Love to spare

After a death, family forges on to finish Pick's Bowling Center

By LYNNETTE HINTZE/Daily Inter Lake

It was Dennis Pickavance's dream to build a new bowling center in Bigfork, but he won't be there to see the first ball roll down the alley.

Pickavance, known in Bigfork as "Pick," died in July after working on the project for four years. And when Pick's Bowling Center opens in December, he'll be there in spirit, his wife Lou said.

She and two of the couple's eight grown children, Dave Pickavance and Diane Pickavance, are pushing forward to open the 20,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art bowling facility. They're carrying out not only Pick's dream but also a promise he made to the community he'd come to love.

"He loved the people of Bigfork," Lou said.

Pick was seriously ill, though, and not well enough to travel to the construction site in the last months of his life.

"I'd come down to the job and then come home and take care of him," she recalled. "He'd give me guidance. We'd talk about things."

At one point, Lou said she had a "heart-to-heart" talk with her husband and told him: "You're a sick man. We could walk away from this. We don't have to do this."

His reply was exactly what she expected.

"I gave my word to the people of Bigfork. I'll be there…" he told her.

Drawing on a mountain of inner strength that's sustained her since losing her husband of 48 years, Lou smiled and looked over the nearly finished 20-lane center.

"He's here in a different way now," she said.

THE Pickavances retired to Montana in 1978 and knew they'd found their Shangri La, first in the Gallatin Valley and later in the Flathead.

Pick was a home builder and general contractor in the West Palm Beach and Port Orange areas of Florida in the 1960s and "70s. Beyond his love of being a family man " he had five children with his first wife, then he and Lou had three more " Pick loved being a high school basketball official and officiated games for 42 years.

Pick also had a passion for golf and loved a good fast-pitch softball game. Bowling, ironically, wasn't his thing.

"I was the bowler," Lou said.

A little restless after more than two decades of retirement, the Pickavances bought North Shore Lanes in Bigfork in 2000.

When plans for a new bowling center solidified, it was an opportunity for their son and daughter to return to Montana and manage the new bowling center. Both Dave and Diane had worked previously at North Shore Lanes, first under the previous owners and later for their parents, so it seemed like a good fit for the two siblings and their families to move from Las Vegas to the Bigfork area.

The Pickavances sold North Shore Lanes a year ago and set their sights on building a new bowling center. After searching long and hard for the right spot, they purchased a little over five acres on Montana 82, near the intersection with Montana 35.

"We became subdividers," Lou said. "I'm trying to sell the other four lots."

After Pick died, Lou had to rely on the skills she'd learned when her husband was in the construction business.

"In was in insurance, appraisal and financing. You just naturally learn a lot of other things when your husband is in the business," she said.

Lou and her children are the general contractors for Pick's Bowling Center. With 20 lanes, it will be the biggest bowling alley in the Flathead Valley.

But it's much more than a bowling alley. There will be an arcade for children, a snack bar, a bar and lounge, a casino and a separate sports-bar area with pool tables and games.

"This place will give the whole family a chance to be entertained," Lou said.

There are design elements that reflect Pick's style. In the casino, a diamond-shaped ceiling ornament will showcase a chandelier.

"He loved chandeliers and arches," Lou said.

There also will be a marketing focus on corporate parties, and to that end, some of the bowling lanes feature home-style couches, coffee tables and ottomans.

"If you're gonna do it, you may as well do it right," Lou asserted. "We've followed most of the trends."

The bowling lanes are equipped with 42-inch scoring monitors and a one-level floor design and tables situated with plenty of elbow room. Older bowling alleys typically were built with the bowling lanes at a lower level. The family relied heavily on advice from the Brunswick corporation, considered a leader in building new centers, redesigning old facilities and supplying bowling equipment.

"It's expensive," Lou said about the specialized construction. "This is the only new one [bowling center] in the state. Our architect had never designed one. It's very specialized."

The Pickavance family is getting pin-setting expertise from bowling mechanic Gus Kober, who worked for years at Skyline Bowl in Kalispell and has been bowling since he was 16.

Once the center is up and running in another month or so, Lou hopes to take a breather and actually do some bowling. Dave and Diane will manage the center.

"I'll be the chief trouble-maker," Lou said with a smile.

Right now, the Bigfork bowling leagues are anxious to get back to the sport, she added.

Lou's average?

"It's 166. Not bad for an old lady," she said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com