Strikes and Gutters on the Beach
Although many youngsters traveled to James Island to participate in Little League, the eight-lane Dancing Bear bowling alley on Folly Beach, where Rita’s stands today, provided the sole on-island outlet for organized sports for many years. Young Wallace Benson (right) took his bowling seriously.
He is seen here with his 1958 championship team, including Jackie McLain (left), Patsy Knight (back center) and Larry McCutchen (second from right). Wallace and his mother also regularly won as a Scotch Doubles team. Games cost 25 cents each, which Benson paid for as a “pin boy,” placing the fallen pins back into the semi-automatic machine for 8 cents a game.
Photo courtesy of Wallace Benson. Many images like this one are included in Stratton Lawrence’s book, Images of America: Folly Beach. To purchase your own personalized signed copies, delivered to your home on Folly Beach, or to share a photo and story for next month’s Folly Flashback column, email Stratton at strattonlawrence@gmail.com.
