The Polish American Bowling Association was incorporated in January 1928 by John A. Schultz, John J. Kotlarek, Roman D. Pankowski, and John J. Ludka, to form a national bowling organization open to all Americans of Polish ancestry. Schultz, who owned the Forest Home Arcade in Milwaukee, was the driving force behind the Association and its annual tournaments, which were held every other year in his bowling alley, beginning in 1928. PABA tournaments were sanctioned by the American Bowling Congress, and were quite popular and well-attended during the 1930s and 1940s, particularly after a women's division was added in 1942. Despite the Association's claims to a national following, the tournaments were basically rivalries between Milwaukee and Chicago bowlers, with a Chicago bowling alley generally the host establishment for the tournament in alternating years. Many of the teams were sponsored by local factories and taverns in both Chicago and Milwaukee.
Entries in PABA tournaments declined during the late 1940s, partly due to low scores during matches at the small, aging Forest Home Arcade. Chicago bowlers, encouraged by Dziennik Chicagoski sports writer Ted Tryba, urged a change in the PABA constitution to allow the tournament to be held elsewhere, a move which occurred during the early 1950s. Nevertheless, interest in the tournaments continued to wane. Despite an attempt by Schultz's son, Tom, to revive the PABA from 1957 to 1963, the last tournament was held in 1962. The Forest Home Arcade was sold by the Schultz family in 1979.
