Catasauqua Press

Whatever happened to Liberty Lanes, the place where students had the option to bowl their way through gym class.

Located next to the Linden Street school was a golden opportunity to opt out of real gym class. Rolling a single game and maybe enjoying a soda from the fountain was a major thrill, but a reminder that next period you return to class and the hallways of LHS.

Liberty luncheonette was a popular spot prior to many football games along with a few games of pinball for a nickel. Owner Ed King and his wife patrolled the area ensuring an enjoyable night was at hand.

If you want really big fish, head to the Jersey shore as stripers up to 50 pounds are being caught says our fishing contacts at On the Water Magazine.

According to Capt. Phil Sciartino from the Tackle Box in Hazlet, stripers are hot in the bay. Bunker chunking around the Old Orchard site was producing stripers up to 50 pounds. The Keansburg Pier was also yielding some linesiders with a few bluefish mixed in.

Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright says stripers, weighing in the teens, were coming from the Shrewsbury River mostly at night using chunks and plugs.

Even though they are four years apart, Olivia and Mason Schlofer both can draw several parallels to the athletic and academic careers.

They both were instrumental part of the Catasauqua sports scene and beyond.

“My brother and I did karate when we were young,” recalled Olivia, a 2016 Roughies’ grad. “I got black belt and my brother has a brown belt. But we really learned a lot of life lessons from it as well as playing sports. Outside of school sports, we both like to snowboard and wakeboard.”

Editor’s Note - This is part two of Sen. Pat Toomey’s roundtable about bringing back Little League baseball and softball.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Health Care, convened a virtual roundtable about youth baseball and softball leagues safely resuming play.

The event took place on Thursday, May 21, and the public was invited to watch on YouTube. The roughly hourlong discussion can still be viewed on Sen. Toomey’s YouTube page.

Catasauqua head track coach Kyle Rusnock had the date of March 24 circled on his calendar for a long time.

It was scheduled as the Rough Riders first meet of the season at Saucon Valley. Rusnock saw it as the launchpad to a soaring year for the Roughies.

Unfortunately, we know how this story turned out.

“I think we had the right atmosphere here and their attitude and work ethic was outstanding,” said the ever-upbeat Rusnock, before schools were closed and the season was canceled. “It really was great.

With the spring gobbler hunting season underway, it’s interesting to note that for the first time in history, and during the 2019 spring turkey season, not a single hunting-related shooting incident was recorded, a time that historically garnered the most of these incidents. And the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) hopes that continues for 2020.

American Hockey League (AHL) president and chief executive officer David Andrews last Monday delivered news to teams and fans that wasn’t unexpected but also wasn’t wanted.

The league has officially decided to cancel the remainder of their regular season and the Calder Cup Playoffs for the league because of the coronavirus. The season was suspended March 13 and standings and statistics through March 12 will be considered official for the 2019-2020 season.

It was estimated that nearly 20-percent of the population bowled each and every year at least once during a calendar year.

The Bethlehem Area Bowling Association, at one time, had nearly 100 lanes available at a variety of sites to compete. Of course, Town & Country Lanes on Stefko Boulevard was the largest and still has a number of leagues competing on a weekly basis.

Compared to years gone by, well, it’s just no comparison.

Yes, many of the alleys were located in private clubs, but finding an open lane was a difficult task.

It is a different time for area high school football coaches as they take the initial steps in preparation for a 2020 football season.

“Football can be different from any other sport in terms of preparation,” said Northampton head skipper Kyle Haas in lieu of the coronavirus outbreak. “We have an amount of information that we plan to distribute to our offense and defense.

“We plan to implement what we want to do for the fall in a program.”

The Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association (PSFCA) in a recent release said they must cancel all of their major events surrounding Memorial Day weekend 2020.

These public events include the Big 33 Football Classic, East West Game, a first-ever PSFCA High School Combine, USA Football 1st Down Clinic, Military Murph Competition, and the Big 33 Fan Experience.