AUBURN #- Even though Auburn native Jackie Gardner (formerly Locastro), moved to Gloversville almost 20 years ago, her heart has never been far from home.

Gardner grew up the youngest and only daughter of a family that included four older brothers, an attribute that helped mold her at a young age.

“If I wanted to play I was playing with the boys,” Gardner said. “If I wanted to play football it was tackle; if I wanted to play ball it was hardball not softball. They helped me a lot. In school I could do more chin ups and climb the rope faster than the boys could. They helped me learn to fight for myself.”

Her brothers - Johnny, Jimmy, Jerry and Joey - have all made a name for themselves in local bowling and Gardner has been no exception.

Gardner grew up going to the lanes with her brothers and parents - but by the time she was 16, she had begun to take a serious interest in the game.

“That was when I really got started,” Gardner said. “I used to throw a back-up ball. At that time Jimmy was the really big bowler in the family and he took me aside and said that I had to learn to throw it the right way, so he helped me a lot. Of course that was when my average went down, but after that I started to build it back up.”

During those years, Gardner was active in many local leagues and tournaments, often bowling in mixed and double tournaments with her mother.

When she made the move in 1987 to Gloversville, Gardner met her husband, Steve, himself an avid bowler.

“He helped me a lot,” Gardner said. “I was averaging around 185, 186, but since then my average has gone up to around 210, 213 now. We bowl together a lot in doubles and mixed tournaments and things like that.”

Gardner's life and game were both going well, when in 1998 she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which put her through an array of surgeries and chemo and radiation treatments over the next several years.

This was a scary and difficult period for Gardner, but through the entire ordeal she found solace on the lanes.

“I didn't stop bowling,” Gardner said. “Through it all, until I had stem cell surgery, I still bowled. I didn't want to stop, and I didn't know if that was going to be my last time to get to play. So it helped keep me going, along with my kids and husband and family, it all helped me get through.”

Gardner's battle has been in remission for almost five years now; doctors have told her that at this point the chances of a relapse are greatly reduced.

This ordeal helped Gardner put a lot of things in perspective, particularly her relationship with her mother and the rest of her family.

“It made me realize that she wouldn't be around forever,” Gardner said. “And I wanted to spend more time with her and the rest of my family.”

Gardner, along with a couple of her brothers, has found a unique way to make this possible.

Every weekend she and her husband make the trip down to Auburn to spend the weekend with her mother as well as to get in some time on the lanes.

“We all bowl together in a mixed doubles league,” Gardner said. “It is like our family is taking it over or something. My brothers and their wives are in it and it is a lot of fun. And we get to spend the weekend here and we have dinner on Sunday and mom cooks. It is really nice.”

Bowling locally again for the past couple of years has also allowed Gardner and her husband to get into The Citizen Masters, where Steve finished third this year and Jackie earned sixth.

“That has been a lot of fun,” she said. “Until two years ago we'd never made it before. Last year I finished in the top eight and I did better this year and I hope to keep doing even better next year.”