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Michigan Heritage Awards
Arts
Nomination Form (PDF)
Arts Nomination
Form (word)
Community
Leadership Nomination Form (PDF)
Community Leadership
Nomination Form (word)
^ MHA Awardees List ^
Cadieux Cafe Feather Bowlers
1999 awardee, Detroit (Wayne County), feather
bowlers
The Cadieux Cafe Feather Bowling Club was established in 1933 in Detroit.
The club bowls at the Cadieux Cafe, which continues to be a center for Belgian-American
gatherings and activities. The Cafe's large sign announces it is the "home
of Belgian sports." Belgian (Flemish) feather bowling, pigeon racing, bike
clubs, and traditional Belgian food have a strong presence here.
Feather bowling entails rolling a wooden, cheese-shaped ball down the Cadieux's
dirt-packed, curved alleys, getting as close as possible to pigeon feathers
stuck upright in the dirt on either end. Each night of league play, the
club members divide up randomly into teams according to their "class," which
indicates their experience. Each team is ideally made up of three players,
one from each class. After flipping a coin, the first team typically rolls
the first two balls close to the feather, and then rolls the rest of their
balls into places that serve as "blocks" to any other balls. The second
team's players try to weave their balls in and out between the blocks or
knock the blocks out of the way, with the final bowler attempting to gain
a better position than the first team. A referee determines the score for
each round. Rounds continue until one team reaches ten points. While the
bowlers play, spouses socialize and restaurant patrons wander in to watch
the action.
Feather bowling and the Cadieux Cafe have come to symbolize Belgian identity
for the Belgian-American community. The Cadieux Cafe Feather Bowling Club
members' commitment to the traditional sport is a sign that feather bowling
captures and expresses familial, ethnic, local, and global connections for
Belgian-Americans in the Detroit area. Many of the bowlers are also members
or officers of the Belgian-American Association and the Belgian Century
Club. As a consequence of their dedication to the game, they have helped
to create a social and cultural context in which Belgian culture and other
traditions are shared and strengthened.
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