By Eddie Mayrose, Special to the Advance
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There are many bowlers who have been at it for a long time. More, still, who continue to participate in multiple leagues well into their senior years. Good luck, however, finding another like Anne Trischetta, who hits the lanes twice a week at the tender age of 99.
The Grant City resident, who still drives, was recently feted by her friends in the Golden Oldies League at Rab’s Country Lanes on the occasion of the milestone birthday. For Trischetta, it was a perfect way to celebrate.
“The people are so nice,” she said. “Everyone goes out of their way to be kind.”
Trischetta’s current team name in the Golden Oldies loop is “Ha, Ha We Got Anne.”
A Staten Island native, she grew up on her father’s farm which was located on Richmond and Merrill Avenues.
“It was quite a large farm,” she remembers, “and we had a lot of people working for us. Part of my youth was spent working there also. I went to Port Richmond High School and sometimes I would help out on the farm before and after school. It was the Depression. I graduated in 1942 during World War II and some of the boys in my class went right into the service and never came home. I feel I was very fortunate. After high school, I went to work in the city for just $12 a week. But, those were the times.”
Anne and her husband, Eugene, married in 1948 and had three children — Stephen, Elaine and Donald.
“I worked until my third child was born and then I was home for about eight years,” said Trischetta. “Then I went to work for the City of New York Traffic Dept. I started out giving tickets then became a captain in Lower Manhattan before being promoted to Borough Commander where I was in charge of the Tow Program.”
Today, she and her brother, Anthony, still operate two businesses on the Island — Avaland Development Anvan Industries.
“Two of my children are retired already and I’m still working,” she laughed.
Anne’s career as a kegler began with her company’s team more than four decades ago. After a brief respite, she realized she missed it.
“When I was home with my three children I decided I’d like to pick it up again so I started bowling with my friends,” she remembers. “Since then, it’s been going on for a long time”
“I bowl twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays,” she said. “Monday is Golden Oldies and they’re wonderful. We change teams so that we end up bowling with everyone. It’s a social thing and I really enjoy it. Wednesdays, I’m in a women’s league that I’ve been with for a long time.”
“She’s an inspiration to her teammates and Rab’s,” said Rab’s proprietor Frank Wilkinson. “She really is something else.”
No slouch on the alley, she currently has a 127 average. In 2022, she threw a 204 game that had Rab’s rocking.
“Well, I was only 97 then,” she joked.
On her 99th birthday, she returned from an injury — which kept her off the lanes for about three months — and fired a 147 on the strength of a handful of spares and strikes.
Over the years, she’s come to accept the ups and downs of the game; choosing instead to focus on the aspects she enjoys most.
“There are days when you go bowling and you do very well and there are days when you’re lucky just to get through the day,” said Trischetta. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s good exercise. I really enjoy it. I’m very fortunate God’s been good to me because I’m able to do this at my age. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”