Submitted by Sherrill White
The Traveling League started in 1997 with 12 teams from various towns in Northwest Montana. Teams came from Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Bigfork, Polson, Ronan, and Libby. The league bowls at each town’s bowling alley on a schedule two times per month for five months. Over the years the teams have changed-Kalispell bowling alley burned down, and they went to Bigfork; Polson quit and one of the Libby teams quit. During the 2017-18 season there were only seven teams competing consisting of two from Columbia Falls, two from Bigfork, one from Ronan, one from Whitefish and one from Libby.
For the first time in the 20 years that the league has been competing, the Libby team was able to finish in first place bringing home the Traveling Trophy, which is now displayed at the Lincoln Lanes Casino and Bowling Alley.
The members of the team that accomplished this are Marge Peterson, Pat Hendrickson, and Sherrill White, all of Libby, as well as, Francis Rosse of Columbia Falls and Ben Janek of Whitefish. They won a total of 29½ games out of a possible 36.
The Traveling League will start again on Oct. 7, 2018 for another ten weeks, bowling two Sundays a month at one or another of the sponsor bowling alleys. More teams are always welcome.