Last week I received many photos of a building lying in rubble. The building was 300 Bowl in Alma, Michigan. In the photos was nothing more than bricks on the ground, a vacant sky, and a couple of cranes. However, the pieces mean a lot more to me than the pictures show. The pieces mean a lot more to the community.

I have been bowling for as long as I can remember, and most of my bowling growing up was at 300 Bowl. Every Saturday morning, my brothers, my dad, and I would walk in late with bags of McDonald's. It became a family thing for us and even though I was always dead tired, I wouldn't trade those mornings for anything. Now, the place I began my journey is nothing more than a vacant parking lot.

300 Bowl not only meant a lot to me but also to a lot of members of Gratiot County. Chad Williams of St Louis worked at the establishment for 12 years.

"It's emotional. I started bowling there when I was 6 yrs old. So that place has been a part of my life for 42 yrs. Seventy five percent of my friends that I have today, I met in that building. It was a huge part of this community. I met Muhammad Ali there."

It was where we met some of our best friends. It was home to a lot of our favorite memories and many of our great accomplishments. I remember watching Logan Zamarron throw his last strike for a 300 during a high school match. It was where I bowled my first ever high school match. It was where I qualified for the state finals as a freshman by six pins. I remember everything about that place like I had been there just yesterday.

To anyone who bowled there, whether it was for high school or league night, the bowling alley and the people who worked there became another part of our lives. The workers knew you as soon as you walked in the door and were ready to ask how your family was or how your test went. They always welcomed you with a smile and a pat on the back, quite literally.

As I embark on my last year of collegiate bowling, I am losing the place where I got my start. 300 Bowl is not only where I began this journey, but it is where I fell in love with the game. It is where Chad Williams fell in love with the game. And I know that many other people share a similar story to us. Many people spent as many nights there as I did. Many people had the same experiences.

I think the thing that gets to me the most is not having the physicality of 300 Bowl at my disposal anymore. I no longer have the ability to walk in and breathe in the smell that I've grown used to. I can't take my future kids in there and show them where I fell in love hoping they do the same thing. I can no longer sit at the bar and remember my dad's excitement when I made the state finals. It's gone. Now, the only thing I have left are the images in my head.

I ask all who remember 300 Bowl as I do to hold onto your memories. Remember 300 Bowl as I do -- with great pride and happiness. Remember the good things and the good times.

I know I will. Because 300 Bowl was more than a bowling alley.

It was home.