In case you missed it… Did you know we’re Live everyday at 2:00 PM EST on our facebook and YouTube Channels with our daily talk show, Live from Rab’s? You never know who is going to drop in and be a guest on our show. This past week, we welcomed PWBA Superstar Danielle McEwan! Check it out.
Operation Update: Gennaro’s RE-OPENS!
Gennaro’s Pizzeria & Snack Bar has re-opened for Take-Out & Delivery!
Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 8 PM!
Call (718) 351-0192 to place your orders… Pizza, Zeppoles, Jell-O Shots, and even the hard to find Flagship Brewery Ralph’s Ices Hard Selzters!
Rab’s Country Lanes remains closed until further notice. Check here for updates.
You can also watch us Live on facebook daily at 2:00 PM for the latest in bowling and our community!
Show off your Talent through Rab’s Got Talent!
We know you have amazing talents… and we know you’re home with plenty of time on your hands!… So we here at Rab’s launched a new Talent Contest, Rab’s Got Talent!
While you’re home, make a video and submit it for your chance to win and be crowned the Champ! Visit https://bowlatrabs.com/talent to learn more about how you can submit your video and move on to the Voting Round!
We can’t wait to be able to showcase your talent and crown a winner.
Operation Update: Gennaro’s & Country Pro Shop
Thank you to those who placed orders with us over the past couple of weeks. For the health and safety of our team, as of April 4th, Gennaro’s Pizzeria & Snack Bar will be closed until further notice.
We’ll be back before you know it!
Country Pro Shop & Awards Center will be open for order pickup and services by appointment only. Please call with any questions (718) 979-4773.
Rab’s Country Lanes remains closed until further notice. Check here for updates.
You can also watch us Live on facebook daily at 2:00 PM for the latest in bowling and our community!
Small businesses reach out on the internet to stay connected to customers during crisis
By Richard Giacovas | FOX 5 NY
The coronavirus pandemic is bringing out the creativity for small business owners trying to stay afloat.
On Staten Island, at least two business, including a popular bowling alley, have launched their own livestreamed talk shows.
“It was something we had on the back burner,” says Nazareth Laursen, the manager of Rab’s Country Lanes. “When this happened, we were like wow this might be the time.”
Every afternoon, Laursen and proprietor Frank Wilkinson live stream what they call “a show about nothing” from inside the shuttered bowling alley.
Live from Rab’s: During the coronavirus shutdown, keglers can get their fix with this daily bowling show live from Country Lanes
By Joe D’Amodio | damodio@siadvance.com
Staten Island Advance | silive.com
Staten Island’s two bowling centers have been shut down during the coronavirus as mandated by the city, but that doesn’t mean the thousands of keglers in the borough can’t get their daily bowling fix.
That’s because Rab’s Country Lanes proprietor Frank Wilkinson and Manager Naz Laursen are bringing the Island bowling community an hour-long daily show — named Live From Rab’s — at 2 p.m. EST each day, live from the Dongan Hills center.
The show can be seen on Facebook if you’re FB friends with either Wilkinson or Laursen, who do the show overlooking the empty and darkened lanes at Country.
Live From Rab’s topics center around what’s happening on the local bowling scene as well as the ongoing coronavirus. Both Wilkinson and Laursen know the coronavirus is serious, but try to make light of the situation on the show and there’s usually plenty of laughs.
Some interesting guests — professional bowlers and Island keglers Joe Cal and Joe Bruno — have appeared on the show.
Missed a show? Check out the archived videos on facebook.com/bowlatrabs or YouTube!
WATCH: During coronavirus pandemic, teenager stays busy bowling outside his house on makeshift lane
By Joe D’Amodio | damodio@siadvance.com
Staten Island Advance | silive.com
Click here for the story and to watch the video!
No bowling, no problem for teenager Joe Joe Guarnieri.
When a state mandate was enforced last week shutting down businesses, including the two Island’s bowling centers, it didn’t keep the youngster from doing what he loves.
With help from his mom, Cathy, the 14-year-old rigged up a makeshift bowling alley in front of his Midland Beach house.
“I go outside everyday for about a half hour to bowl,” says Joe Joe, a two-handed bowler. “It keeps me busy.”
The alley is set up perfect, sandwiched between a cinder block retention wall and the side of the family house. A gate is used for the backstop so the ball doesn’t go rolling down the block after it hits the pins.
The pins are real.
“My mom is friends with (Rab’s Country Lanes proprietor) Frank Wilkinson, who gave her the pins,” said Joe Joe, who bowls in two leagues at Rab’s, including the Saturday junior loop where he averages 204.
The ball is real, too, but it’s an old ball so it doesn’t matter if takes a beaten on the concrete lane.
“He’s been bowling since he was 2,” said Cathy. “I used to bring him to Country when I bowled and he would go in Frankie’s office and bowl with plastic pins and a ball.”
Joe Joe’s mom also likes the fact that her son, who is an eighth-grader at St. Teresa but is learning from the home with other New York students because of the virus, gets out of the house after being cooped up all day.
“I think it’s a great idea. He’s on the computer most of the day doing schoolwork so I love that he gets outside in the fresh air for a while,” said Cathy.
And Joe Joe plans to get outside on his makeshift lane every day as long as the coronavirus keeps the Island’s centers on lockdown.
“I’m going to go out there every day,” said Joe Joe. “It’s fun and a good way to practice.”
An Important Notice from Rab’s to our Community: Updated 3/26/20
Rab’s Country Lanes will close temporarily on March 16, 2020 at 6:00 PM until further notice.
For the safety of our Community, the NYC Mayor’s Office in conjunction with the Office of the NYS Governor, the closure of entertainment facilities has been mandated throughout New York State.
We will be closed for your bowling enjoyment until further notice.
Important things to note at this time:
- Gennaro’s Pizzeria & Snack Bar will remain open for Delivery 11 AM – 8 PM daily. Call us to place your order: (718) 351-0192 or order via GrubHub or Postmates!
- For our League Bowlers, we will be working with your league officers to provide options and determine the next steps for the continuation of bowling and completion of the fall bowling season.
- If you have a Party or Event booked with us, our Event Specialists will be in touch to discuss re-booking opportunities and cancellations. To contact our Events team, please e-mail: parties@bowlatrabs.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
- We will have limited office hours. Please e-mail: info@bowlatrabs.com with general inquiries and a member of our management team will get back to you as soon as possible.
- Country Pro Shop & Awards Center will be open from 12 Noon – 4 PM daily for order pickup and services. Please call with any questions (718) 979-4773.
More importantly, we are committed to keeping Rab’s and our Community a safe and enjoyable place for all and we understand that Rab’s plays an important role in your lives.
Please take the recommended precautions to keep you and your families safe and healthy.
Together, we have entered unchartered waters and we will re-open our business as soon as we are able to do so!
To stay up to date by visiting bowlatrabs.com/blog.
Our Community Partners at Northwell Health launched a Coronavirus Digital Resource Center on northwell.edu. This was developed to house all of the content produced to educate our community partners about Coronavirus and Northwell’s response to the outbreak. Please feel free to share this with anyone who is looking for more information.
For more information and tips, you may also visit the NYC Health website here.
A Message from Rab’s: Coronavirus, Updated: 3/15/20
Please see the public notice below.
Cancellations as of March 15, 2020:
- Golden Oldies, Monday March 16
- Colonial Funeral Home Ladies League, Monday March 16
- CYO Bowling Awards Party, Monday March 16
- Joe Grzelak Memorial Bowl-a-Thon, Sunday March 22
Here at Rab’s Country Lanes, we are all about providing a fun and safe environment so that you and your families can create memories while escaping everyday life. Safety has always been, and will continue to be, our top priority.
We pride ourselves on the upkeep of our facility, by providing a clean and safe environment for you to enjoy, and the diligence of our team in maintaining long established and well-developed safety sanitation protocols.
During the midst of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak, our team has taken significant additional measures to ensure that the safety of our guests and team members remain uninterrupted.
Our team has established action plans to further enhance our existing cleaning, sanitation, and safety protocols. This includes, but is not limited to, significantly increasing the frequency in which we are sanitizing our “high touch surfaces” such as handrails, doors, tables, games, bowling balls, bowling shoes, and so on.
Our team members can point you in the right direction of the nearest hand sanitizers, which is never too far away. Our team is also constantly monitoring information and updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure we remain as proactive as possible.
Above all, we share in your attentiveness to keep your families, and ours safe.
We also wanted to put your mind at ease with some basic tips to stay healthy while visiting Rab’s:
If you, your children or any member of your household is sick, has a fever, cough or related symptoms, please consider staying home.
Hand-washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds is your best self-defense against the spread of germs after using the restroom, sneezing, or coughing. As a supplement use antibacterial hand sanitizer. Assist children with hand-washing.
Use the hand sanitizer stations located throughout the Bowling Center.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, especially with unwashed hands.
In the midst of celebrating that great frame with your teammates, consider fist-bumps or elbow-bumps, instead of the traditional high-five.
Cough/sneeze into the sleeve of your shirt or into tissues that are disposed of in the trash.
Our Community Partners at Northwell Health recently launched a Coronavirus Digital Resource Center on northwell.edu. This was developed to house all of the content produced to educate our community partners about Coronavirus and Northwell’s response to the outbreak. Please feel free to share this with anyone who is looking for more information.
For more information and tips, you may also visit the NYC Health website here.
To stay up to date by visiting bowlatrabs.com/blog. If you have questions about visiting Rab’s please email us at info@bowlatrabs.com
We are committed to keeping Rab’s a safe and enjoyable place for all and we understand that Rab’s plays an important role in your lives. Our facility will remain open as long as it is safe to do so.
Steve Soss captures New Year Singles Classic crown in dramatic rematch with Tim McAuliffe Jr.
By Nick Regina | nregina@siadvance.com
Staten Island Advance | Click Here for Story on silive.com
Bayonne resident Steve Soss claimed his first title at the 45th Annual New Year Singles Classic at Rab’s Country Lanes on Saturday — but even he couldn’t believe it.
An epic finals match between the 30-year-old Soss and Tim McAuliffe Jr. left the crowd buzzing with every toss — but no one in attendance was prepared for how the 10th and final frame would shake out.
Trailing by just two pins, 208-206, through nine frames — Soss promptly stepped up and struck out on the final frame, leaving McAuliffe with the daunting task of matching the effort.
With 246 pins, Soss held the advantage but was forced to look on as McAuliffe immediately answered with a pair of strikes in his final frame before unceremoniously gutter-balling his final attempt, cementing Soss’ triumph, 246-238.
“I screamed, the relief of knowing that I won,” said Soss, as he watched the ball find the gutter. “I shouldn’t have won, there’s no words…I’m happy.”
“That’s never happened before,” remarked tournament director Jim Elliott.
Ironically, the epic matchup was a rematch of the 2014 final — which McAuliffe won.
“I was thinking here we go again,” said Soss after McAuliffe gained the advantage heading into the final frame.
“To throw a double and for him to then throw a double, watching him match it I felt like I was done,” added Soss.
The southpaw admits he didn’t fire his best games on Saturday, but he made big shots when it mattered most.
“Just made clean shots, can’t say I threw the ball great today,” admitted Soss. “But the shots that I made, I was able to finesse some.
“It feels good to be a part of it, at least now I get my name announced every year,” joked Soss. “Just keep bowling and trying to bowl good.”
As for McAuliffe, who fired a 298 in his first game on Saturday, the result is tough to swallow.
“After the second or third frame I thought it would take 260 to win, I knew I might need every strike to win,” explained McAuliffe. “He gave me another chance…I just shot it a little right.
“It was a great match, the last time was close too, it was basically identical except for the result,” he added.
Nevertheless, the outcome is bittersweet.
“I was pretty lined up, stayed relaxed, made consistent shots, Steve’s a great bowler,” added McAuliffe. “It’s tough to get to the final, it’s too bad to let that one go.”
OTHER NOTABLES
The final was preceded by an equally exciting semifinal, in which McAuliffe downed Joey Weisenstein, who also fired a 298 in his first game of the day, 249-237.
In the other matchup, Soss edged John Eadicicco, 225-217.
Eadicicco, the 2013 champion, also competed in the very first NYSC in 1976.
Prize money: Soss ($1350), McAuliffe ($800), Weisenstein ($500), Eadicicco ($350), George Cretella ($275), Steve Kotowski ($250), Dan Brezo ($230), Kevin Ng ($215), Mike Marchese ($190), Anthony Arias ($170), Christian DeVito ($160), Joe Lampariello ($155), Ira Levy ($150), Jeff Scire ($145), Michael Pitkoff ($140), Zach Dobrin ($135), Carl Worley ($125), Pete Labella ($120), Bill Salvatore ($115), Rob D’Onofrio ($115), AJ Everts ($110), Tom Hollywood, Jr. ($110), Tom Hollywood, Sr. ($100), Darius Fuller ($100).