At first glance, it's a shocking sight.

Walk into Starlite Lanes on Tuesday night and you see a cluster of bowlers using the last six alleys.

Women occupy the first 14 lanes in the still-vibrant Bea Carpenter Memorial League. But it's the Larry Turner-George Lumb Memorial that looks odd. There are 30 men, making up just six teams, tucked away at the end of the house

“I can walk in here and substitute every week if I want to,” Jeff Lumb said of the league that bears his dad's name. “It never used to be like that.

“I started bowling in this league with my father, and there was a waiting list. We always had at least 12 teams. People couldn't get in unless an opening came up.”

The league honoring a pair of warriors was one of the best in the city. Originally called the Rod Mills Memorial, and then the Del Pickard-George Lumb Memorial, it's now in danger of folding.

“It saddens me,” said Cindi Mendillo, co-owner of Starlite. “We've had the old generation die off and no new generation to replace it. We're going to do what we can to keep it going, but the reality is that people are more worried about their jobs and where their money is going to come from, which is understandable.”

George “Lefty” Lumb was a good guy, his son said, who liked to have fun in leagues.

“But when it came to tournaments, he always wanted to win,” Jeff Lumb said. George got his nickname because he was a right-handed softball pitcher who batted from the left side.

Larry Turner also pitched softball in his day. Known as “Bullet,” he probably had a harder edge than George Lumb.

“Oh, he was a competitor,” but a great bowler and person, Jeff Lumb said.

Jeff's career began as a junior at Cayuga Lanes. George would come and watch, offering his son advice along the way. When he was 18, Jeff started bowling with his father on a close-knit team. Joining the Lumbs were Brian MacDavitt, Bill Reese and Jim Young.

“We must have bowled five years together, even until my father died in 1993,” Jeff said. “We had a blast.”

Jeff remembers how his teammates tried to teach him to spot bowl, rather than focus the pins. It was a lesson filled with humor as the youngster cut his teeth in the adult leagues.

Years later, he's made his mark in the game. He has six 800 series, including three this season, and six perfect games. Jeff's son, Mike, has joined him in the Turner-Lumb Memorial, completing three generations of bowling.

But interest now wanes, and Jeff Lumb prepares for the inevitable.

“You can't force people to bowl. With my schedule, it's tough,” he said. “I wish it wasn't dying because I love this game.”

While a gut feeling tells him that the league is in its final weeks, Lumb still has hope. Perhaps a burst of junior leaguers will come up through the ranks and keep it alive, he said.

That would extend the tribute to two classy gentlemen.