By Janelle Ericsson
ORCHARD MESA, Colo., — The owner at Orchard Mesa Lanes has been opening up his business for the “Bowl With A Cop” day for nearly 15 years.
“I have kids, my kids grew up here and I think it’s a good town to grow up in, and if i can help that’s great,” owner Eric Loeb said.
It’s an event where kids bowl for free while spending time with our boys in blue.
“I think it’s a good thing for the kids to meet police in a little different setting where it’s not imposing to them or anything like that,” Loeb said. “They have fun, the police have fun and it’s just something I like to do.”
And spending time with kids is also something the cops enjoy.
“It’s good for the kids to get to talk to officers and talk to somebody in uniform and realize that we’re people, we’re human beings and that we’re approachable we can be friendly and have fun too,” Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputy Ben Carnes said.
After all, the whole event is about kids making a positive relationship with the cops, and bowling seems to break the ice.
“It seems like they’re having a good time, they’re having a lot of fun,” Carnes said. “We have one kid I he’s about 12 years old and he’s out bowling everybody so he’s teaching the cops how to bowl.”
“I don’t know I haven’t really heard anything maybe they’re just watching me trying to,” bowler Alex Williamson said.
But would he say he’s better than some of the cops?
“Some of them yeah, the other ones I’d imagine come down and practice,” Williamson said.
“Well I practice,” seven year old bowler Taylor said. “I practice bowling on the Wii and it’s my first time being in a real life bowling alley.”
Year after year, kids and police continue to show up. And Loeb says that is why he has no plans of stopping the event anytime soon.
“Well because the kids turn out and the police turn out so it pretty well takes care of itself,” he said. “We see these kids when they’re 5 years old and we see these kids when they’re 15 years old so we like to see them here instead of out on the streets.”
There will be an additional “Bowl With A Cop” day Thursday. It will be free for kids from 10 AM to 2 PM at Orchard Mesa Lanes Off 27 Road.
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