Local shop helps the handicapped bowl | Lincoln Times-News

Bradley Duke’s business, Double D Fabrication, may be small, but the company is making a big name for itself, making bowling ball ramps for handicapped children in countries around the world.

“It was an accident,” Duke said of going into business for himself. Doing some welding work for a friend exposed Duke to other people that needed welding work, so he set up a one-man shop in his backyard.
“The next thing you know, people just started coming to me,” Duke said. “I took advantage of the opportunity. And I’ve been a welder all of my life, so it just kind of happened.”
Duke’s business was going well until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. His business took a turn for the worse and so Duke took a job as a mechanic at the Lincolnton bowling alley.
“While I was there, my boss asked me if I could build a bowling ball ramp,” Duke said. “I said, ‘Sure, no problem.’ So I came to the house and built him a bowling ball ramp.”
The bowling ball ramps are specifically designed to assist handicapped people play a sport that may not otherwise be possible. A few weeks after Duke made the first ramp, a representative from a Tennessee bowling company came to the alley and was so impressed with Duke’s ramp that he ordered a dozen.

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