Sitting at the bowling alley on Langford Parkway, everyone seems to know Olive Olmsted.
And it’s not because she’s been bowling there every week for the past four years, it’s because she’s still picking up balls and bowling strikes – even at the age of 95.
“I feel fine, I could go another 95. I’ve got my fingers crossed,” laughed Olmsted, who turned 95 on March 5. “I’ve always been bowling.”
Every Tuesday afternoon from September to April, Olmsted follows the same routine. Her daughter-in-law, Lorilee, or her son, Bill, picks her up from her Victoria home and takes her to the Langford bowling alley, where she plays with Team Hopefuls as part of the seniors league and averages about 60 on the score sheet.
It’s one of the things she looks forward to most throughout the week as it gives her the opportunity to exercise and socialize with friends.
Olmsted’s passion for bowling began more than 55 years ago, when she was living in Dundas, Ontario, although she can’t remember specifically how and when she picked up the sport. After visiting Victoria on a family vacation, Olmsted’s husband fell in love with the city and, shortly after, the couple sold the family-owned gas station, packed up and headed for the West Coast.
In Victoria, Olmsted continued her love for bowling. For a number of years she bowled at a bowling alley near Mayfair Mall. Once it closed down, Olmsted made the drive up to Duncan once a week with a teammate to continue practicing the sport there. It wasn’t until Langford Lanes opened in 2011 that she began playing with the seniors league, a bit closer to home.
Over the years, she’s played hundreds of games and nothing seems to stop her from hitting the alley – not even the birth of her child.
“Mom was at the alley bowling when she was in labour with her youngest son,” Lorilee laughed.
Fellow bowler and friend Carol Edwards said Olmsted has a wicked left hook.
“This girl could hit the seven pin in her sleep,” Edwards said. “She’s just a wonderful woman. We have a lot of fun.”
While Olmsted admits her game has changed a bit with age – she bowls with a black eight-pound ball instead of a 23-pound ball now, takes a bit longer to tie up her shoes, and cusses occasionally when the ball doesn’t roll the way she wants it to – but she can still throw a strike every now and then.
Her secret? “Just want to get her [the ball] down there,” she said. “I just get up and bowl.”
Even after dozens of years at the alley, Olmsted isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. She hopes to continue bowling every week for as long as her body allows.