Bowling.

In addition to sharing New Ulm Bowling Association (NUBA) Hall of Fame honors, Carl Paa, 86, being inducted in 1994 and Elaine Paa, 84, in 1996, the two share that love and bond over bowling with their children and grandchildren.

This family affair actually dates back four generations, as Elaine Paa’s mother, Ruby Arndt, also bowled and is a NUBA Hall of Famer. Sonja Freiderich, Elaine Paa’s sister, is another the Hall of Fame member.

Carl and Elaine Paa’s two children, Randy Paa, 62, and Sandy Reinke, 61, carried on their parents’ love of bowling, starting at 8 years old.

But Randy Paa and Sandy Reinke’s journey into bowling may not have happened if it hadn’t been for their parents.

Before automatic pinsetters, Carl Paa began bowling after setting pins at George’s Ballroom in New Ulm.

“I suppose I was probably 13 or 14,” Carl Paa said. “You got 7 cents a line. For every game that was bowled, you got 7 cents [per bowler] in the 40s. … The pin boys got free bowling on Saturdays, so you had about eight or ten pin boys. You had eight lanes and there were subs.”

Carl Paa’s start in league bowling came in 1957 before he served his country in the National Guard for eight years. He was still, however, able to participate in league bowling during his time in the National Guard and was able to get more into the game after finishing his service in 1967.

And there’s been quite a few changes over the years from when Carl Paa first started bowling, the ball in particular.

Elaine Paa, pictured above, has been another to pave the way for a family of top bowlers. Some of her past successes are highlighted here, such as bowling her first 600 series and her time as New Ulm Women’s Bowling Association President. Her daughter, Sandy, is now the New Ulm Bowling Association President.

“They were 16 pounds, most of them, and they were hard rubber,” he said. “Now they’re all different now.”

Modern bowling balls used today based on coverstock material are made of plastic, urethane, reactive or particle. There are also currently five major bowling ball manufacturers in the United States, with bowling balls weighing from 6 to 16 pounds.

Elaine Paa started bowling as a teenager.

“I started when I was 16,” Elaine Paa said. “They signed me up for league, and I wasn’t even sure which fingers to put in the hole. But then the bowling proprietor said, ‘Does your ball fit you? You keep dropping it behind you.’ And I said, ‘How is it supposed to fit?’ So he helped and I started bowling and I’ve bowled in every single season since I was 16.”

Bowling didn’t bring the couple together, but it was a mutual interest and a big one at that. They were married in 1958 and will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on April 26.

Elaine Paa, pictured above, has been another to pave the way for a family of top bowlers. Some of her past successes are highlighted here, such as bowling her first 600 series and her time as New Ulm Women’s Bowling Association President. Her daughter, Sandy, is now the New Ulm Bowling Association President.

Their children’s bowling path continued in high school, Randy Paa on the New Ulm Bowling Association Boys’ Senior team and Sandy Reinke on the New Ulm bowling team.

“We bowled in bantams, then we bowled in juniors, we both bowled in high school and we both won tournaments,” Sandy Reinke said. “Our [New Ulm] girls team won the state high school tournament for the first time ever in 1979.”

The brother and sister also ended up attending Mankato State University to bowl for the Mavericks. They also both met their spouses, Kim Hopp and Tim Reinke, at MSU through bowling.

Sandy Reinke has continued to put her time into the sport bowling in many different ways, something instilled in her at a young age.

“When my dad and mom were bowling, they taught Randy and I that if you wanted to be involved in something, you have to put your time in and you have to work for that,” Sandy Reinke said. “Randy and I are both involved in committees. I’m the president right now of the Association, probably have been for about 12 years. We’re both very active in the Hall of Fame committees, and my husband, Tim, is also very involved in the youth and the Bowling Association now.”

Both siblings Sandy Reinke and Randy Paa had success in high school, winning state championships in 1977 (Randy) and 1979 (Sandy). Pictured above from left to right is the 1979 New Ulm girls state high school championship bowling team consisting of Tammy Vogel, Sue Meyer, Julie Mielke, Sandy (Paa) Reinke and Jean Mielke.

Sandy and Tim Reinke are also both NUBA Hall of Famers, inducted in 2013. They have two kids together, Krista, 34, and Dan, 29.

Not uncommon in the family, Krista Brown, nee Reinke, met her husband, EJ, through bowling in high school. Krista Brown bowled for New Ulm, while EJ Brown bowled for Edgerton.

The Reinke children both started bowling at 5 years old, and they weren’t allowed by their dad to use the bumpers either. That early challenge put in place by Tim Reinke paid off as his children saw success at the lanes growing up.

While Dan Reinke always had a passion for playing baseball and still plays it in the summer, he found his niché in the game of bowling early on and developed his game in high school. He was then recruited to play collegiately for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater bowling team.

With the Warhawks, Dan Reinke opened his freshman season as the No. 1-ranked bowler individually in the collegiate polls. The team was also ranked No. 4 nationally at one point despite being a club team and having to take on several Division 1 colleges.

Pictured below is Randy Paa’s Minnesota State Boys Senior Division Bowling Championship team.

After taking a break competitively out of college, Dan Reinke joined a regional team based out of the Twin Cities.

“I kind of hung the shoes up competitively and just bowled in league and kind of just found out how it could be fun again,” he said. “Then I went to a couple tournaments and some people up in the cities kind of saw me bowl and recognized I was back in the area … So two years I’ve been on this team out of the Twin Cities, we were based out of Farmington, and now we’ve got a proprietor in St. Cloud that is sponsoring us — Southway Bowl of St. Cloud and Jason Hanson is sponsoring the team.”

While the Reinkes and Paas love competition, Carl Paa tipped his hat to his grandson as the family’s top bowler.

“Between his dad, Tim, and his son, Dan, but Dan is probably the best,” Carl Paa said. “Dan’s got scores I never dreamed of getting.”

Dan Reinke was flattered by his grandpa’s support but said the game has changed a lot over the years.

“If I was 29 years old and back on the lanes that my grandpa was bowling on when he was 29 years old, I don’t know if you can say I’d be better or not,” he said. “It’s just one of those things that I give those guys a lot of credit because he’s [86] years old and he’s still out there bowling once a week, twice a week, so there’s a lot of credit due to my grandparents as well.”

Sandy Reinke echoed her son’s thoughts.

“Dad, back in the day, he was Dan,” Sandy Reinke said. “But everything has changed now. Dad had one bowling ball and they had to bowl it on all conditions. Now, I bet you Dan has 50 bowling balls.”

Randy Paa complimented both his dad and nephew for their bowling skills.

“I was able to watch my dad and all of his friends that were extremely good bowlers, probably from 1966 to present day,” Randy Paa said. “And dad was a very, very good bowler. If he would have had the equipment that they have now back then, as strong as he was, he would’ve definitely been tough to beat. … And going back from 2016, that’s when I had to retire, going back from 2016 back to 1965, Dan is, without a doubt, and I don’t say this because he’s my nephew, but I mean this, he is the best bowler that I have ever seen come out of our community. And he is probably one of the top 10 in Minnesota right now without practicing. He is extremely good.”

The list of bowling accomplishments the Paas and the Reinkes have racked up over the years could fill a book.

Some of Carl Paa’s proudest achievements in bowling include winning the American Legion State Singles Championship in 1993. He also bowled for more than 40 years with his late brother, Ken, aka “Babe,” who joined the NUBA Hall of Fame in 2003.

The brothers shot high scores together in 2009 league bowling, with Ken Paa recording a 300 game for a series of 786 and Carl Paa turning in a high series of 722.

Elaine Paa turned in a triplicate score of 201 in 1995, the highest score bowled in the state of Minnesota that year for her senior age group.

Further adding to the still far-from-complete list is Randy Paa, who was a member of the New Ulm Bowling Association Boys’ Senior Division State Championship team in 1977.

“All of the junior bowling back then came out of Concordia Lanes,” Randy Paa said. “What I most remember about that team was that we were the second team, we were not the ‘A’ team, we were kind of like the ‘B’ team … for that tournament. So we weren’t expected to win it, the ‘A’ team was. And we just had one of those days where it all kind of fell into place, and we won. The guy that was the difference-maker was a gentleman that was my classmate by the name of Todd Rademacher. Unfortunately, Todd has passed on, but that day he shot a 624, which back then, if you shot a 600, even for guys, that was a big deal.

“The lanes were not set up to score on, it was all about accuracy, it wasn’t about power, it wasn’t really a lot of fun to bowl on that stuff back then. But [Todd] just had one of those days, but that kind of won it for the whole team.”

The love of the game and the drive to bowl competitively is something that has been passed down from generation to generation in the family.

For Carl and Elaine Paa to continue bowling and competing in their 80s takes skill, determination and patience.

According to Elaine Paa, luck doesn’t hurt either.

“We’re just lucky [laughs],” she said.

While a knee injury forced Randy Paa to retire from bowling in 2016, he said one thing his family of bowlers shares outside of blood is a drive to be the best they can be.

“Everyone always tried to be as good as they could be,” Randy Paa said. “And that was culminated pretty much with Daniel. He took it at one level at a local level, he took it to a national level. And who knows, maybe the youngest one now will take that some place, too.”

As for that youngest one Randy Paa mentioned and the potential for a fifth generation of bowlers, Krista and EJ Brown’s 4-year-old son Leo has already started working on his game at Concordia Lanes — and without bumpers.

In bowling terms, a five-bagger could be in the works.

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