Rolle Bolles
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When playing the traditional Belgian game Rolle Bolle in the Quad Cities area, the heavy bolles rolled towards a stake on the opposite end of the court are likely made by Roy DePauw or his father Albert who founded DePauw Rolle Bolles in 1978, after the previous bolle maker passed on and the equipment was sent north. Roy recalls:
I was told if you have got any Belgian blood in you at all, you’ve got to have a rolle bolle. Dad was that way too. Once the bolles moved up to Minnesota, he said “Somebody’s got to do it, to make them here”.
Albert DePauw built much of the specialized pieces of machinery needed for making the bolles that Roy still uses today to bake pure rubber strips into the shape and hardness needed. The demand for DePauw bolles is high. They are in the hands of young and old as fast as Roy can make them.
