The event was hosted at The Truman Bowling Alley
Several hit-making country legends took to the lanes earlier this week at The White House to participate in a country music-themed bowling extravaganza in the Truman Bowling Alley within the White House compound. Those who experienced the festivities included Neal McCoy, John Berry, Bryan White, T.G. Sheppard and Kelly Lang, T. Graham Brown, Janie Fricke, Halfway to Hazard’s Chad Warrix, and Deborah Allen.
President Harry S. Truman originally opened the first White House bowling alley on April 19, 1947. The two-lane bowling alley was situated in the West Wing. However, President Eisenhower closed the bowling alley in 1955, making it a mimeograph room.
Later, another alley was opened next door in the Old Executive Office Building (now the Eisenhower Building), which President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, used frequently. President Nixon used the bowling alley until he had an additional one-lane alley installed underground directly beneath the North Portico entrance of the White House.
“I had no idea that there was a bowling alley in The White House,” says T. Graham Brown. “To get invited in the first group of country music artists to bowl was awesome! It was something that memories are made of.”
The invited guests were welcomed for a two-hour bowling experience that marked the first time in history country music artists gathered to ‘bowl at The White House’.
“What an honor! I was so excited to have been invited to the White House to bowl in the Truman Bowling Alley. “It was truly a Country Music Bowling Night…Strike, Strike, Strike! Thank you, President Trump, for welcoming us to ‘the people’s house,” says Janie Fricke.
Truman did not use the alley much, but supported a group of White House employees in forming a White House Bowling League in 1950. Teams included Secret Service agents, household staff, secretaries, switchboard operators and groundskeepers. The teams competed in tournaments nationwide; many opponents were surprised to discover that the players were from the real White House.
