Children can bowl free at North Hills Lanes in Marietta this summer as part of a national program the alley is participating in.
The program is open to all children up to age 15, according to Cindy Lanning, owner of the bowling alley on Colegate Drive.
She said this is her third year participating in the program.
"The response has been great," Lanning said. "As of just the other day we had 455 registered. We started it when school finished, the last week in May."
Ashley Bonnette, a teacher at the Boys and Girls Club of Washington County, recently took a group to bowl at North Hills.
She said she thinks the program is great.
Fact Box
Kids Bowl Free program
North Hills Lanes, located at 318 Colegate Drive, Marietta, is participating in the national program.
Children up to age 15 can bowl two free games a day Monday through Thursday noon to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday noon to 8 p.m. through Aug. 25.
Parents must register their children by visiting www.kidsbowlfree.com. Coupons are e-mailed on Sundays.
"I think it's nice the kids get to bowl for free," she said. "Some of them might not get to bowl otherwise."
To register children Lanning said parents can go to www.kidsbowlfree.com, click on Ohio on the map, find Marietta under a list of cities, then click on North Hills Lanes.
"The parent types in the information on the child and every week on a Sunday they receive via the e-mail the coupons that would allow them to bowl two free games a day," she said.
Lanning said youth can bowl free Monday through Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from noon to 8 p.m.
According to a news release more than 1,000 bowling centers in 48 states and Canada are participating in the Kids Bowl Free program this summer.
The goal of the program is to promote an active lifestyle for families.
"It gets them out of the house for the summer and off the couch and away from the video games," Lanning said.
Nathaniel Martin, of Marietta, recently went bowling at the alley. He said he enjoyed it.
"I think that it's fun to come up here and bowl with a couple of my friends," said Martin, 10.
Over the past three years the Kids Bowl Free program has introduced bowling to more than 1.8 million families and 5.2 million children.
