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Swapping the aisle for the lanes By GREG STILES Much of Caleb Lammon's life has revolved in and around Medford Lanes. So when the 41-year-old bowler recited his wedding vows Sunday afternoon, there was no more appropriate place than the venerable bowling center on Riverside Avenue. More than 250 family members and friends, including proprietor and best man Roy Rider, joined in the celebration. Flanked by eight attendants each, Lammon and Sharon Milard rolled into matrimonial bliss as they tossed ceremonial balls down Lanes 7 and 8 - where their relationship began last fall. "My first impression was that he was always a very nice person," Milard says. "I was actually trying to set him up with my nieces and friends. I had always gone after cowboys and he wasn't one." Lammon's early history revolved in the houses that surrounded the bowling establishment and goes back to the days when farm animals grazed within a gutter ball's roll. "I was conceived over there," Lammon says, pointing north. "My grandparents lived over there (to the west) and I spent a lot of time here. My father left when I was 4. Because my mom had to work two jobs, all these people over here were basically my fathers and mothers. They took care of me." One of those people was prominent local bowler Cheryl Eilenberger. "She took me under her wing, like I was her kid," Lammon says. "I was a kid in her wedding and when she died, I was asked to be a pall bearer. It was the biggest honor of my life." He began cleaning the parking lot when he was 6 to pay for his bowling lines. He later worked in other fields and came back to Medford Lanes in 1989. Milard, who has a 16-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, grew up in Eagle Point. Because they both frequented local bowling establishments, they were aware of each other. But it wasn't until Milard popped into Medford Lanes at a fortuitous time last summer that they began spinning in the same sphere. "Roy told me he wanted to hire another person to work the desk and asked me if I had anyone in mind, one day," Lammon says. "She came walking through the door and I said 'How about her,' because I knew she had worked at Roxy Ann Lanes." A few weeks later, Milard challenged Lammon to a game - on Lanes 7 and 8. Lammon generally tops 200 in games. Milard only dreams of such scores. But that day, she knocked down a best-ever 180 pins to win the challenge. "I didn't try," he deadpans. Still, the groom didn't exactly bowl over his future bride at first sight. In bowling parlance, it was more akin to a 7-10 split. "When I was training her, she was telling me about her difficulties and how she was going through a divorce," Lammon recalls. "She told me she hated men." But Lammon quickly overcame all obstacles and managed to sweep Milard off her feet. By December, they talked marriage and on Mother's Day, he proposed. "I've known Caleb since he was a tiny little guy," says local bowling publicist Donna Pottruff. "He's been avoiding marriage all this time, so I'm pretty proud that he's finally got married - right where they met." Although their ceremonial rolls produced a combined total of eight pins - bowling in heels is an adventure all its own - the groom has no doubt they've hit the mark. "Our marriage is going to be a strike," Lammon says. "This is the first time I'm getting married and the last time." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.