Pins will fall.

And records? Perhaps.

Three western Maine bowling centers will take part in Saturday’s attempt to break the world record for the most games bowled over a 24-hour period. The feat falls at the end of National Bowling Week.

“We’d like to see 1,500 (people,) which would make a busy and exciting day,” said Andy Couture, who owns Sparetime Recreation centers in Lewiston, Augusta and Waterville.

Staff in Lewiston, he said, were prepping by getting the lanes spotless, getting ready to explain the finer points of bowling and stocking ingredients.

“We serve a lot of pizza,” Couture said. “People have the connection: pizza and bowling.”

The current record was set last year, according to a spokesman for the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America, when 741,821 games were bowled at 1,044 bowling centers in the United States in one day.

The association’s goal this year: 1 million-plus games.

To nudge that along, they’ve offered coupons for one free game per person Saturday at gobowling.com. Locally, Sparetime, Hobbs Lucky Lanes in South Paris and Saco Valley Sports in Fryeburg are listed as participants.

Sparetime, open from noon to midnight, has 34 lanes of 10-pin bowling. Hobbs, open from 1 to 11 p.m. has 14 lanes of candlepin, and Saco Valley, open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., 16 lanes of candlepin.

Frank Layne, manager of Saco Valley Sports, said he sees many vacationing families this time of year who “have to try the candlepin thing.”

“It’s a good way to teach (kids) to be organized, take turns, compete,” Layne said.

Bowling three games, Couture said, is the equivalent of walking 1.5 miles, so he touts it as exercise. The oldest bowler in his league is a spry, 96-year-old Lewiston woman.

“It’s still the No. 1 participation sport in the U.S.,” Couture said.

Bowlers who try for the world record Saturday will walk away with a certificate saying they were part of the nationwide event.

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