school," he said. "So we had coffee and cookies for the women."

He said that back then there were "a ton of women's league and a traveling league that reached from Mankato to Madison, from Fairmont to Glencoe."

Albrecht has also been on the Minnesota State Board of Directors for over 20 years and served as second Vice-President, Vice-President and President of the Minnesota Men's State Bowling Association.

During Albrecht's tenure in office there, he helped organize the Minnesota Bowling Hall of Fame.

"Back then, St. Paul and New Ulm had the only (Bowling) Hall of Fames," he said. "So when we were working on starting a Hall of Fame, I was on the committee to write the by-laws to make the (Minnesota ) Hall of Fame a legitimate one, and not one where you elect your buddy."

Albrecht said that being inducted into the Minnesota Hall of Fame "is a huge honor. It is big, being the first one from New Ulm."

He sometimes asks himself why he was elected, "but then you think back to all of the things that happened. That is not to say that they would not have happened without me," he reflected. "But you are at the right place at the right time and the determination to go out and do something that you believe in," he said. "At times, it may have been easier to stay at home. But it was good for the game of bowling, and the game of bowling has been so very, very good to me all of my lifetime."

He said that the biggest change in bowling has been the equipment from the make-up of the bowling lane itself to the bowling ball.

But one thing that bowlers in New Ulm -- and the state of Minnesota -- can be grateful for is that Joel Albrecht never changed. His love for the game is as strong now as it was back in 1958.

"I just want to be remembered as a person who contributed a little bit to the game of bowling," he said.