Valley Bowl will offer free yule dinner, bowling – again

It started as a simple idea:

“We’ve been blessed with so much, and I wanted to give something back,” said Lynn Gregory. “I wanted to do that, but I also wanted to spend Christmas with my boys, so I asked them if they were interested. They both wanted in.”

The idea was to offer Christmas dinner and free bowling to anyone who showed up at Valley Bowl, 8005 E. Sprague Ave. No reservations necessary. No cost.

More than 300 did.

“So we’re going to do it again this year,” she said. “From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., we’re going to have free bowling and plenty of food. We’ll have spaghetti, meatballs, salad, rolls and drinks. No alcohol, but plenty of drinks for everyone.”

Gregory said the response to the effort was impressive last year and continues again this year.

“All of the vendors we deal with have been so helpful,” she said. “Farmer Brothers Coffee, URM, Coke – every one of them has provided us with supplies.

“Last year I had all kinds of relatives in here helping us serve and helping us cook. I had so many of them, in fact, that I didn’t have anything for them to do.

“I even had people from neighboring businesses come by and help us wash dishes.”

The event created its own feeling of Christmas as well of community – two goals for which every holiday celebration strives.

For many of last year’s attendees, the meal was particularly welcome.

“We had people who didn’t have any place else to go,” Gregory said. “We had people show up who didn’t know it was free and kept trying to pay.”

Last year Gregory offered roast turkey and baked ham with all the sides. This year’s menu is more manageable.

“That was just too much,” she said. “This will be a little easier to control, and we can handle having more people than expected show up.

“The more the merrier.”