COOL ALLEY CATS

WASILLA — Andrianna Nyburg likes the running backhand, Makiah Downs a straight-on approach and Mac Gallegos can hardly be torn from his pizza to take his turn.

While the approaches were vastly different, Sunday’s annual Bowl For Kids’ Sake event was rocking and rolling for a common cause to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters Mat-Su. With North Bowl supplying all the free pizza and soda the bigs and littles — as they’re called in the program — could hold, the lanes were raucous with laughter and good-natured ribbing.

Nyburg, a 10-year-old little, wasted little time with her bright pink bowling ball, getting a running start before hurling the ball backhanded down the well-oiled lane.

“That’s kind of maybe my own invention,” she said of the technique that, through five frames, had netted four pins. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Nyburg was bowling with her big, Lori Bennett of Palmer, who has been with the BBBS program for about a month. Together, it was difficult to see who was the 10-year-old and who was the adult. Both squealed and gave each other high-fives after each turn. And Bennett’s own unorthodox approach didn’t generate much more success.

“Did you see that?” she exclaimed after one throw down the lane. “It went into the gutter at the very end. It looked like it was going down the center, then it was ‘whoop’ off into the gutter.”

Don’t worry, Bennett was able to quickly identify the problem.

“I think it’s a conspiracy,” she said. “I’m wondering if the lanes are fixed.”

Having fun was the main goal, and for Nyburg, her pairing with Bennett helps get her out of the house a little more. She said she has to do chores at home and that, according to her 10-year-old perspective, her mom “is kind of a slave driver.”

“The thing I like about having a big sister would probably be getting out more and everything,” she said. “Because of my mom’s allergies, she can’t go out and do things with me as much.”

In the Valley, BBBS has grown, but needs more adults willing to volunteer to spend time with little brothers and sisters, said Elisa King, program director for BBBS Mat-Su.

“We do have a waiting list,” she said. “We always need volunteers, especially big brothers. I think at some point, guys are maybe afraid. When I interview volunteers, I find out guys knew about the program, but didn’t think they’d be good at it.”

Bowlers young and old raised about $12,000 last year, said Sarah Gail, also a director for BBBS Mat-Su, and the goal Sunday was to exceed that.

Across the aisle from Nyburg and Bennett, 9-year-old Downs was comparing the differences between real bowling and bowling on his Wii video game console with his big brother, Rick Ellis.

“On the Wii, it has a strap, and here the ball keeps slipping out of my hand,” Downs said. “On the Wii, it doesn’t.”

Ellis may have the advantage of experience throwing a real bowling ball, but is quick to concede Downs “can whip me on Wii bowling. He’d beat me bad.”

Aside from Sunday’s bowling event, Downs said he and his big brother are building a good friendship.

“He’s teaching me how to hunt and trap, and I’m teaching him art and stuff,” he said. “I want to learn how to trap rabbits and stuff, because at my grandma’s house there’s a lot of them running around. And this next week we’re going to trap some beavers.”

With many of their peers attacking the lanes, 6-year-old Gallegos was fighting off the effects of a pizza-and-soda-induced coma. Having to choose which he liked better, pizza or bowling, Gallegos didn’t have to think about his answer.

“The pizza,” he said. “I have some sausage and cheese.”

But he’s not a bad bowler, either. Just ask him.

“I’ve been getting strikes,” he said, explaining his winning technique. “You have to hit the middle. You just aim at the middle and then throw straight.”

Keeping up with Gallegos was his big brother, Andrew Smith of Wasilla. They’ve been paired for about two months, and Smith said he benefits at least as much as his little.

“Honestly, I first did it to beef up the resumé,” Smith said. “I’m a college student right now and I thought Big Brothers Big Sisters would be a good way. Then I met him and was like, ‘yeah, I have to do this.’ It’s better than a resumé builder. He’s way more of a friend than a little brother. It’s good, because being married with a 2-year-old daughter, it’s good to have some guy time. When I hang out with him, it’s guy time, and I’m just a big kid myself.”

The big-little relationship can often lead to lifelong friendships. Just ask Rick Solie and Anthony Waters. Solie became Waters’ mentor about 14 years ago when Waters was 12. Now, Waters is married, expecting his first child and is a foster parent to four other young children. The experience of having an adult mentor “absolutely influenced” the path he’s on today.

They developed such a close friendship that Solie officiated Waters’ wedding.

“I think it’s helpful (to have a mentor) when kids don’t have a person there to help them with it,” Waters said. “My dad wasn’t really around either. … The last day of sixth grade we got paired up, and it kept me in line, basically.”

Where would Waters be today without Solie?

“That’s a good question,” he said. “I honestly don’t know.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.