IBI April 2019

CONTENTS

VOL 27.4

6 SHORTS

36 PROFILE

• Sports writer Harry Page remembered.

• YES Fund selects recipient schools • 72nd BVL Veterans Bowling Tournament • Vista Entertainment is gone but not lost.

By Patty Heath

Not Just a Little Guy After decades of dedication, the Schemms have taken their place on the national bowling stage.

By Joan Taylor 20

THE WORLD'S ONLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE BUSINESS OF BOWLING

PUBLISHER & EDITOR Scott Frager frager@bowlingindustry.com Skype: scottfrager

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER David Garber garber@bowlingindustry.com

OFFICE MANAGER Patty Heath heath@bowlingindustry.com

CONTRIBUTORS Patty Heath Mark Miller Paul Lane Robert Sax Joan Taylor

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jackie Fisher

42 CENTER STAGE

14 PROFILE

Fitness for a King… or a Queen

Bowling Nomad Mike Monroe keeps finding new ways to stay involved with bowling.

At GrafEATii in Bahrain, it’s a royal duty to bowl.

54 REMEMBER WHEN 1944 26

Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer

By Patty Heath

Remco Witberg turns a dream into a reality

By Paul Lane

48 Datebook

26 COVER STORY

49 Showcase

Re-framing Bowling

50 Classifieds

Bowlero, the world’s largest chain of centers, experiments with media formats to attract customers.

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FOUNDER Allen Crown (1933-2002)

www.BowlingIndustry.com

HOTLINE: 818-789-2695 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One copy of International Bowling Industry is sent free to every bowling center, independently owned pro shop and collegiate bowling center in the U.S., and every military bowling center and pro shop worldwide. Publisher reserves the right to provide free subscriptions to those individuals who meet publication qualifications. Additional subscriptions may be purchased for delivery in the U.S. for $60 per year. Subscriptions for Canada and Mexico are $65 per year, all other foreign subscriptions are $80 per year. All foreign subscriptions should be paid in U.S. funds using International Money Orders.

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Printed in U.S.A. Copyright 2019, B2B Media, Inc. No part of this magazine may be reprinted without the publisher’s permission.

MEMBER AND/OR SUPPORTER OF:

By Robert Sax

IBI

www.dzynwrx.com (818) 735-9424

P.O. Box 7350 Overland Park, KS 66207 (818) 789-2695(BOWL) Fax (818) 789-2812 info@bowlingindustry.com

20 FEATURE

4

ART DIRECTION & PRODUCTION Designworks

By Patty Heath

By Mark Miller

Stepping Into the Spotlight

fisher@bowlingindustry.com

SHORTS

GOODWILL CENTRAL

Community involvement is at the cornerstone of what sets bowling up as an all-around sport and business. Here’s what’s been happening everywhere.

The 25th annual Jackson County Bowl for Kids’ Sake, benefitting Big Brothers Big Sisters was held at Columbus Bowling Center, Columbus, IN. Crystal Lanes in Corning, NY, welcomed a fundraiser for Youth Mentoring of the Southern Tier. Last year, the event raised $32,000; this year the goal was $35,000.

A group of local bowlers hosted the 10th annual Framed in Pink: Bowling Over Breast Cancer at the Jamestown Bowling Company in Jamestown, NY. Clothe-A-Child, an event dating back to the 1970s, helps provide warm clothing to children in need. It was held at Hilltop Bowl in Speigletown, NY. The non-profit organization Reach Out For Life, that helps provide free mammograms, held its annual Bowling for Boobs at Bowl America in Glen Allen, VA. Colts’ Super Bowl champion, Ryan Diem, partnered with Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital for the second annual Strike Out Cancer held at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, IN. Star Lanes in Port Clinton, OH, was the venue for Bowling for Babies.

The 6th annual Bowling for Hope raised funds for Circle of Hope which provides assistance for uninsured or underinsured individuals fighting cancer in the Santa Clarita Valley in California. The event was held at Valencia Lanes.

Mason City, IA, lost a beloved teacher, Blake Lobdell, in 2011. Since that time, seventy-three $500 scholarships have been given out in his name. Bowling for Blake was held at Mystic Lanes.

After a December 2018 fatal shooting at Dennis Intermediate School, Richmond 40 Bowl, along with Reid Health Community Benefit, in Richmond, IN, hosted an afternoon of bowling for the students to unwind.

Chacko’s Family Bowling Center, Wilkes-Barre, PA, was the site for the 14th annual Bowling for the Brave tournament supporting Foundation 58, which helps firefighters, police officers, and EMS personnel fighting cancer.

What is your center doing? Email Patty Heath at heath@bowlingindustry.com.

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72ND BVL TOURNAMENT The 72nd BVL Veterans Bowling Tournament is a monthlong event held for all veterans connected with the VA Medical Center system and coordinated through recreation therapists onsite at VA facilities and local centers. Recreation therapists often utilize bowling as an activity for recovering veterans as the sport is adaptable to most skill levels and physical abilities. The first BVL Veterans Bowling Tournament was held at the White House bowling lanes in 1947 and hosted by President Truman for returning veterans from the battlefields in Europe and Asia.

“BVL is committed to supporting our veterans through therapy programs and services that give them access to positive challenges and long-term recovery,” said Mary Harrar, BVL executive director.

BOWLING SUPPORT FOR HUNTSMAN CANCER INSTITUTE Storm Products and the Striking Against Breast Cancer Foundation make this charity a must. With the help of the bowling community’s participation in Paint the Lanes PINK (PTLP) and supported by Storm’s Chrisman Foundation, a donation of $110,518 was presented to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. An additional donation of $25,000 was donated from the Striking Against Breast Cancer Foundation by Donna Conners who hosts the Storm PBA/PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles Tournament each summer.

WARRIOR BOWL The third annual Warrior Bowl was held at Stardust Lanes in Saginaw, MI. The goal was to raise money for two non-profits benefitting veterans’ programs: Yellow Ribbon Guard and Great Lakes Bay Region Warrior Hockey Team.

SHORTS

BOWLING VISION EXPANDS ITS CENTER SUPPORT SERVICES Bowling Vision Ltd., the exclusive distributor for Brunswick in the UK, has appointed Matt Barnwell as support services manager. With the largest team of bowling experts in the UK, Bowling Vision offers a broad array of services to complement its marketleading Brunswick bowling equipment, along with its vast UK stock of parts and supplies. Barnwell brings a long history of experience in the tenpin industry, from starting as a competitive bowler and organizer of tournaments to working in center senior management. In recent years, he headed a consultancy group used by leisure industry entrepreneurs. As head of the services division, he will be developing services to ensure that Bowling Vision customers can access a wide range of highquality supplementary services. He will aid customers in planning and securing the best possible return on investment for their projects.

IN REMEMBRANCE The bowling industry was saddened by news of the passing of Harry Page, 71, a long-time sports writer in the San Antonio area. Page started early as a writer in high school and continued on that path with the San Antonio Express-News from 1970-2007, earning more than 50 writing awards. He was a member of the Bowling Writers Association of America for 32 years, serving several times on the board of directors, and also involved in the USBC. After leaving the newspaper in 2007, Page taught as a substitute teacher in the San Antonio Independent School District.

UUnbeknowst to Page, he was selected as 2019 IBMA Luby Hall of Fame inductee. He will receive it posthumously during the BPAA Industry Awards Luncheon at International Bowl Expo this June. Keith Hamilton, president of IBMA, shared, “I will always regret that I was unable to connect with Harry to provide him with the news of his selection. IBMA and bowling have lost another outstanding journalist who devoted much of his life to the sport that we all love.”

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PEOPLEWATCHING As reported in the Times Union, after 45 years of mostly behind the scenes, Kathy Leitgeb, executive director of the New York BPA, will receive the George C. Burton Award, named after the man who hired her as an NYS BPA administrative assistant in 1974. Leitgeb has served the past 34 years as the organization’s executive director. She plans to retire by the summer, but, as she is quoted, Kathy Leitgeb “I’m looking forward to what the next chapter will be.” Congratulations go out to Kathy on a job well done!

Timothy J. Minard, CEO of Eclipse Gaming Systems and CEO and founder of Sports Challenge Network(SCN), has been elected to BVL’s board of directors. “Tim is an innovative business leader who brings a distinctive vision to the BVL Board,” said BVL Board Chair John LaSpina. Minard shared that it was BVL’s mission of brightening veteran’s lives that drew him to the organization. Minard currently serves on the board of trustees for the International Timothy J. Minard Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame. He also introduced XBowling, a product of SCN, to the industry, allowing league bowlers to use verified league scores to compete in bowling contests for cash payouts.

Longtime Dayton-area proprietor, Joe Poelking, was recently named the USBC Proprietor of the Year. The annual award acknowledges a bowling center proprietor for his or her outstanding support of USBC local, state, and national association programs. Poelking will be recognized at the 2019 USBC Convention and Annual Meeting in Las Vegas this month. “I am very honored to receive Joe Poelking this award. I know it comes from those people that I work with and for, and I’m proud to serve those in the bowling industry and my community. Poelking operates three Ohio centers: Poelking Lanes South, Poelking Woodman Lanes, and Poelking Lanes.

Josh Powers has joined IAAPA’s team as executive vice president and CFO. He will serve as strategic advisor on all financial issues impacting IAAA’s global mission and service offerings. In addition, he will lead the finance and information technology teams. For the last 10 years, Powers has served in financial roles in the corporate offices of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and in various roles with Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Powers will be based in IAAPA’s global headquarters in Orlando, FL. Josh Powers

SHORTS

BUSINESS AT LARGE 8 RENEWABLE REUSABLE Vista Entertainment Center in Vista, CA, is no longer. The center closed, was torn down and a Honda dealership now occupies the land. However, the dealership’s owners, the CAR Group, partnered with a non-profit, Deconstruction & ReUse Network, which specializes in diverting used building materials from the waste stream. It then offers inexpensive construction materials to business owners. All the maple and fir planks that lined the Vista bowling lanes for nearly 60 years were saved.

The bar counter at Hoppy Daze Cut to Hoppy Daze, whose owner, Bruce DeMoss, found the recycled planks while brewpub in Otay Mesa West, CA, searching for bar tables and counter tops for his pub. Vista Entertainment lives on! upcycled from Vista Entertainment Deborah Sullivan Brennan of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Lorenz Center.

Schilling, founder and president of the ReUse Network, in the ten years since the Network was formed, has completed 365 salvage projects, diverting nearly 7,500 tons of rough lumber and finished building materials from the waste stream.

8 YES FUND SELECTS RECIPIENTS The Youth Education Services (YES) Fund selected four high school bowling programs to receive a $2,500 grant. The High School Grant Program, administered by International Bowling Campus Youth Development, annually provides up to four grants to high schools requiring funds to start a new bowling program or to assist existing programs that show financial need due to budget cuts or other changes.

The four schools selected were: Adams Central High School, Monroe, IN; Pulaski High School, Milwaukee, WI; Washington High School, Washington, IN; and Whitehall High School, Whitehall, MI. The High School Grant Program is a product of the YES Fund, a joint initiative of the BPAA and the USBC supported by top bowling brands, including Bowling.com, Brunswick, Columbia 300, Ebonite, Hammer, QubicaAMF, Roto Grip, Storm, and Track.

Visit BOWL.com/HighSchool to learn more about the program and other initiatives to support high school programs.

8 BOWLING IN INDIANA AFTER GM General Motors played a big part in the financial stability in Indiana until it didn’t.

In an online article in goshennews.com and written by Ken de la Bastide of CNHI News Indiana, when GM was the major employer in central Indiana, there were six bowling centers operating in Anderson, IN. Today there is only one, Championship Lanes. Where leagues were the mainstay, today the center is growing its business with shorter leagues, more open play, parties, team building for businesses, corporate events, and fundraisers according to Angie Colip, manager.

20 YEARS AND COUNTING

Have To Shout Out ‘The Day of the Dude’ All things bowling and White Russians, with a smattering of German nihilists, and, of course, the Dude were honored at the Corner Alley in Cleveland, OH. Costumes were a must, e.g. dirty bathrobes, and hanging out all day watching the Coen brothers’ 1998 cult film, The Big Lebowski, was the agenda.

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SHORTS

ß BITS & PIECES ß ß ß Brunswick Sync includes WPA Scoring System

Pinnacle and Rhode Island Novelty Team Up

In an effort to expand the worldwide adoption of competitive bowling, Brunswick has added the World Bowling Association’s (WBA) new scoring format to the Sync scoring and management system. As stated in a press release, “The ‘current frame’ scoring format was developed to make the sport more attractive and easier to understand...” Supporters hope that the more straightforward scoring format will help efforts to have bowling included in the Olympics. Sync was the official scoring system of the WBP Junior Bowling Championships held in Paris.

Rhode Island Novelty (RINCO), while at F2FEC Imagine 2019 in Colorado Springs, CO, announced it had added Pinnacle Entertainment Group to its team for sales support and corporate development. RINCO is a designer, importer, and wholesale distributor of amusement toys, novelties, giftware, and incentive merchandise for over 30 years. Pinnacle offers consulting services to the FEC industry, assisting with budgeting, design, layout, game and attraction mix, marketing, and operations.

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Sun Valley Lanes is on the 2020 Tour

Sun Valley Lanes, a 32-lane center in Lincoln, NE, will be the host center for the 2020 U.S. Open, a major event on the PBA Tour. The center has previously hosted the 2018 Intercollegiate Team and Singles Championships, the 2016 World Youth Championships, and, in 2019, will be a PWBA Tour stop.

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Santa Fe offers another Escape Puzzah!, a Colorado-based escape room company, is opening a 2,800-square-foot site in Santa Fe, NM, at the Railyard’s Market Station. It will offer three missions: M.A.S.K., a secret agent caper; Specimen, a spaceship that needs to return to Earth; and Night Shade, a pizza parlor haunted by a ghost that needs to be found. Escape rooms in 2014 counted 22 in the U.S. There are now approximately 2,396, 12 of which are in New Mexico, according to the website Room Escape Artist. The first escape room opened in Japan in 2007.

PROFILE

By Mark Miller

N

Bowling Nomad

Mike Monroe keeps finding new ways to stay involved with bowling.

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ame any job off of the bowling lanes, and, chances are Mike Monroe has done most of them.

From running tournaments, to managing centers, to helping teach owners how to best operate their establishments or prepare them to sell, Monroe has been there. And to think it all started as a youth bowler in his home state of Michigan and with the Saginaw State University bowling team.

“I wouldn’t want to do anything else. I just enjoy being around it,” said Monroe, 56. “I enjoy the people. I don’t bowl as much as I used to, but that’s how I got started in this, I was a youth bowler. When it came to deciding what I wanted to do for a living, bowling was always there.”

Much of Monroe’s industry knowledge has come courtesy of the bowling business’s brightest minds. Among his first mentors was USBC Hall of Famer Bob Hart, who taught him how to drill bowling balls at his then Bay City Lanes. “I’ve been fortunate over the years moving around to work with guys like Bill Strike in Michigan, Andy Bartholomy in Oklahoma, Les Huikko in Minnesota, and Jamie Brooks in Texas, and being involved with BPAA, meeting guys like John LaSpina,” he said. “You learn a lot and you see why they are successful, and they teach you the little things. There are a lot of good people out there that I’ve been able to build off of.”

After college, Monroe moved with his family to Des Moines, IA, when his dad took a job with Meredith Corporation’s broadcast division. Mike had been overseeing some collegiate sectionals and was attending the collegiate nationals in Omaha, NE, when he met YABA’s Tim Rice who needed an assistant tournament director and hired Monroe in 1987.

In 1989, he joined former YABA President Cathy Cooper helping her market her Anderson, IN, center. He returned to Des Moines in 1991 to serve as general manager at Fairlanes, a 52-lane center where he worked until it sold in 1993. He then spent about eight years working for Bartholomy as general manager of what was then called River Lanes, an 80-lane facility in Tulsa, OK, that later downsized and re-branded as Andy B’s.

Monroe left the bowling business for about five years to help operate Mug’s, a sports bar his family

PROFILE

purchased in Des Moines. But the bowling bug returned, and he took a job working for Tom Young at Warrior Lanes Waukee, just west of Des Moines.

Early in 2011, Monroe started receiving calls about centers having financial issues. While he didn’t want to permanently run them, he became interested in helping turn businesses around. He connected with friend Greg Patterson, a business analyst by trade, to launch First Frame Bowling Management. Their initial goal was to help bank-owned properties and proprietors who wanted to be in a position to sell their centers. But clients started to hire First Frame on management contracts.

“We’re seeing too many centers fall by the wayside because they don’t want to put the effort into it,” Monroe said. “That’s why we’re called a management company. The reason many of those centers have failed is poor management.”

Fast Frame works on streamlining back office procedures including financials, payroll, insurance, and taxes, and creates a more consistent operational system. Patterson typically handles the financials while Monroe concentrates on operations, which includes building up a center’s league base by talking with people in person. Monroe subscribes to the theory that today’s society has lost its personal touch in large part because of social media.

“What we find is when some centers come to us – not all of them – but mostly the bankowned centers, there are no financials,” he said.

“So the bank or the financial institution or the family that gives it back on contract can’t sell it. We get back to the simple standards of financials, cost controls, basic community marketing, and a solid record so when it does get to the point where we can list it [for sale] with Sandy Hansell or a bank or a [private buyer], there is a story to tell.”

Once the industry heard about First Frame’s unique services, business took off. “The difference was I am on-site rather than a remote consultant,” Monroe said. “Each time we’ve had success, we’ve had individual proprietors contacting us, ones that maybe had managers running it, or had it in the family who had become disconnected from the center, and hired us to come in and get the place in a position to be sold.”

Monroe likes his managers to spend as little time as possible on paperwork and as much time as possible on promoting the center. Finding good managers is part of his challenge and one reason First Frame focuses on larger centers (at least 24 lanes) is to generate enough income to afford a manager.

“It’s fun, because you don’t want to see any more bowling centers close,” Monroe said. “It’s hard work. We go in and face all the problems that have taken anywhere from five to 20 years to create. We don’t make a lot of friends the first couple of weeks we’re there.

It’s tough. You have to have a little empathy, especially if it’s a family-owned situation or you’ve got employees who have been there 15 to 20 years.

“I tell them, ‘I’m not walking around with a staff in my pocket, we need you guys. But we’ve got to change the way we’re doing things because right now it’s not working.’” Most of the centers First Frame works with either didn’t put enough money into the facilities to maintain them or lost interest in bowling. “We’re taking on the ones that most people don’t want and trying to do something with them and, hopefully, we can get them turned around and create a new life for them and keep bowling going in that community.”

First Frame focuses on helping clients manage their centers on-site, sometimes for as little as a few months, and as long as 18 months.

“I think the thing I’m most proud of in all the centers is that we’ve

Mike oversees the new arcade at Station 300 in Bluffton, SC.

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PROFILE been able to start new leagues,” Monroe said. “We get the staff involved and tell them to just talk to customers.”

First Frame has helped as many as six centers at a time in Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Iowa. Currently it has three in the pipeline; one in Michigan; one in Pennsylvania; and one in South Carolina, where they are currently working under a management contract.

“These people have no desire to sell. They just want things done a certain way and they like what we do,” Monroe said. “We don’t come in and try to change the world. We adapt to their processes and procedures, then try to execute a little bit better.”

When First Frame took over a center in Hopkinsville, KY, it had wood lanes, no automatic scoring, and was headed for closure. Monroe had synthetic lanes and a new scoring system installed, and the center went from generating $100,000 a year to $500,000 a year and ready to sell. “It’s like being a bowling property flipper without having to put the money into it,” states Monroe.

Not all centers First Frame takes over are in bad shape. For example, Lightning Strikes in Trussville, AL, was producing decent revenue, but after First Frame introduced and changed a few programs and altered payroll processing. These charges pushed it to $1.5 - $1.8 million in annual revenue, and eventually rebranded as Spare Time.

While family entertainment centers are great, Monroe thinks some people have forgotten they are in the bowling business.

He believes even at places with great food, it’s bowling that brings customers there. He believes those who opt to focus more on the bar or games or other amenities and are ashamed of bowling should get out of the business. Monroe also feels the industry fell behind training new people and thus lost a lot of good people.“We hear from league bowlers who say ‘I don’t want to bowl in a carnival atmosphere. I want to bowl in a traditional center,’” he said.

He doesn’t believe there’s anyone else in the industry that does what his company does. “If we can save these centers, and not have to spend $1 million, and get back on the market so someone will buy it, we’ve done our job,” he said. “I’ve seen too many of those centers close.”

With a lot of hope and passion, Monroe feels very optimistic about the future of bowling. “We are revamping our industry.

There are a lot of new, younger people,” said Monroe. “I love it; I never get bored. Fustrated, but never bored. It’s fun. We’re still learning.”

Monroe’s work with First Frame actually helped him transition 18

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The lanes at Station 300 in Bluffton, SC.

into his newest job with Hansell and Associates. He took over the Midwest region in November 2017 from the retiring Pat Bosco, another person who helped teach him the ropes.

“Sandy Hansell, Pat Bosco, and Dave Driscoll have all been great,” he said.

When not on the road, he can be found at home in Des Moines with wife, Sue. The couple has two daughters: Alie, 37, married with two children and living in Tulsa; and Tori, 23, who graduated from Iowa State University in 2017 and coaches cheerleading in Des Moines. Monroe now spends about half his time working on bowling center deals for Hansell and Associates and half for First Frame.

“This is all new to me,” Monroe said. “You don’t know all the 8-12 laners; I know the big boys, because they are at all the shows. It’s been cool to meet and learn their stories. Some of the people who are looking to sell really don’t have an exit strategy. [Clients have] used my services to come in and help them get things prepared. I look at how their finances and P&LS look and what they need in place to sell. We do some evaluations and give them the basic 101 of sales savy: we need three years of P&Ls, and we need to know the age of the equipment so we can speak intelligently about those issues to prospective buyers.”

Through it all, Monroe continues to enjoy what he does in an industry he loves.

“The industry is small. You mention three or four names, and you’re connected to somebody,” he said. “It’s still a great industry. It’s still fun.” ❖

Mark Miller is a freelance writer, editor, and public relations specialist from Flower Mound, TX. He's the author of Bowling: America's Greatest Indoor Pastime available at Amazon.com or directly from him at markmywordstexas@gmail.com.

FEATURE

STEPPING INTO THE SPOTLIGHT Remco Witberg turns a dream into a reality

By Paul Lane

I

t’s refreshing when a newcomer to our industry brings a level of experience, expertise, and know-how from their previous occupation that’s transferable to a boutique-style, family entertainment center (FEC) that includes bowling.

Such is the case of Remco Witberg, the proprietor of the Vier Hoog Breda FEC in the city of Breda, the third largest city in the province of Brabant in the southern part of the Netherlands.

The idea and dream of building not just one but a number of FECs came to Witberg during his tenure as a production manager with Joop van den Ende Stage Entertainment, one

The Breepark Complex of which Vier Hoog Breeda is one component.

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of the world’s largest theater producers and owners. With offices in eight countries, including the U.S.A., Stage Entertainment produces some of the best known titles in musical theater, including Mary Poppins, Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera and Mama Mia, to name but a few.

Witberg’s career and experiences in the musical Remco Witberg theatre entertainment industry transferred easily to a boutique-style entertainment center. He said, “In a theater, it’s not just about the stage production, it’s about feel — the feel of the total experience, from the ease of booking tickets, to being welcomed at the door, to cleanliness of the restrooms, to food and beverage quality and service, to how patrons are ushered to their seats. Any one of a wide variety of experiences during a visit to the theater can spoil the level of customer satisfaction and leave a lasting, negative impression with patrons.

FEATURE

It’s about what they remember,” said Witberg, “and what they remember is all they have to take home.”

“Patrons of a family entertainment center are no different [than] theater goers,” he said. “They expect [more] from the total experience and we have to focus on ensuring that the service and facility live up to their high expectations; and that the memory they take home never falls short of being terrific.”

As Witberg’s dream and move from a career-based management position with Stage Entertainment to being an entrepreneur came closer to being a reality, he began the planning and development process for his first FEC— Vier Hoog Breda, an FEC that offers four entertainment attractions: bowling, laser tag, escape rooms, and a 100-seat Grill Restaurant. As the planning process continued, Witberg needed help. He made contact with Maarten Sterken, director of operations at Bowltech International. Everyone at Bowltech was impressed with Witberg’s dedication, planning and energy he brought to the project. “It does not happen often that we see somebody of his age, and from outside the bowling industry, to have such detailed and well-thought through plans,” noticed Sterken. “You really could see that he has a lot of experience from his previous career that he was able to convert from a dream to a plan that falls together.”

However, the transition did not go as smoothly as Witberg hoped. ‘Vier Hoog’ literally means ‘four high’ in Dutch. Vier Hoog Breda is located on the top or 4th floor of a complex called Breepark. Breepark offers a varied selection of events, fairs, and festivals, both indoors and outdoors, including a number of restaurants serving everything from fast food to fullservice upscale dining, a movie theater, and a nature reserve with all kinds of sports opportunities.

Originally, Vier Hoog Breda was to open its doors in late 2016, but the opening was delayed as the 22

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owner of the building was not making the progress he promised. As a result, Witberg had resigned from Stage Entertainment much too soon.

“It was nothing short of a nightmare,” said Witberg.

“We had all that investment money tied up for a year longer than planned, and with no revenue. In fact, three weeks before we opened, there were still no windows on the fourth floor, leaving the lanes, scoring and pinsetting machines exposed to the elements. But, we got there in the end, and, happily, we successfully overcame and recovered from the ripple effects of the initial financial burden and hurdles we encountered along the way.” Vier Hoog Breda finally opened its doors, a year late, in late October 2017.

The bowling attraction at Vier Hoog includes 10 white lanes, with QubicaAMF TMS String Machines, BES X Ultimate entertainment and scoring system with triple monitors, and DuraBowl Automatic bumpers. The QubicaAMF equipment was purchased through and installed by Bowltech International. “Since we are exclusively an entertainment center, this is the ideal choice of bowling equipment for us,” says Witberg.

The bowling attraction is complemented with programmable DMXcontrolled special effects LED lighting and disco sound designed to further enhance the patron’s entertainment bowling experience.

Another popular attraction at Vier Hoog is a 250-square-meter (2,690-square-foot) laser tag room, which is the most active leisure activity at Breepark. Armed with a laser gun and equipped with an EVO5 harness, six to 20 people can enter the battlefield.

The two escape rooms — Base 48 and Take 48 — can accommodate up to ten people. According to Witberg, the escape rooms are by far the most popular attraction for corporate team building events.

The 100-seat Grill Restaurant thrives, too, with a wonderful menu and beverage list, including beer, cocktails, and fine wines, and is a popular venue with local business people.

The business at Vier Hoog is driven by reservations all online. This provides the foundation of a database for follow-up contact with customers: before patrons enter an escape room, they are asked to complete a short registration form that includes email addresses, birthdays, etc. Bowling parties do something similar, but through the BES X scoring system.

Reservations for laser tag and The Grill add to a database which is used to send periodic newsletters, birthday greetings, Business partners Danny Polak and Remco Witberg.

FEATURE and event information.

The primary thrust of their marketing is driven by social media for which they have a full-time social media manager who organizes and posts content. As an example, since mobile phones and/or cameras are not permissible in the escape rooms, Vier Hoog takes photos of every group, posts them on social media, and also emails them to the participants with a thank you message. Similarly, with bowling, they take advantage of the photo feature included with the BES X scoring system. Vier Hoog management optimizes every opportunity to promote business through the database and social Maarten Sterken of Bowltech media activities. “Of course, word of mouth goes a long way in promoting our business, too,” said Witberg, “so long as customers are ‘wowed’ with their experience.” For Witberg, it comes back to what patrons feel and remember about their visit. The database has proven to be effective in promoting birthday parties, and they average as many as 150 a month, with an average size of ten people per party.

Witberg and his partner, Danny Polak, have built a strong management team and a highly professional, young employee base who clearly understands the concept of hospitality, great customer service, and that a customer is a guest that needs attention. Polak focuses more on financial operations of the business, although he does fill shifts too. But, most day-to-day management is handled by general manager Johanneke Vreekamp and manager Tim Sprokholt.

A visit to Vier Hoog Breda’s website suggests ‘Combining Nice Things.’ With everything located on one floor, it’s easy to combine activities during one visit, so long as reservations have been made accordingly. And reservations can also be made through Vier Hoog Breda to combine activities with other companies at Breepark. For example, “Filmbowling” is an hour of bowling before or after enjoying a movie at the Kinepolis movie theater.

Looking to the future, Witberg and Polak plan to open one new FEC a year for the next several years. In fact, they have already started the process. In the summer of 2018 they purchased a small, six-lane bowling center 25-30 minutes from Vier Hoog Breda. Their plan is to operate and manage the facility and at the same time study the market to determine which attractions will be a good fit to add when expanding and converting the center into a boutique-style FEC in the future.

They have already changed the free-standing pinsetting equipment and replaced them with QubicaAMF TMS String 24

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Machines and added the HyperBowling Scoring and Entertainment system. Sterken and Bowltech International continue to partner with Witberg and Polak. “The team they have formed is young and ambitious and we are very pleased to see that,” Sterken says. “Fourteen months after Vier Hoog Breda opened, Witberg and Polak grabbed an opportunity.

They have the dream to build a chain of FECs and, based upon what we have seen in the last 18-months, we believe they will make their dream come true.”

What’s interesting is that many of the bowlers — including typical league bowlers — lost during the changeover came back and discovered they enjoyed the new product offering along with its entertainment features. Some of the more serious bowlers did move to other bowling centers with free-standing

pinspotters for league activities, but even those found noncompetitive party bowling in an entertainment environment at Vier Hoog enjoyable, too.

Witberg is set on changing the perception of bowling in the Netherlands with the non-bowling population. “They think it’s probably boring,” said Witberg, “but when they see a venue like ours there’s almost always a ‘wow effect’ and they soon change their mind.”

For sure, Witberg and Polak are clearly focused on the present and the future, and it will be interesting to follow their progress as they expand their entertainment-driven business throughout the Netherlands. ❖

Paul Lane is former Director of Marketing and Marketing Services for AMF Bowling, Inc. He has been the director of 18 AMF World Cups, an officer in national and international trade associations, and a pro bowler during a career that spans more than 60 countries and 50 years.

COVER STORY

By Robert Sax

B

owling as sport and game show has played a big role on television since the 1950s. If you remember the syndicated Bowling for Dollars show of the 1960s, you know that bowling-based game shows that allow viewers to win money based on the performance of on-camera bowlers have been a popular hybrid format at various times.

In 2018, Bowlero, the world’s largest owner and operator of bowling centers, updated the format for the digital world with Live on the Lanes, a show that was streamed live on the Internet. What transpired is a fascinating look at how old concepts and new media can be used to market bowling to contemporary audiences.

Willis Robertson is a young TV producer in Los Angeles who learned the ropes of reality TV with such top companies as Bunim-Murray, the producers of such hits as Project Runway and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. As he began developing his own projects, he realized that there hadn’t been a bowling game show in some time. “I knew that historically there’s been a lot of success in bowling game shows,” says Robertson, “and I just felt that there was a way to do an updated version.” He was also inspired by the success of HQ Trivia, a livestreamed daily trivia contest launched in Fall 2017 that proved capable of drawing a huge audience.

He also had a hunch that Bowlero, with more than 300 bowling centers, could

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COVER STORY

Production of Live on the Lanes

use its social media connections to its Millennial customers to create its own “network” via streaming video. This meant the ability to produce and test a show quickly without having to waste years trying to convince a television network to bankroll it. “With 300 plus bowling centers that each have a Facebook page, they have a massive number of eyeballs, right?” says Robertson, “and Bowlero seemed like a brand on the leading edge when it comes to taking chances and trying new things.”

So he pitched his idea to Bowlero CEO Tom Shannon, a fellow University of Virginia alumnus.

Shannon was receptive to the pitch and connected Robertson with Colie Edison, Bowlero’s Chief Customer Officer and a creative marketer with a background in advertising.

Coincidentally, Edison had also been working on ideas for TV shows, and her earlier video ventures included some tournaments and Crushes It, a TV ad campaign starring PBA champion Jason Belmonte and a very complicated trick shot on the lanes. “We had ideas about televised bowling forever and had a couple of things that were baking in the

oven,” Edison says. “It was all about finding the right production partner.”

The creative partnership of Edison and Robertson proved a powerful one.

“Bowlero knows their brand and they know bowling,” says Robertson, “and my background of reality TV development is coming up with crazy ideas and challenges.” He says the combination of his ideas with Edison’s combined to make good television as well as a solid promotion for the Bowlero brand.

Edison and Robertson developed their show to use the Facebook Live streaming video platform, which was made available to the public in 2016.

Facebook Live allows Facebook users to capture and stream live video on a Facebook page. It also lets viewers comment in real time on the video they are watching. It was this feature that allowed the producers of Live on the Lanes to monitor viewer response to the game and permitted viewers to play along and win prizes.

“What made Live on the Lanes different than anything out there was that our customers and our audience could actually engage with that in real time,” says Edison. “So while we had our bowlers bowling in the center, home viewers could comment, “like,” and share on Facebook for a chance Co-creator of Live on the Lanes Willis Robertson IBI

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COVER STORY to win their own prizes.”

The basic format of Live on the Lanes was a thirtyminute live show with an in-center audience streamed

from a different Bowlero bowling center each episode.

Three amateur bowlers selected at the center competed in a variety of bowling challenges for a chance to win cash prizes. The bowlers faced such trials as bowling blindfolded, backwards and while sipping from a beer helmet. Their goal was to make it through to the final jackpot round, where they could win a

LOL Episode4 Contestants

grand prize of as much as $1,500.

In the jackpot round, the final contestant had to bowl the conventional way, getting several chances to knock down a specified number of bowling pins. Each roll was worth an increasing amount of money and after each roll the contestant could decide to take their winnings and leave or risk it all for a larger jackpot. Failure to knock down the required number of pins in a round meant the

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contestant forfeited all their jackpot winnings.

Live on the Lanes retained at least one traditional game show element, a host who introduced the challenges, chatted with the contestants and kept the game rolling. Meanwhile a separate on-line host monitored viewers following along on Facebook, who could enter into random drawings for additional cash prizes of up to $500. The engaging Live on the Lanes oncamera host was actress Sarah Pribis, who was one of the hosts on Trivia HQ and has also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Production ran from July to October 2018, and five episodes were produced at Bowlero centers ranging from northern New Jersey to Southern California. LiveX, a New York-based company that has done streaming broadcasts for the Democratic National Convention and the U.S. Open golf tournament, handled the production duties.

Live on the Lanes drew a cumulative online audience of 2.5 million viewers over its five episodes, according to Edison. As Robertson realized, that’s a lot of eyeballs. Although admittedly an apples and oranges comparison, recent PBA competitions telecast on FOX Sports have drawn audiences averaging 533,000 viewers per first-run episode.

Edison says the series succeeded as a marketing test for Bowlero.

“People played it back, people watched it [live] and we promoted Colie Edison, Bowlero’s Chief Customer the show through Facebook ads. Officer

COVER STORY

And overwhelmingly the feedback was really positive.” The show also gave Bowlero a way to show people how much fun they could have for themselves

at Bowlero. “We were able to target people who may not have a Bowlero near them. They were able to learn about what the Bowlero brand experience is like, and that’s something we really haven’t been able to do before,” says Edison. “That was huge because so often we talk about what we’ve done to the centers, how we’ve changed that experience inside the four walls. But unless you were going there, you didn’t really see it.”

Despite the creative success of Live on the Lanes, Bowlero isn’t planning to produce additional episodes at this time. “Unfortunately we didn’t really see it correlate directly to revenue [at centers],” says Edison. However, one experience of doing the show has led to a new television project. “Something we learned quickly was that people like to watch better bowlers. In the beginning the process to become a contestant was pretty broad and then toward the end we really looked at our Bowlero core of league bowlers to

be our contestants, because we found them much more engaging to watch,” says Edison.

That insight lead to the Bowlero Elite Series, the company’s own professional sports property. “In its first year it is comprised of three tournaments,” says Edison. “The first tournament will be this April in which we’re having eight professional bowlers compete against eight amateur bowlers [drawn from Bowlero leagues] to win a prize pool of over $500,000.” The lineup of pro bowlers includes Jason Belmonte, Sean Rash, Shannon O’Keefe and Danielle McEwan.

The tournaments will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network. “This is a true opportunity for the amateurs to best the pros, with a tremendous payout at stake on a national stage.”

Amateurs versus pros on television?

That brings to mind Beat the Champ, a local Detroit show in the early 1970s. It began with a match between several amateur bowlers; the winner of the rolloff would then play a one-game match against a pro bowler or a local top allstar bowler. Occasionally a PBA star would be on the show, according to a post on bowling discussion board mrbowling300.net.

In Bowlero’s creative approach to marketing, it seems that everything old can be new again. ❖

You can watch episodes of Live on the Lanes at Facebook.com/BowleroBowl/videos Tune into NBCSN on Tuesday, April 9th from 9-11 p.m. (EST) to watch the first event of the Bowlero Elite Series

Robert Sax is a writer and PR consultant in Los Angeles. He grew up in Toronto, Canada, the home of five-pin bowling.

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PROFILE

NOT JUST A

LITTLE GUY After decades of dedication, the Schemms have taken their place on the national bowling stage.

By Joan Taylor

S

chemm Bowling, Inc. is a company based in Deerfield, WI, that services pinsetters and sells parts, supplies, and equipment to bowling centers. But to really appreciate how this company evolved from a staff of two only servicing pinsetters to a national distribution center, you need to get to know owner and founder Tom Schemm.

“I started from the ground up,” Schemm said, “working in the bowling business when I was 13 years old at a bowling center in Fort Atkinson, WI. I did a variety of jobs, including being a pin chaser, cleaning pinsetters, stocking the coolers, and keeping score for tournaments. Then after high school around 1975, I got a job at Leisure Lanes in Monroe, WI, where I became a mechanic after they sent me to pinsetter school.”

In 1977, he started Schemm Bowling Inc. as a part-time business. In 1980, he went all-in, full-time with his fledgling company.

Initially, Schemm supplied mechanics to bowling centers; the smaller centers couldn’t justify a full-time mechanic, so he provided weekly service mechanics. By the late 1980s, he and his staff were stocking and shipping parts and supplies to the centers. “That part of the business grew unbelievably, and we became the mail supplier to the bowling centers.

The [mechanics] service is still an important part of our business, but it is probably less than 25% of our sales. The rest [of the business] is all sales of parts, supplies, and equipment.”

Schemm and his wife, Judy, married in 1989, and, by the early 1990s, she also became a full-time employee of the business. “What she did was allow somebody to be there all the time to answer the phone,” Schemm said.

“Before that, they could only leave messages. With Judy answering the phone and being able to box up orders for shipping or pickup, that’s where the business really took off. If someone needed to get hold of me, they

could go through her and she knew where I was. She could page me; if a customer needed to talk to a mechanic, they talked to a mechanic.”

The company’s service and repair division emphasizes Brunswick equipment. “Most of our experience is on Brunswick machines, although we are also very well known in the industry for servicing [both] Kegel and Brunswick lane machines. One thing about Schemm Bowling — we can recommend the best part to use and how to install it. Our tech support is second to none with pinsetters and lane machines. We are looked upon as a smaller company, but when you talk to the main suppliers, we are up there with the big boys. The difference is that we are in one location.”

While the majority of Schemm Bowling’s business is done in Wisconsin, the service end is done in the Midwest. The company has had projects in Alaska,

New Mexico, and California. “We’ll go anywhere to do the work,” Schemm said. “Our parts and supply shipping goes all over the country, and even overseas.” continued on page 40...

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PROFILE ...continued from page 36

It hasn’t always been a bed of roses for the company. “The biggest hurdle we met was in 1998 when we needed to put up a new building because we were using a smaller building on our land where we lived, and we were renting warehouse spaces.

We went over to Deerfield, a small town west of Jefferson and east of Madison. They welcomed us with open arms, and we were breaking ground within 60 days. We have been in that building ever since.”

CREDITING SUCCESS TO THE EMPLOYEES Schemm is the last person to brag about starting up his own company and making it the success it is today. “If it weren’t for good employees, we wouldn’t be where we are. I’m grateful to all the years our employees have given. It’s not just me; I just sit at a desk and do invoicing. They are responsible for the success of Schemm Bowling.”

Schemm is proud of his employee longevity.

“Nathan Bukoski has been with us since 2005.

He does website design, IT, and office accounting. Jim Everett started with me in 1989 and left just this year to work full-time in a bowling center. He was with me for almost Nathan Bukoski 30 years and was an important part of our growth. Evan is Jim’s oldest son and started this year in the warehouse with shipping and receiving, as well as lane machine rebuilding and service and repair on machines. Chris McDonald has been with me since 1997 as a pinsetter and service technician. He spends most of his time on the road doing service and repair. David Rue also started in 1997 and is our service technician on pinsetters and lane machines. All of our employees are equally Evan Everett important.”

Beyond his employees, though, Schemm is grateful for both of his parents’ help over the years. “My father, Cliff Schemm, is a great mechanic and has a tremendous amount of common sense.

He can figure out problems and fix just about anything. My mother, Rose Mary Schemm, is an accountant and ran her own David Rue

accounting and tax business for many years. She was a great help in growing SBI over the years, and taught me numerous business lessons. For many years, she provided the accounting and payroll work for Schemm Bowling Service.

Without both of them, Schemm Bowling would not have been as successful as it has been. I am 40

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very fortunate to still have both parents around. My father is 90 and my mother is 86 years old.”

BOWLING HAS BEEN VERY, VERY GOOD TO HIM Recreational bowling — not just the business of bowling — has played an integral part in Schemm’s life. First, he met Judy at a bowling center in Jefferson, WI, which has led to a 29-year marriage. They bowled in a couples league; Schemm was a more serious bowler, and enjoyed tournaments.

Tom has bowled in 30 national tournaments with a lifetime average of 190 plus. He was even a PBA member for two years, bowling in regional tournaments, two national pro tournaments, and the ABC Masters tournament. His best year came in 1986 when he entered “Bowling with the Champs” in Wisconsin. “It was very prestigious. That tournament had maybe 2,800 entries. The top 32 made it to a television show [in Milwaukee]. I was on five different television shows for five different matches. Because of that exposure, the announcers always referred to ‘Tom Schemm and Schemm Bowling.’ That was a big boost for the business; the tournament [broadcast] my name and Schemm Bowling all over the southern Wisconsin TV area.” By winning that one tournament, Schemm couldn’t have asked for better exposure for his little company.

So what is down the road for Schemm Bowling Inc.? As far as long-term goals go, Schemm, now 61, said that he wants to start working on an exit plan. “I haven’t quite figured out how to retire yet,” Schemm joked. With a strong team of dedicated staff in place, it may be easier than winning a tournament. ❖

Joan Taylor is a multi-award winning bowling writer based in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Chris McDonald

CENTER STAGE

By Patty Heath

I

magine yourself in an edgy, urban-elegant world with warm, comfortable seating while grafetti-esque images swirl everywhere. It is a playground for the senses. That is pretty much what you find walking into GrafEATii Bistro and Bowl, located on the Amwaj Islands adjacent to Bahrain. Brunswick added its expertise and knowhow for the bowling lanes, and worked with parent-company AKI Fitness, Bahrain for the install. This is one instance where pictures are worth a thousand words. â?–

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CENTER STAGE

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DATEBOOK

BPAA

One-Day Management Boot Camps Available to state associations & multi-unit centers Contact Kelly Bednar (817) 385-8462 Kelly@bpaa.com

JULY 22 Time Management Wyoming: bowlwyo.com Charlene Abbot (307) 324-3161 kcabbott@bresnan.net

Upcoming sessions: APRIL 29 F&B, Catering & Banquet Profitability Sysco Central Florida Ocoee, FL Chris Gallus chris@bpaa.com

JUNE 23 F&B, Catering & Banquet Profitability Bowl Expo Paris Hotel, Las Vegas Kelly Bednar Kelly@bpaa.com

APRIL 24-25 Trainertainment Business Growth Conference Redemption Plus Lenexa, KS (817) 886-4840 www.trainertainment.net 28- MAY 3 BPAA Bowling University Bowling Center Management Arlington, TX Kelly Bednar, Kelly@bpaa.com 48

IBI April 2019

29 – MAY 2 USBC Convention The Orleans Las Vegas Bowl.com/conventions

SEPTEMBER

MAY

17-18 LASERTAG CONFERENCE LASERTRON For more info: Ann Kessler (305) 257-3930

7-8 LASER TAG CONFERENCE LASERTRON For more info: Ann Kessler (305) 257-3930

29 – OCTOBER 4 BPAA Bowling University Entertainment Center Management Arlington, TX Kelly Bednar, Kelly@bpaa.com

CLASSIC PRODUCTS CORP. 2019 TRADE SHOWS July 23: Classic, Fort Wayne, IN July 31: Classic Washington August 8: Classic Florida October 6: Classic Texas Location and schedule to follow.

Sarah Ann French sfrench@classicporducts.com (260) 484-2695 x 222

JUNE 10-12 LaserTAG360 Creative Works www.lasertag360.com sales@thewoweffect.com 23-27 BPAA Bowl Expo Paris Hotel and Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, NV Bpaa.com/bowlexpo

AUGUST 24-25 Trainertainment Sales Growth Conference BPAA Training Campus (817) 886-4840 www.trainertainment.net

OCTOBER 7-9 LaserTAG360 Creative Works www.lasertag360.com sales@thewoweffect.com 7-9 2019 Southwest Bowling Proprietors Trade Show Sheraton DFW Airport Irving, TX Karen Miller k.miller@texasbowlingcenters.org 23-24 Trainertainment Business Growth Conference BPAA Training Campus (817) 886-4840 www.trainertainment.net

PLAN NOW TOURNAMENTS FOR 2019

APRIL 20 – JUNE 29 Women’s Championships Northrock Lanes Wichita, KS Registration: bowl.com/USBC.Registration

MAY 29 – JUNE 2 USBC Super Senior Classic Sam’s Town Las Vegas Info: bowl.com

SHOWCASE OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD CARPET

Astro Carpet Mills offers carpets for any and all needs. OPEN STRIKE is an out-of-this world experience, with a pattern that will create a great atmosphere for fun with an array of great colors.

OPEN STRIKE is made with Astro’s exclusive tufting, super-fuse technology and has Astro’s Stain Away stain protection.

For more information, call Stefanie for samples and pricing. (800) 542-4189.

PICTURES CAPTURE FUN

It’s a snap to surprise and delight your guests! Brunswick’s Sync pinpix game lets guests take photos or use images from their mobile devices, leveraging the Brunswick Cloud, or take pictures from the lane tablet. Guests love capturing 10 frames of fun using filters and photo-editing tools that rival the ones in their favorite apps. And, only pinpix lets players photobomb each other while collecting hats, beards, glasses, and other wacky accessories. Sync offers new, simpler, smarter games that are quick to learn, easy to play, and won’t slow the game! Visit brunswickbowling.com.

INTELLIGENT CAPPING ILLUMINATION

QubicaAMF’s CenterPunch Capping Lighting is the first and only intelligent capping illumination system. It illuminates a full length of capping with a continuous beam of color or changing colors if desired to create sweeping patterns that are easily visible across the entire center. Designed for Conqueror Pro users, it is the only capping lighting system that can be controlled through a bowling management system, delivering powerful control benefits that add unique value to the guest experience. Learn more at www.qubicaamf.com/centerpunch.

REPLACEMENT HARDWARE

The dreaded obsolescence letter is something you hope does not happen to your bowling center. Steltronic continues to offer replacement hardware, such as LCD monitors, lane computers, camera upgrades, and front desk systems that are running older versions of Windows. Steltronic will help with upgrading hardware, as needed, instead of replacing your entire scoring system. Steltronic is proud to continue to support your bowling center with free technical support, free software updates, and Steltronic HAS NEVER sent out the notice that your scoring system has reached its “end of life.” For more info: (800) 942-5939 or info@SteltronicScoring.com.

LICENSED MERCHANDISE

BMI Merchandise features an extensive product line of the most trending redemption merchandise. It also is the leader in licensed products for family entertainment centers. BMI carries over 30 of the most trending licenses in the industry, featuring products/characters from the latest blockbuster movies, TV shows, and video games.

Here are just a few: Fortnite Pop Vinyl; Harry Potter Board Game; L.O.L. Surprise Lip Gloss Kit. The merchandise assortment includes novelty toys, plush, collectibles, watches, crane kits and more. For further info, contact BMI @ (732) 363-0212 or (800) 272-6375.

A STAR CARPET SHOPPING SPREE

Shopping for carpet? Omega Pattern Works has the shoppers’ choice. “I’ll take Star Bowl, because it has Omega’s exclusive Infinity protection!” INFINITY penetrates the dye sites of the fibers, and then locks and closes the dye sites providing a LIFETIME barrier against spills and soil. Independent lab results have confirmed that even after 40 hot water cleanings, over 75% of INFINITY remains in the carpet. For more information, call Kristin at (800) 554-7007.

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CLASSIFIEDS

WWW.TEXTBOWLING.COM

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CLASSIFIEDS

AMF • BRUNSWICK EQUIPMENT COMPLETE PACKAGES WORLDʼS LARGEST NEW – USED SPARE PARTS INVENTORY ALL AMF BUMPER PARTS, XS Q-BUMP, DURABOWL AND GEN II IN STOCK

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BUY

Danny & Daryl Tucker Tucker Bowling Equipment Co. 609 N.E. 3rd St. Tulia, Texas 79088 Call (806) 995-4018 Fax (806) 995-4767

Bowling Parts, Inc. P.O. Box 801 Tulia, Texas 79088 Call (806) 995-3635 Email - daryl@tuckerbowling.com

www.tuckerbowling.com

SELL YOUR CENTER OR EQUIPMENT

FAST! (818) 789-2695

SELL YOUR CENTER

(818) 789-2695

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CLASSIFIEDS EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Equipment for Sale: 16 converted A-2 pinsetters; 16 lanes, overlayed w/ Brunswick Anvilane; 16 lanes of gutters with pull-up bumpers; 16 ASK scorers w/ Evolution conversion; Large inventory of pinsetter parts; Brunswick/Kegel Kustodian lane machine; 4 Brunswick Gold Crown, 9’ standard pool tables.

Equipment currently in use.

Available May 1, 2019.

Contact Gary at fiestabowl955@gmail.com or fax (815) 842-4159.

PRO SHOP TRAINING. Classes always forming. Jayhawk Bowling Supply (800) 255-6436 or jayhawkbowling.com.

NEW & USED Pro Shop Equipment.

Jayhawk Bowling Supply. (800) 255-6436 or jayhawkbowling.com.

CANADA, Carman, Manitoba: 8-lane, 5-pin center with 6 Brunswick 81 5-string pinsetters & 2 Double Diamond 2B freefall pinsetters. Includes snack area, alcohollicensed, and 5,950 square-foot building. $250,000. Call Kos Realty (204) 745-7710.

REPAIR & EXCHANGE. Call for details (248) 375-2751.

EQUIPMENT WANTED LANE MACHINES WANTED. We will purchase your KEGEL-built machine, any age or condition. Call (608) 764-1464.

PROPRIETORS WITH AMF 82-70 S.S. & M.P. MACHINES Save $$ on P.C. Boards Exchange & Repair!

MIKE BARRETT Call for Price List

Tel: (714) 871-7843 • Fax: (714) 522-0576

LOCKER KEYS FAST! All Keys done by code # Locks and Master Keys E-mail: huff@inreach.com TOLL FREE

1-800-700-4539

SERVICES AVAILABLE Drill Bit Sharpening and Measuring Ball Repair. Jayhawk Bowling Supply. (800) 255-6436 or jayhawkbowling.com.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE u 20 Lane Package 82-90 XLi Edge Pinspotters u Full Qubica/AMF SPL lanes package with extras u BESX Qubica scoring system with a 10 station Micros POS system interfaced u Advanced audio and video package u

For more info call 843-367-4490 CENTERS FOR SALE

MILLION DOLLAR STRIKE FOR SALE

NE PENNSYLVANIA: 8-lane center.

Includes commercial rentals, great location & great opportunity.

Owner retiring.

Center4sale@yahoo.com.

MASSACHUSETTS: 6-lane Duckpin business ONLY for sale in historic North Chelmsford.

Automatic pinsetters & many spare parts.

Owner retiring. (978) 808-7029.

NEBRASKA: 16-lane center in a nice town, Ogallala. Remodeled bar and kitchen. Asking 250K. Contact Jacob. cornhuskerlanesNE@gmail.com.

NE IOWA: 8-lane, upgraded center on 1.1 acres. Includes: 82-30 Golden Edition pinsetters, AccuScore Plus with Purrfect Desk; new flat screen monitors & carpet.

Also, kitchen, snack bar, lounge, game room, lockers, & ball drilling equipment.

TURNKEY sale. roncyndi@hotmail.com or (641) 485-1752.

Leroy Neiman’s MILLION DOLLAR STRIKE (1982) depicting the iconic Earl Anthony. This authentic original limited edition AP serigraph (1 of only 50 Artist’s Proofs) by Neiman, known for his brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings, is hand-signed. The painting is in perfect condition encased in a frame that has maintained its integrity and is waiting to be displayed and enjoyed.

Image Size: 37.5" x 28".

Frame Size: 53.5" x 42 ¼"

WWW.TEXTBOWLING.COM 52

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Contact info: Sean@BayAreaCopywriting.com

CLASSIFIEDS

BEST DARN DEAL ON THE MIDWAY!!!!!

For your average sized center, I can bring 2,000 open bowlers over 5 months.

I have dozens of topnotch references.

Kevin Malick since 1991 Bigk2u@yahoo.com |(863) 602-4850 Leave an email address for more info

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REMEMBER WHEN

1944

PABST BLUE RIBBON BEER

T

here is something creepy about this 1944 Pabst Blue Ribbon ad, celebrating 100 years of brewing beer. It looks futuristic with its floppy people with flipper hands from planet Ribbon.

However, you’ve got to ‘hand’ it to her, “Mrs. Carruthers was new at the game/And yet she scored X’s in frame after frame...” I keep trying, by limping my body, to imagine the moments before she approached (or slunk up to) the lanes. “Her footwork or form didn’t faze her a bit.”

The couplet poet, a little tongue in cheek, described her “exceptional avoirdupois,” meaning weight, much the way Shakespeare used the word in Henry IV—heaviness, or, with Mrs. Carruthers, lack thereof.

But it’s all good! Our bowling ribbon people are positive role models for Pabst and avid bowlers. I just keep trying to visualize it. ❖ - Patty Heath

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