Bowling Together Is How The Weston Family Rolls

The Weston family is a Tehama County pioneering family and the current generations of Westons continue to be “pioneers” in many areas of life. Tim and Becky Weston, of Corning, were some of the first in the area to homeschool back in the early 1990s. They decided to homeschool their children, Clay and Tona, to accommodate Tim’s logging business and the family’s long trips to Mexico for hunting and mission work.

To keep the kids active and social when they were home, Tim and Becky decided to start them in bowling, with Java Lanes in Corning as their base. Tona, who was seven at the time, says, “I hated every minute of it and was a complete sourpuss.” It wasn’t too long, though, before she caught the competitive spirit against her brother and she hasn’t stopped since.

The original Weston family of bowlers expanded to include more family and friends at the 2022 SP Tournament in Carson City, NV.(Left to right) Clay, Aiden, Becky and Tim Weston, Tona Thompson, Steve Rodriguez, Anthony Thompson, Travis Peterson, Trinity Miller and Rosa Landis

Three generations competing across the country

Tim and Becky were busy in those days taking Clay and Tona to junior league competitions and state championships. As the years went by, Tim and Becky gradually picked up the sport themselves and kept improving. By the time Tona was 18 the whole family had become serious bowlers. Tim and Clay joined the men’s travel league despite their full schedules. They spent their weekdays in the mountains logging, without any time for practice, and then bowled in tournaments on the weekends. Tona says, “Now there are three generations of Westons competing in leagues and tournaments across the country, which is something we all cherish.”

Tona first met her future husband, Anthony Thompson, when she was 12 and in the junior travel league. She says, “All the centers in the North State sent their best junior bowlers on teams to compete against each over once a month in different centers. I was on the Corning team and Anthony was on the Redding team.” Anthony had also started bowling at age seven and grew up bowling at Shasta Lanes and then, eventually, Country Bowl.

Women can “beat the boys” in this sport

Generations of Westons are notorious for their rough-and-tumble play and competitive natures. Tona started loving bowling when she discovered it was something she could “beat the boys at.” Her greatest bowling memory is from before she was even dating Anthony. “I beat Anthony for my first North State All-Stars title,” she says. “I was the first and only woman to win one of those events. To top it off, in the championship match, Anthony had to beat me twice because I was undefeated in the match play bracket. He shot 300 at me the first game to force the match to the last game. I overcame that and bowled 268 to his 246 to win.”

Anthony and Tona are thankful for the privately owned bowling alleys in our area. Every year Tona enjoys the Rodeo Doubles at Lariat Bowl in Red Bluff and has won countless times. As the new owners of Redding’s Country Bowl, Anthony and Tona feel like it is now their turn to give back to the bowling community.

Trinity bowled with her family and future husband, Tyger Miller, at the Emerald Lanes Swiss in Eugene, OR in 2018. (Left to right) Tim Weston, Tyger and Trinity Miller, Tona and Anthony Thompson

Becoming Country Bowl owners

Remembering how she and Anthony became Country Bowl co-owners along with Tim and Becky, Tona says, “Country Bowl was a complete surprise. Anthony and I decided to start our bowling pro shop again in 2021. The gentleman that was there before retired so the space was available at Country Bowl. We met with the owner (whom we have known a long time and Anthony actually worked for him when he was a teenager) to work out a lease for the space. That went well and then he dropped, ‘How would you like to buy the bowling center?’ So unexpectedly here we are. It has been challenging but we are incredibly blessed and grateful to keep a center that has been around since 1958 going and thriving.”

Becky has retired from the Corning Post Office and loves working at Country Bowl’s snack bar. Tim and Clay can both be found in the back welding or, as Tona says, “Fixing about anything that needs fixing.” Anthony and Tona have six kids ranging from 7-21 and they all enjoy bowling. The oldest, Trinity, now lives in Texas where she and her husband travel extensively to various bowling competitions. The local Weston/Thompson family members frequently bowl together and rotate partners for various doubles tournaments.

Tim and Becky could have never imagined the outcome of their decision to start their kids in bowling and feel very fortunate to spend so much time with each other—working and playing. Tona hopes her dad will stay out of the mountains and keep enjoying this new phase of their lives.

As far as her own parenting philosophy goes, Tona laughs, “We have six kids…if I keep them alive that is good enough.” For a Weston that sounds about right.