Jan. 1958: Original T&C Lanes owners Clyde & Evelyn Anderson, Vin Lois and Ed Rueter bought the building. At that time, it was home to Torrent Manufacturing (today known as local business NEL Frequencies) and Cooper, Inc. (known today as Jockey).

The first working name was going to be Pine Lanes.

July 11, 1958: Towne & Country Lanes opens to the public.


1971: Current owners Merrill & Lorraine Draper along with our friends and business partners at the time, Don & Pat Schreck, buy the business from Vin & Ed.

1973: That awesome bowling ball/pin sign in the picture below? This is when we had to take it down because it was vandalized one night.

Miss the old sign? We sure do. So did area realtor Tim Burd, who had glasses made with this photo and donated them to T&C for use in the bar. (Thank you, Tim)

1977: Merrill & Lorraine bought out Mr. & Mrs. Schreck's share of the business.

April 1978: Bob Amann (RIP and whose family are still customers and friends of ours) rolled the first ever 300 game here at T&C.

Dec. 1988: Teresa Czerwinski (now Woyak) rolled the first ever 300 game by a woman at T&C.


Dec. 1993: We started the Miller Lite All Star Singles tournament which we ran for 20 years. Thank you as always to our main sponsor, Miller Lite (CJW Distributing).

2003: After 45 years of wear and tear and annual resurfacing, we said goodbye to our wood lanes/approaches and installed Brunswick Anvillane synthetics. The wood lanes are still here. The synthetic surface was installed over the top of them.


2006: We upgraded from our Brunswick Computer scoring system to the Ebonite Vantech scoring system, which we still have today.


Around this time our venerable original sign (or what was left after the early incident) was retired and replaced with our first-generation electronic message sign. Around 2015, we upgraded that to our current message board with multi-color capabilities.

Feb. 2009: Our first ever "Bowling for Boobies" fundraiser to support the ongoing fight against breast cancer was held. 2023 marked our 15th Annual event which raised $22,000. In total, we have raised over $100,000 for the fight.


2013: The Drapers were honored on behalf of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce with a plaque commemorating the business's 50 years of service to the Community (including the time Clyde & Evelyn, Vin, and Ed spent after founding the business).
Presenting the plaque was State of Wisconsin Representive Samantha Kerkman.

Merrill and Lorraine have since notched 50+ years under their direct operation.

2017: Merrill Draper was inducted into the Wisconsin State Bowling Hall of Fame for Meritorious Service.
2022: Merrill adds the Southern Lakes USBC Association Hall of Fame induction.

We've been honored to host several State-wide tournaments during the years: Wis. State Seniors, Wis. State Lions Club and the annual Forresters bowling tournament, to name a few. We host close to 20 fundraisers each bowling season. Some are for our junior bowlers but most are for organizations here in our community: Burlington Wrestling, Catholic Central Baseball, Town of Burlington Fire Department, Kansasville AmVets, Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin and so many more.

Our 51st annual team tournament ending in June 2023 was our largest to date: 393 teams came through. We host several one-day bowling tournaments during the season which bring in bowlers from all over Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and more. We have bowling leagues six days a week and once a month on Sundays.

We've helped hundreds of local children (and adults!) celebrate their birthdays here. We hold other local businesses holiday parties each year as well.

We're the home to the Western Racine County Special Olympics bowling chapter along with the Wilmot and Burlington High School and Burlington Area Middle School bowling teams.

We could go on and on, but we think you get the point. We are a business which loves our community and being able to help those in our community whenever possible. We are blessed to be part of the history of T&C Lanes since 1971 and we THANK YOU, our customers, for all of your support over the years.

Yes, even (and especially) during the uncertainty of early 2020, when we had to close just before the end of many leagues AND at the start of our busiest time of the year (tournament time). To say there were sleepless nights is a major understatement. Not knowing where the pandemic was taking us and countless others was indeed a nightmare.

But we're still here, thanks to the love and support of our customers. For those who purchased gift cards during that time (for use when we did reopen), the love and gratitude is forever etched in our memories. Tim Burd even had T-shirts made supporting our business (and donating proceeds to us). Truly a collector item for "those times".

We've made numerous lifelong friends along the way and are blessed many are still with us today. Our friendship with our customers is treasured.

Our business with you is greatly appreciated. Thank you.