Just weeks, and in some cases days, after reopening their
doors following a prolonged closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of
California’s bowling centers on Wednesday were ordered to shut down again by
Governor Gavin Newsom.

The order was the result of what some have called
“knucklehead behavior” by certain people who refused to wear masks in public or
adhere to social distancing guidelines. It applies to 19 counties that account
for nearly 75% of the state’s population, and also targets movie theaters, bars
and indoor restaurant dining.

The full list of 19 counties affected by the order is:
Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Merced,
Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara,
Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura.

Bowling centers up and down the state took to Facebook to
inform customers of the development. A few of the (unedited) posts:

* La Habra “300” Bowl in La Habra — “Attention All Bowlers:
We are sad to report that the Governor has closed all bowling alleys as of July
2, 2020 at 12:01am for 3 weeks. La Habra 300 Bowl will be closing today at
4:30pm. We hope you all will stay safe during this uncertain time and we hope
to see you all as soon as we are allowed to reopen again.”

* Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley — “Effective 10pm tonight,
we will be closed for a minimum of three weeks by order of Governor Newsom. We
will keep you posted of changes.”

* Bowlero in Clovis — “Due to orders of the state of
California, we’ll be temporarily closed, effective today. We will let you know
when we’re able to re-open. Thank you for your understanding.”

In Contra Costa County, Clayton Valley Bowl in Concord had
posted this on June 29: “Due to recent changes to Contra Costa County health
services, the July 1st reopening has been canceled. Clayton Valley Bowl will
not be opening on July 1st and we have no date or time frame as to when we will
be able to open. For those of you that were excited to get back to bowling as
much as we were we are sorry! Take care of yourselves and stay healthy and safe!
We will try to keep updating as much as possible!”

In California, as in most other states, the reopening
process has been far from fluid.