International Bowling Industry June 2014

CONTENTS

VOL 22.6

6 ISSUE AT HAND

18 COVER STORY

Kids Today!

Smarts and Speed The life, commitment and advice of ADA consultant Kevin McGuire.

By Scott Frager

By Fred Groh

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8 SHORTS

28 OPERATIONS OMG! IKR! LOL! Hip tips for managing your cool teen employees.

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By Patty Heath

Appointment in Armenia Bowlers in the capital city will soon rendezvous at a sparkling new FEC.

By Robert Sax

34 Showcase 38 Datebook 39 Classifieds

June 2014

heath@bowlingindustry.com

CONTRIBUTORS Fred Groh Patty Heath Robert Sax Pamela Kleibrink Thompson

ART DIRECTION & PRODUCTION Designworks www.dzynwrx.com (818) 735-9424

FOUNDER Allen Crown (1933-2002)

12655 Ventura Boulevard Studio City, CA 91604 (818) 789-2695(BOWL) Fax (818) 789-2812 info@bowlingindustry.com

Schlitz, 1956

IBI

OFFICE MANAGER Patty Heath

By Pamela Kleibrink Thompson

46 REMEMBER WHEN

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frager@bowlingindustry.com Skype: scottfrager

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jackie Fisher

Compiled by Patty Heath

On the Cover: Kevin McGuire at Gillette Stadium, the Boston (Foxborough, MA) home field for football’s New England Patriots, a McGuire Associates client.

PUBLISHER & EDITOR Scott Frager

fisher@bowlingindustry.com

• Kids’ ‘pitfalls’ at centers.

• Switch has new VP. • Writers name new officers.

• CDE’s Patrick Lajko dies.

14 INTERNATIONAL BOWLING

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MEMBER AND/OR SUPPORTER OF:

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THE ISSUE AT HAND

Kids Today!

I can’t help but hum “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” every time I need to hire, train, or terminate a teen employee.

That catchy song, made famous by comedian Paul Lynde in the Broadway show and later movie musical Bye, Bye, Birdie, has as much relevance today as it did when the show played on Broadway in 1960. True, the storyline was about 1950s kids, but it could almost as easily have been about kids of the ’80s or the ’90s or—today. Take it away, Mr. Lynde: “I don't know what's wrong with these kids today!

Who can understand anything they say?

They are so ridiculous and immature!

I don't see why anybody wants ’em!

They are just impossible to control!

With their awful clothes and their rock ’n’ roll!

Why can't they be like we were, Perfect in every way?

What's the matter with kids today!

They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs!

Noisy, crazy, dirty, lazy, loafers!

You can talk and talk till your face is blue!

But they still just do what they want to do!

Laughing, singing, dancing, grinning, morons!

And while we're on the subject!

They are just impossible to control!”

Your sentiments, too—at least sometimes? The going complaint today is that our teens have evolved into human animals expecting instant gratification, and that oldfashioned notions of hard work and devotion to the job seem to have vanished.

But maybe we’re the ones who need to change. After all, the kids in every generation want to be different from their parents. Didn’t we? Note the line in the lyrics, “They are just impossible to control!” Maybe we should stop complaining and think more in terms of communicating and guiding our teen employees instead of controlling them.

And so this month, IBI welcomes new writer Pamela Kleibrink Thompson to our team. If we can teach basic workplace lessons well, our teen employees will do a better job for our guests, for our businesses, and for themselves. That’s why Pamela will be focusing on how as bowling center operators we can help our teenage employees succeed in their work. It’s an opportunity for us to impart some invaluable life lessons to our young people—and to notch up our businesses at the same time.

– SCOTT FRAGER, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR frager@bowlingindustry.com

4THIS MONTH AT www.BowlingIndustry.com Yikes, it is nearly mid-point 2014! Time flew! It’s already time to prepare for International Bowl Expo, the largest national and international bowling industry event. While Vegas has always been a welcomed venue, this year Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, FL, will do the honors.

There are lots of reasons to attend: seminars and workshops; a trade show starring the latest and greatest to be had; and keynote speaker President George W. Bush at the general assembly meeting. You might even be able to fit in a quick trip to Disney World!

Let your membership to IBI Online help organize your trip. Touch base with proprietors online and make plans to see one another in Florida. Not a member? What better time!

It’s free! It’s worth it! Oh, and stop by the IBI booth and say “Hello.”

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SHORTS

EXPANSIONS, OPENINGS & NEW BEGINNINGS Pending lease approval by the city council, Riverview Lanes in Coulee Dam, WA, will be sold to Sherry Moore. The current owners, Pat and Sara Zlateff, purchased the center seven years ago, essentially because they did not want to see it closed. “My parents had the bowling alley here years ago, and I didn’t want to be the one to close it up,” Pat stated. The same sentiment held with Sherry and her husband Jeremy— they didn’t want to see it closed!

Parkway Lanes in Trenton, NJ, is now New 10 Pins of Trenton. Dave Patz, one of the new owners, has just completed renovations that include an expanded and updated bar and grill and new restrooms. He said that attention to detail, space, privacy and cleanliness are key elements of the upscale 10 Pins concept. Construction is underway for an 1,800+–square-foot outdoor patio.

Bowlmor AMF debuted its latest concept, Bowlero, at The Woodlands in Houston, TX. The nostalgic atmosphere is complete with kitschy features such as an ice cream parlor operated out of a vintage Airstream trailer, and the Tailgate Bar, fashioned from the back of an actual vintage Chevy truck. The 45,000square-foot facility will have a full menu serving fusion items and classic American food.

The company plans to open two more Bowleros in the coming year.

Lucky Strike, the nationally-acclaimed boutique bowling and entertainment brand, announced the rollout of a new menu, including a host of new and revamped recipes and handcrafted signature cocktails.

The new items are now available at all locations. Lucky Strike’s National Culinary Director Kip Wotanowicz said, “As Lucky Strike offers premium bowling, gaming and entertainment, while hosting numerous events and parties, we wanted our menu to reflect the atmosphere of our facilities.”

Funfuzion in New Rochelle, NY, has unveiled its new 4,000-squarefoot laser tag arena. Lasertron was commissioned to provide a brandnew, state-of-the-art arena and equipment. The arena can accommodate as many as 30 laser tag players at one time.

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PEOPLEWATCHING Switch® has a new VP of International Sales. CEO Alain Winterhalter announced that Terry Fawdington will move into this position. Fawdington has been in the industry for over 35 years, as well as six years as a dedicated distributor for Switch®. HIs experience covers Europe, Asia, Africa and Russia.

Terry Fawdington (l) with Alain Winterhalter.

According to David Roys, CEO of QubicaAMF, Juan C. Cabezas will be Senior Vice President, Global Sales and International Service. Cabezas will be responsible for leading the global sales force and insuring quality service to its international customers.

“Juan has a successful track record of market development strategies and leading Juan C. Cabezas growth, and we are excited to welcome him to the QubicaAMF team,” said Roys.

Previous experience includes managing director for Denary, a business advisory and investment banking firm, and several strategic roles within General Electric. Cabezas holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern University and master’s degrees in industrial engineering and business administration from the University of Miami. He is fluent in English and Spanish.

At the annual International Bowling Media Association (IBMA) meeting on April 22 at the Eldorado Hotel Casino in Reno, NV, proposals to change the terms of office, dues structure, membership categories and quorum requirements were passed.

The changes allowing for three consecutive terms by IBMA officers, Joan Romeo was elected to serve a third term as president and Chris Beard was elected vice president. “Joan and I work so well together. I am looking forward to having Top row, from left: IBMA president Joan one more year to help Romeo, vice president Chris Beard, complete our vision for Mike Flanagan. Bottom row, from left: IBMA,” said Beard.

Randy Gulley, Bob Johnson, Tim Burg.

In addition, four new members-Timothy Berg, Randy Gulley, Mike Flanagan, and Bob Johnson-were elected to the board. Encumbents Elaine Hagin, Mark Miller and Frank Weiler were also elected for an additional term. Duties will begin on Aug. 1, 2014 for a term of two years.

SHORTS

A CENTER’S WORST NIGHTMARE Andy Gardner, a 23-year-old college student, had just finished his shift at Wagner’s Lanes in Eau Claire, WI, and was on his way out. At the same time, an adventurous little tyke was making his way down a lane toward the bouncing white pins.

As the child passed a laser that triggered a reset mechanism which assumed a bowling ball, not a toddler, had just passed by, the mechanized arm dropped and pulled the boy and pins into the pit. Gardner immediately recognized the danger and started sprinting toward the child as the pinsetter began to descend to collect the pins that were still standing.

According to Leader-Telegram’s Joe Knight, Gardner reached the end of the lane, hit a kill-switch and maneuvered around the machinery to grab the boy.

Although frightened and crying, the little guy was otherwise unharmed.

Kudos to Andy Gardner for his quick action! And a big reminder to employees and bowlers that everyone needs to keep a close eye on kids.

I WANT THE LITTLE BOY NEXT TO THE STUFFED BEAR! I hazard a guess that there is not a soul who hasn’t come across the news story about the 3-year-old boy who was found in a Bear Claw crane machine in Madsen’s Bowling Alley and Billiards in Lincoln, NE. However, it bears (no pun intended) repeating, first, for safety’s sake, and two, because it’s sort of funny.

It is 5:30 p.m. and the usual crowd is on hand. I am sure that each and every one of them had walked past the crane game, filled with cuddly stuffed animals, and never even noticed the young boy sitting among them.

Meanwhile across the street, a frantic mother had alerted the police to the disappearance of her son.

How he crossed the street boggles the mind, so let’s just cut to the little guy, no name given, marching in and crawling through the prize hole in search of the perfect “stuffed friend.” Totally intent on his selection, our young sleuth didn’t even notice all the hub-bub.

As all good stories end, he was extracted with a key and received one stuffed toy for his efforts.

–Patty Heath 10

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SHORT SHORTS And the Award Goes to …

In April, the 2013 Ontario Sport Awards banquet was held. Sport Alliance Ontario was formed by the government of the Province of Ontario to recognize continuous support to sport in Ontario. Bowling Sales of Canada’s president Jack M. Fine accepted the Corporate Sport Citation for his company, Bowling Sales of Canada. BSC has been a sponsor of the Ontario Lawn Bowls Association and Bowls Canada for many years.

Also, Fine is the chair of the OLB (Ontario Lawn Bowling) Trade Show Committee that attracts equipment suppliers to the two major annual membership meetings.

Putting Bowling in the Saturday Night Lineup According to PR Newswire, Bowlmor AMF has launched a national advertising initiative, “Bowling Makes Saturday Night More Fun,” which focuses attention on the fun, party experience that makes bowling stand apart. Created by Bowlmor AMF’s new ad agency, Concept Farm, and directed by CollegeHumor alumni Josh Ruben and Vincent Peone, the new campaign features candid reactions of people as their typical Saturday night activities—the movies, the mall, a nightclub—are disrupted by a megasized bowling ball and pins crashing the scene and taking them to a bowling center.

The new campaign marks the first national advertising for a bowling center brand since the 1970s. The campaign will include an integrated mix of advertising, marketing, public relations and social media.

Bowling Challenge Nears 10 Million Downloads According to World Sportswire, Concrete Software’s “PBA Bowling Challenge” continues to accrue record numbers of users, becoming one of the mobile device industry’s most popular games. Originally introduced via Google Play for Android devices, “PBA Bowling Challenge” has surpassed 7.6 million free downloads and maintains an impressive 4.5 rating out of 5.0. Since its introduction in the Apple Store, another 1.5 million Apple device users have downloaded the game and given it a 4.6 rating.

U.S. Open 2015 Still Alive and Well CBSNews.com reported that the U.S.Open, one of the premier professional bowling tournaments in the U.S., had been canceled for the second year in a row after the BPAA, which has organized it since the 1970s, failed to attract sponsors.

It is estimated that it costs about $500,000 to put on the event.

However, to try and rectify the situation, USBC and BPAA announced Friday, May 9, a three-year deal that will see USBC operate and conduct the U.S. Open for men and women in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Included in the agreement, both entities will contribute at least $100,000 annually toward its operation. The agreement does not include a broadcast television partner.

If a sponsor is not secured, live streaming coverage will be provided.

SHORTS

For those who want a more serious look at bowling as a metaphor for what might ail us, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam might be just the ticket.

Published by Simon & Schuster in 2000, the book focuses on how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and our democratic structures and how we might reconnect.

Putnam backs up his conclusions with nearly 500,000 interviews over the last quarter-century to show that we are less involved in all aspects of our lives. We even bowl alone! Maybe not cheery but certainly interesting.

One note for bowling, in particular: the title is unintentionally ironic. The very best bowlers often bowl alone. They’re the pros, who can practice-bowl 100 games in a routine week to hone their technique.

IN REMEMBRANCE Patrick Lajko, founder and president of CDE Software, passed away on April 26 after a vehicle struck his motorcycle in Seattle. He was 62. The family held a private memorial service. Donations may be made in Patrick’s name to the USBC Youth Scholarship fund.

Having bowled in leagues as a youth, Lajko took his love of bowling and computers and founded CDE Software in the early 1980s in Los Angeles and then moved the company to Seattle in 1988. Lance Rasmussen, who has been running the day-to-day operations for the last few years, will continue to run the business.

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GOODWILL CENTRAL

BOWLING BOOK CORNER

It’s June and the mid-point of the year has just about been reached.

Centers have been shifting into overdrive with charity events supporting local and national charitable organizations.

In May, the Susan G. Komen Miami/Fort Lauderdale Affiliate took advantage of festive Cinco de Mayo to hold its Pink-o de Mayo Celebrity Bowling fundraiser, held at SpareZ in Davie, FL, supporting breast cancer education and research.

Linebacker for the Washington Redskins, Will Compton, hosted a PreTraining Camp Bowling Party at Hanover Lanes in Mechanicsville, VA. With each entry came an autographed football. All proceeds went to help The Woody Foundation, an organization focused on helping lowincome families in the Richmond area.

To the rescue of kitties and doggies! The Pixie Project, an animal rescue organization in Portland, OR, held its annual Furbowl fundraiser. Pixie Project offers low-cost and free vet services and takes at-risk animals and finds forever families for them. The event was held at AMF Pro 300 Lanes.

The Spina Bifida Association of Greater New England hosted a glow bowling event, Olivia’s Way, at Ryan’s Family Amusements in Raynham, MA. Strikes and Spares in Mishawaka, IN, has been busy these past few weeks. A fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald Family Room at Memorial Hospital was hosted there by the Ronald McDonald House Charity’s teen board. Then the University of Notre Dame chapter of Uplifting Athletes held its second annual bowling event. The proceeds will go toward efforts to raise research funds for osteosarcoma. Bowling and photo ops with the current Irish football team were big draws.

Larry and Valerie Park, long-time local bowlers, felt the love after they lost their home to a fire over the winter. A fundraiser was held at Poor Shots, in Berkshire, NY, with proceeds going to help them rebuild their lives.

New York State center Bowl-O-Drome, in Ithaca, held the second annual Relay for Life to “Strike Out Cancer.”Another Relay for Life, hosted by the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green, KY, took place at Southern Lanes.

Family and Children’s Services (FCS) held fundraising events across Central Maryland, including one at Greenmount Bowling Center in Hampstead. The purpose was to raise money for and awareness about child abuse prevention and intervention. FCS offers therapy and counseling to children and families who are experiencing the effects of emotional, sexual or physical abuse.

Grand Central Restaurant and Bowling Lounge donated more than 20 bowling pins for children, disabled or facing a critical or chronic disease, to decorate. These pins were then sold to raise funds for the Children’s Healing Art Project held at the center.

Station 300 in Bluffton, SC, held a month-long fundraiser during May to support local charities for military veterans. The event will provide money for foundations that care for military personnel who return home injured and in need of assistance.

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

INTERNATIONAL BOWLING

a i n e m r A n i t n e m t n i o App C E F t s e w e n 's Armenia

By Robert Sax

erevan, with a population of more than one million people, is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, it has been the capital of an independent Armenian republic with a burgeoning market-based economy. In September 2014 it will add the Hayastan Cinema Entertainment Center, a modern FEC, to its growing number of attractions.

Since 2000, a wave of development has transformed central Yerevan with scores of multi-storied buildings and large-scale urban planning projects. Roughly $1.8 billion was spent on such construction in 2006, according to the national statistical service.

Nightlife and entertainment places have grown as well. But in the suburbs, while a modern FEC with bowling, called Play City, is sited northwest of the city, the populous suburbs to the west have lacked modern recreation and entertainment facilities until now.

Ashot Avetisyan, a developer and entrepreneur, saw a business opportunity there. He already runs two successful entertainment businesses elsewhere in Yerevan, a sports complex and a children’s play center. “We wanted to build an entertainment project for adults, and with market research we found out that there was no modern bowling center in the area,” says Avetisyan.

He found an ideal location in a neglected facility in the Malatia-Sebastia suburb. The building once housed the popular Cinema Hayastan (‘Hayastan’ is the Armenian name for the country), which was built in the 1980s. It had been closed since the late 1990s.

The new hybrid FEC will contain two cinemas, a bowling center, eateries and other attractions. The building, redesigned by architect Araik Avetisyan

Y

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(no relation to the owner), is being enlarged to almost 55,000 square feet.

A fashionable six-lane bowling center will feature state-of- the-art equipment from Switch International, including ST-1 pinsetters, a Switch 2 Scoring system, and Switch synthetic lanes. The stylish equipment and lane furniture is designed for Switch by legendary Italian design studio Pininfarina. The pinsetters and scoring system are based on the latest electronics developed by Panasonic of Japan.

“This is our first of several planned installations in Armenia,” says Cynthia Winterhalter, marketing and PR director of Switch International. “The stunning interior design has been tailored to fit the style of our Pininfarina-designed equipment. Design-wise there is nothing else like it in the country.”

INTERNATIONAL BOWLING

l a iv v e r t n e m in a t r e t n e 's n a v e r leads Ye The center will be open daily from 10 a.m. to midnight. Bowling prices will be competitive with other centers in Yerevan, which run around AMD6000 (US $15) per lane per hour during the day and AMD12,000 (US $30) per hour after 6 p.m. and on weekends.

Along with bowling, customers will have available a wide variety of attractions, including billiards, table hockey, indoor bumper cars, karaoke and arcade games. They will also be able

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INTERNATIONAL BOWLING

A Short History of Armenia Armenia lies in the highlands northeast of Turkey and Iran. The original Armenian name for the country was Hayk, later Hayastan, meaning “the land of Hayk,” and consisting of the name ‘Hayk’ and the Iranian suffix '-stan' (land).

According to tradition, Hayk was a great-great-grandson of the Biblical Noah and a forefather of all Armenians. Mount Ararat, a sacred mountain for the Armenian people, rises in the center of the Armenian Highland and is traditionally considered the landing place of Noah's Ark. The Armenian civilization had its beginnings nearly 5,000 years ago. The Armenians speak an Indo-European language and have traditionally inhabited the border regions common to modern Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. They call themselves ‘hai,’ often spelled ‘hye’ in the United States.

The Armenians have withstood invasions and nomadic migrations, creating a culture that blends Iranian social and political structures with Hellenic, and later Christian, literary traditions. Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion.

For two millennia, independent Armenian states existed sporadically in the region between the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, until the last medieval state was destroyed in the 14th century.

Armenia was later divided between the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Armenians then suffered in the genocide that was inflicted on them by the Ottoman Turks. As a result, 1.5 million Armenians were murdered and a large number were dispersed throughout the world. Following World War I, Armenia once again gained independence with the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Armenia.

In the 1920s Armenia was absorbed into the Soviet Union. Armenia was the smallest Soviet republic until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It is now an independent republic with an estimated population of 3 million.

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan has been the capital since 1918, the thirteenth in the history of Armenia.

The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC by King Argishti I. After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the First Republic of Armenia as thousands of survivors of the Armenian Genocide settled in the area.

The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century as Armenia became part of the Soviet Union. In a few decades, Yerevan was transformed from a provincial town within the Russian Empire, to Armenia's principal cultural, artistic, and industrial center.

With the growth of the economy of the republic, Yerevan has been undergoing major transformation. Many parts of the city have been redeveloped since the early 2000s, and retail outlets such as restaurants, shops, and street cafés, which were rare during Soviet times, have multiplied.

As of the 2011 census, the population of Yerevan was 1,060,138, making up approximately 35% of the total population of Armenia.

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to see movies in a new state-of-the-art cinema, with two theaters of 500 and 200 seats. The cinema will feature films from Armenia, Hollywood and around the world projected with the latest digital equipment including 3D. The Hayastan Cinema Entertainment Center will provide a variety of food and beverage options for the entire family. An indoor/outdoor restaurant will offer Armenian and Italian cuisine as well as wine and cocktails. A café inside the center will offer desserts, coffee and soft drinks.

Customers can hold parties and business meetings at the center. The project will include a karaoke bar and dance hall in addition to the restaurant and café. The theaters are also being designed to be suitable for meetings.

“We are proud to be part of the cultural and entertainment renaissance in Yerevan,” says Ashot Avetisyan. “Our new center will offer a wide variety of fun things to do that will meet the demands of our customers for the latest and best in entertainment.” This elaborate project seems poised to make a big contribution to a new, more lively and colorful chapter in Yerevan’s long history. ❖

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

COVER STORY

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SMARTS AND SPEED IBI

June 2014

COVER STORY

The life, times and commitment of Kevin McGuire, ADA consultant

By Fred Groh n an early summer evening in 1968, seven-year-old Kevin McGuire was playing baseball in the front yard of his home in Upstate New York. He was standing at the edge of the yard near the street when a drunk driver veered off the road and hit him. Hurled 35 feet, he landed dazed and confused but conscious and hurting in every part of his body, even his fingernails. He just hadn’t had time to move out of the way.

Mobility has been a vital issue in McGuire’s life since that day.

He emerged from the accident paralyzed from the neck down. His parents, “very tough,” immersed him immediately in physical therapy–therapy every morning when he woke up and therapy again every single afternoon with no easing up, no relenting. “Their goal was to get me to walk again and they busted my backside,” McGuire says.

He did walk, using braces for a short time after two grueling years of work restored the use of his upper body. But back then, walking meant lugging around 70 pounds of metal on your legs. Titanium wasn’t available, like the wheelchair he uses now that weighs 16 pounds.

“They [parents] gave it their best shot, I gave it my best shot,” but with the heavy braces, life on his feet “just wasn’t practical.”

Today he presides from his chair, running McGuire Associates, a consultancy in Boston (Waltham, MA) with an office in hometown Newburgh (NY), flying all over the country to work with clients who range from pro sports teams and school districts to performing arts centers, and speaking to professional associations and organizations, all in the cause of disabled people.

O

uuu

McGuire can’t put his finger on a defining moment when he chose his life’s work. It was more like being on a river, he says, “like you’re on the Colorado River and you’re going with the flow, and maybe it meanders a little bit.”

He remembers best-wishes letters after the accident from Nelson Rockefeller, Ted Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Jacob Javits. “Very inspirational” to a seven-year-old, and he did some thinking about how he could maybe help disabled people when he grew older.

He also had the example of his mother, Agnes Sullivan, who, thinking it outrageous that A sampling of McGuire Associates projects

Seattle Public Library

The Memphis Grizzlies arena

The city of Medford, MA IBI

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COVER STORY the state would tax durable medical equipment like Kevin’s wheelchair, spearheaded a campaign to get rid of the tax. Very impressive to a nine-year-old.

And he had his own problems with physical obstacles.

When he started high school he asked for accommodation in the restroom and a ramp over the curb so he could independently enter the school. The principal removed a door to one stall in the restroom, which could not accommodate his wheelchair, and put the ramp in “the back bowels” of the campus, leading to a door that was kept locked. The parents of a girl he dated did not want him in the house, trying to discourage her from seeing a disabled boy.

“I won’t lie to you and say I don’t still wince when I think of these past disability-slights,” McGuire told a commencement audience in 2012 at Sargent College of health and rehab sciences, part of his alma mater Boston University, but “overall I have lived a wonderful life; these challenges were molding my character.”

He was not going to be a police officer or career military, not in a wheelchair, he knew. “These politicians who had written to me, most of them had law degrees and I figured, ‘Get the law degree, potentially go into politics,’ but regardless it would be a way for me to assist people with disabilities.”

Pickings were slim when he went looking for an undergrad school in ’78, once again because of accessibility problems. Out of a half-dozen or so possibilities across the country, he settled on Boston U. “If you see something, go for it. If you have an idea, chase it. If you want to meet someone, just try to do whatever you can to get in that person’s path. My job with Senator [Ted] Kennedy was obtained only because he walked by me in March 1979 while I was visiting D.C. I introduced myself, I told him I was attending BU that fall and he asked me if I wanted to work for him.”

Which McGuire did, part-time in ’79 and ’80, scheduling visitors at Kennedy’s Boston office and representing him at town government meetings.

In 1983 he enrolled at renowned Georgetown University Law School and parlayed his time with Kennedy into a part-time job assisting his local congressman (and Republican) Hamilton Fish Jr. (IV). Fish was sponsoring legislation to make polling places accessible for the disabled in federal elections, and Fish wanted McGuire to work on the legislation.

Then for two law school summers, ’84 and ’85, he took his first job devoted to the disabled, at the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission. It drafted and implemented state regulations to create an agency for “independent living.” uuu

The McGuire river meandered in 1987. His last tuition check having cleared at Georgetown, McGuire announced to his parents that he wanted to become an actor. He passed the bar and took a job with the Bronx district attorney’s office, working 20

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in night-court cases, because that left his days free to audition.

He followed his own advice. Chasing his dream, he landed a major role in Oliver Stone’s 1989 film, Born on the Fourth of July, about a disabled Viet Nam vet. Screen time in soap operas followed, as did another movie, Gattica.

“I never had the opportunity to go to USC film school or the Yale drama school or NYU to learn the art of acting and filmmaking,” he reflects. “It was fun and I did well, but I was never going to be an A-list actor. [Also,] when actors are not working, they’re bartenders and waiters–and I’m not a gifted waiter or bartender,” he deadpans.

As the ’90s got underway, McGuire pushed his boat back into his river’s main current and opened his consultancy, McGuire Associates (1991).

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had been signed

by President George H.W. Bush the year before, and McGuire saw “a big opportunity. Corporate America would need someone like me to assist them in complying with the law. I think 10,000 other people had the same idea.”

McGuire’s stepfather, Jack Sullivan, a practicing psychologist in the hometown, owned a small office building. McGuire had enough in the bank to ride out the lulls in a business start-up.

So capitalizing on family connections, he began building business with clients in Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut, assisting school districts and municipalities with very specific requirements under ADA they had to meet by very specific deadlines. In due course he was hired by half-ahundred agencies.

Then around 1993, a $20 million refurbishing of Boston’s Citi Performing Arts Center ran afoul of ADA access regulations.

The federal Department of Justice and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts went after it. “The CEO somehow heard about me and asked me to assist them, and that led me to start working more [on] public spaces. Then I got hired by Symphony Hall, where the Boston Pops and the Boston Symphony Orchestra play, again in a very, very reactive situation. Shortly thereafter the Bruins and Celtics were moving into a new arena in Boston. They were going to find themselves in a very reactive situation. They hired me, and the job took me national.”

A “reactive” situation is McGuire’s name for what a business owner finds himself in when he is sued or when the Department of Justice comes calling about ADA violations. McGuire likes to keep his clients out of reactive situations. He’s not always successful, because his clients sometimes don’t follow his recommendations.

“It’s weird in a way, because basically I end up making more money when [clients] get sued,” but McGuire believes adamantly in being “proactive–getting compliant before trouble comes.

He’s the first to admit that’s not easy for a business. ADA defines ‘disability’ as impairment that substantially limits one

COVER STORY or more major activities such as “caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working” (ADA Amendments Act, 2008), or having a record of disability or treatment for disability, or being regarded by other people as being disabled.

There is more to come. Technology now exists for people who are blind or otherwise sensorily disabled, and they are suing to have it

incorporated into public-access buildings such as sporting venues, museums and theaters. Their number will swell as America ages. Even smart phones have been the object of suit, McGuire notes.

Compliance is a matter of the business premises, the policies and procedures, and employee training, according to McGuire. He addresses the last two with videos he produced on emergency evacuation of disabled people from office buildings and other structures, and a training module on customer service appropriate for the disabled. (Both are available through his website, McGuireAssociatesInc.com.)

But all this is secondary to the hands-on consulting and training he does for clients. Because the work is sensitive, McGuire does it himself, backstopped by three admin and personal assistants. If he needs special

Words to the Wise Being out of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act can be ruinously expensive if a business is fined or loses a court case. Given the current status of ADA—under amendments in 2008, even customers who are treated as though they are disabled can sue using ADA—how can a bowling owner anticipate the needs of all customers who might be favored by the statute?

“To me, there’s three steps to ADA compliance,” says ADA consultant Kevin McGuire. “One is physical. You’ve got to make sure from A to Z that your baby is perfect.

“The second is you have to have policies, procedures and best practices to ensure that when that baby opens up, it’s properly servicing not only patrons with disabilities and their family, friends, associates and caregivers but also from an employee perspective, [particularly] employee work areas, that you’re in compliance there.

“And the last thing is the training of your staff. You could spend all this money on design and construction and have all these great policies and procedures, but all you need is one insensitive comment said by one frontline employee and everything is flushed down the toilet and you’re back at ground zero in a reactive situation.

“To the first part, the physical,” he continues, “that’s tough. The architects, the engineers that you’re hiring, you have to hope that they know the ADA. You’ll hear, ‘We know the law,’ but if people knew the law as well as they think they do—even web designers, making your website accessible —I wouldn’t be as busy as I am 22 years after the law has been enacted. [One] thing I end up doing is cleaning up the mess [created

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when] other people said they were compliant when in fact they weren’t.

“It depends on what you’re building. I would potentially go to the city [government] where you’re building to see if they have any listed ADA consultants or go to the state, maybe to the state’s ADA coordinator, and see if they have any consultants.

Maybe really challenging your architect before you hire them. What projects have they worked on and what ADA components in that project were affected? Maybe asking for pictures or going to those sites.

“You should be careful in the contract, too, about indemnification and responsibility as it relates to the ADA, because under ADA there’s case law saying that architects aren’t liable under the ADA unless it’s a design-[and]-build project.”

ADA enforcement is strictly in the hands of the federal government, where two groups have power, McGuire notes.

“The Department of Justice—they’ll potentially come investigating your property and they’ll end up with a settlement or a consent decree—or it’s federal judges, [where] someone sues you in federal court. Local building inspectors are not empowered to enforce the ADA.” But four states have their own building codes: California, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas, McGuire reports. The other 46 states have adopted American National Standards Institute (ANSI) criteria, which are mostly in sync with ADA. “When two regulations conflict, [the authorities] always defer to the stricter standard.”

COVER STORY expertise on a job besides his personal knowledge of living with disability and his intimacy with ADA law as a lawyer, McGuire dips into a network of professional specialists. If none of his dozen or so regulars can supply it, he finds the right person by going to his Rolodex. It contains 3,000 names. uuu

Sometimes, says McGuire, he feels like he’s in charge of a dyke with a thousand leaks, problems bursting open everywhere. The clients who don’t listen to him, for one. “Ambulance-chasers,” for another: people who sue for non-compliance “but don’t really care about compliance; they just want their $20-, $25,000 to walk away. They’ll sell out people with disabilities in a heartbeat because all they want is that check.”

When you have to deal with so many dynamics, McGuire figures, you need to enlist people in your cause en masse. “I wanted people to let corporate America know what’s working in a good and a bad way [but] I’m just one guy with 10 fingers with one voice. Let other people tell the world what is working or not working from an accessibility perspective.”

Thus AbleRoad.

It’s a website (AbleRoad.com) and app where users rate, review and comment on accessibility matters about any property in the U.S. Modeled on Google Maps and Yelp, it’s better for disability issues than the latter, McGuire says proudly.

“To this date, when Yelp talks about accessibility it just says, ‘Wheelchair accessible, yes or no,’ and what does that even mean? It doesn’t talk about anything else, about any type of disability, even mobility, outside of a wheelchair. But you can get the Yelp review on one side of the [AbleRoad] app or the site and the AbleRoad review on the other side.”

He mulled over doing something like AbleRoad for years as a way of using the Internet to sink drills into the “disability-caregiving-medical-conditions horizontal space”; “it’s got endless verticals where you could penetrate.”

He spent two years with designers building the platform and commenced a beta testing in January 2013 using the 3,000 names in his Rolodex. Five months later he revisited the platform, spent “a lot more” money, and launched in November 2013.

“She’s doing well but it’s going to take us some time to scale it and to get the type of content that we need, especially since I’m self-funding,” McGuire reports. “One of the things we’re doing is this major initiative this summer in Boston, where we’re shooting over a 12-week period to get over a million reviews and ratings in the Boston area.”

To lure that content, McGuire will run contests with weekly prizes for people who share AbleRoad most widely or post the greatest number of reviews. He plans on major companies providing coupons redeemable for merchandise to ambitious reviewers. Some incentives will be cash. He is also thinking about hiring disabled people on SSI to rate and review, the same as Yelp did among San Francisco residents when it was launched.

He hopes the summer project will show a cost per rating or review low enough to win funding to repeat the project in 20-50 other U.S. cities. uuu

“I know there are business decisions, cost-benefit-analysis decisions, that have to be made, not just from a disabilities perspective,” McGuire says. “You only have X dollars to build something.”

Businesses have no right not to accommodate, since the ADA is law, but McGuire wants to see them do it cost-effectively. The question, he says, is, “How do you costeffectively do it to make it a marketable and viable project to pursue?

“My goal is to ensure that people have access with all types of disabilities, along 26

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McGuire shows the next level of ADA compliance

with their friends, families and associates, and to get people with disabilities employed in those places–but to ensure that the owners are doing it in a costeffective way.”

Behind that vision, he says, are life lessons from his “three great parents.” His natural father, Jack McGuire, who died two years after the accident, believed that “you do things for people without a quid pro quo; you assist others because that is what you’re supposed to do.”

Stepfather John Sullivan, who left the priesthood to marry Kevin’s mother and become a psychologist, thought, “Life is not black or white but 10,000 shades of gray”–although McGuire believes one thing is not: his mother, Agnes.

He calls her “my Rock of Gibraltar.

She never criticized me when I would feel fearful about my disability but she would never let me wallow in it.”

McGuire considers himself a “very lucky” man in the work to which he has applied the lessons. With his services in demand nationally, “If there’s a problem, if things have hit the fan, I’m the guy people go to.” He likens himself to a “fixer” character in a recent movie. “I’m just one phone call or email away from helping make things go away,” he says–for disabled people and for businesses. ❖

Fred Groh is a regular contributor to IBI and former managing editor of the magazine.

OPERATIONS

*

!

G L M OL! * O

* OMG = Oh My Gosh! * LOL = Laugh Out Loud! * IKR = I Know, Right!

IK R! *

TEENAGERS CAN BE SOME OF YOUR BEST EMPLOYEES. READ OUR TEN GUIDELINES TO MANAGING TEENAGERS TO UNLOCK THEIR POTENTIAL.

By Pamela Kleibrink Thompson

C

hances are one in five that the next employee you hire will be the workplace enigma known as a teenager. Some bowling center operators feel that teenaged employees are in a league of their own. By following ten simple guidelines, the bowling center manager can turn the teenaged assistant into a valuable team player.

1. Scout talent.

Take a tip from large corporations. Small employers searching for quality part-time workers should get involved with what teens do. In activities like sports or Scouting young people demonstrate character, personality, creativity and responsibility.

High school vocational training programs and cooperative education programs are also excellent sources for high-caliber teen employees.

Ask for referrals from coaches, high school faculty, current customers and current employees.

Erin Johnson, operations and food and beverage manager at Pinz/Wahooz in Meridian, ID, observes, “Teenagers who are involved in cheerleading or theater are perfect candidates for our birthday hosts and hostesses. They are able to be upbeat and interact with the younger kids and bridge the gap of relating to the younger kids as well as the adults.” John Scherbarth, general manager of Boondocks Food and Fun in Kaysville, 28

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UT, manages 82 teens and recruits friends of his “A”-team members.

Invest time in interviewing. The hiring stage is crucial. Don’t judge teenagers on appearance. Consider their personalities and the ways they express themselves rather than just how they look. Look for a positive attitude and good communication skills. Someone who asks questions during the interview shows enthusiasm for the job.

Lewis Sims, Director of Fun and owneroperator of Dynasty Lanes in Willard, OH, shares his key to successful interviewing: “I treat every job applicant as if he might be with us for the next 30 years even though I know that a teen will probably leave our employment once out of school. However, they and their families might be customers of ours for the next 30 years.”

He adds, “I tell them the good, and more importantly the bad, parts of what the job may entail. If you expect them to be honest with you, you must be honest with them. Many new candidates think that working at a bowling center is fun and for the most part it is. They also need to know the bad parts like the cleanup involved, the occasional irate customer, or working weekend nights and holidays. Respect is a two-way street and starts with honesty.”

It’s important to understand teen goals. For a teen employee, a job may represent independence, maturity or just necessary cash. When they

OPERATIONS realize that they can satisfy their goals and yours by doing a better job, they become better employees.

2. Know the score.

Utilize social media when recruiting teens by posting the jobs online as well as using Facebook and other sites to check out a teen’s profile. You can learn about an employee’s attitudes from what he posts on his wall and can determine whether the teen you are considering is a serious person or a rowdy partier. Use social media to qualify, cull résumés, and prepare questions for the interview.

3. Communicate. A teen on his first job may be reluctant to ask questions or clarify instructions. Build a positive working relationship by communicating in clear, caring and respectful ways. Build credibility by dealing with each person one-on-one. Don't talk down to teens or treat them as children.

Johnson advises, “Treat them like they are adults. Be patient with them because for a lot of them, it is a first-time job and they don’t have any experience. Set goals and give feedback. I find that a lot of teenagers appreciate understanding the ‘why’ when it comes to why we do things a certain way, or why the task is important.

If they understand the reasoning behind it, they tend to buy into it and put more effort into the job.”

Facebook can be a useful tool in communicating with teens. Scherbarth shares, “We use Facebook team member groups for communication of schedule requests, shift changes, and motivational contests.”

4. Private lessons. Correct

behavior constructively and avoid being overly critical. Poor performance is a training opportunity. Sims reminds us, “It may be important to tell them what they are doing wrong or could do better, but it is more important to tell them what they are doing right. Ask for their 30

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opinions. They have one and will share them with friends or families, so you might as well be in on the action too. Employees are always told what to do but it’s a better idea to tell them why to do it and involve them in the decision-making process.

You never know when they are going to have that great idea you missed.”

When giving feedback or educating, remember what it was like when you were a teen. Emulate those bosses you liked when you were a young employee.

Sims adds, “When a customer compliments the actions of an employee in person or by filling out a survey, make it a habit to praise the employee in front of their parents, other staff and bowling center regulars. Offer letters of recommendation to employees leaving your businesses for other jobs and/or school. If other staff finds out, they too will try a little harder at work.”

5. Set clear expectations and consistent, attainable goals. Because teens may not have prior work experience, define all aspects of the

job including punctuality, scheduling and how to work with customers. Make sure they also know what you don’t want them to do on the job such as texting, talking on the phone and chatting with friends who stop by.

Teens are used to constant praise and immediate rewards. Make expectations, requirements and milestones clear, and be consistent with rewards or consequences. Consistency in policies and procedures is crucial in any employee-manager relationship. A good manager cannot treat a teen employee any differently from other employees.

“Teen workers are great in our business,” observes Ms. Rocky Bush, events manager at Mel's Lone Star Lanes in Georgetown, TX. “They’re the perfect gap between kids and adults, which means they still can have fun like a kid, but think like an adult. They make great birthday party hosts because they can communicate clearly and professionally to the party parents, but engage with the party kids. Teen workers are genuinely happy to make minimum wage (for the most part) by taking out trash and doing the ‘dirty work’ because that means they’ll have money in their pocket.”

6. Vary tasks and motivate by adding more responsibilities or conferring a title. Teens resist routine tasks

and often have short attention spans. If a teen employee demonstrates aptitude, let him participate more. You may be surprised by your teen employees' performance when you entrust them with more responsibility. If a teen shows an aptitude or interest in a specific area, assign him tasks to help him develop those skills. For example, some teens will appreciate learning how to maintain pinsetters, rakes, ball returns, or lanes from an experienced employee. Mastering new skills gives them a sense of achievement.

OPERATIONS Teens learn technical skills quickly, thanks to young people’s familiarity with technology. Teens like to deal with customers and are good salespeople. Managers who don't use teens in the pro shop or restaurant are shortchanging their business. Teen salespeople bring in friends and increase business.

Ask teen employees their opinions especially in areas such as social media, products and window displays. A teenager who aspires to be a web designer can help with your store’s website. Teens provide another perspective and are often creative in their input.

Sims notes that training shouldn’t end once teens learn how to do basic tasks. “The online training the BPAA offers is a great help. The Service Standards and the Implementing Service Standards courses are great tools in this area. Employees, especially teens, have a way of looking at things from only their point of view. These courses along with our training methods have them look at things from the customer’s point of view. I have taken these courses myself and would recommend them to all owners, managers and staff as training tools.

Just because you’ve been in the business of bowling for 30 years doesn’t mean you’re too old to learn something new, too.” Another key to managing his team: “We do role-playing on how to handle certain situations and empower them to make decisions on their own.”

7. Cross-train. Cross-training helps

build teamwork, a sense of responsibility and loyalty, and reduces friction. By cross-training the teen work force in a variety of jobs, workers can substitute for each other during absences.

Johnson points out that cross-training helps to run a slower shift with a lower labor cost. “As employees learn more areas, they become more valuable to us and are able to cover more positions.” Scherbarth, who has worked with teens for 25 years, states, “Teens are bored very easily. Cross-training motivates them and gives them a sense of accomplishment.”

The manager must be flexible in scheduling work hours due to laws, work permits, and homework or social functions which may take precedence over work. To prepare for a high absenteeism rate, train all employees in multiple tasks at the pro shop--from checking in shipments, 32

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to stocking, tagging and setting up a sale. Bowling center managers can benefit from teen workers by giving higher levels of responsibility to those who earn them. Sims, who is also bowling coach at Willard High School, advises, “Treat them better than you would want to be treated yourself if you had the same job and they will give their all for you and your business. When they start saying things like ‘our bowling center’ or ‘what can we do’ they are starting to take pride in what they are doing—something teens seldom have working at fast-food or retail outlets.”

8. Follow through. Teens are distracted easily and may not have strong listening skills. Reinforce directives, follow up assignments, and repeat instructions. Make them accountable by utilizing checklists and employee manuals that state exactly what is expected. The biggest challenge is usually the limited amount of work experience and often younger employees do not possess a strong work ethic. Bush feels that the biggest challenge in managing teens today is “Keeping them off their phones! We invented the ‘Cell Phone Basket.’ It’s located in our office. Every time they clock in they turn their phones off or put them on silent, and put them in the basket. They’re allowed to be on their phones only on break.”

9. Take time to coach. You are more than an employer—you’re also a teacher. Bush notes that teens have changed over the years. “The previous generation of teens had a sense of determination. If they thought they deserved something, either a pay raise or a title, then they worked hard for it to prove that they deserved it. Now, teens have a sense of entitlement without the desire to work hard to get from point A to B. The key is in motivating them and showing them the value of hard work.”

10. Cheer them on. Working with a teenager can be a mutually beneficial experience. “Working with young people makes you feel young,” notes Scherbarth. “We have had some great kids come and go over the years and I hope that we have done our part to make them better workers at their current jobs, better husbands and wives and better parents to their children,” sums up Sims. “In turn they have done their part to keep us in the bowling business while most small centers in our area have either closed or changed ownership.”

Johnson concludes, “You have the opportunity to start with a blank canvas and see them grow! We’ve had several employees start here and work their way into a management position or move on to other jobs utilizing what they have learned here. I love hearing from past employees how much they learned from their job with us and appreciated working for our company.

It’s nice to see we can make a difference and be a stepping stone from that first job to the next step in their career.” ❖ Pamela Kleibrink Thompson lives in Idaho. In addition to writing, she is a career coach and scenario role player for peace officer training. Pamela worked as a production manager on the Emmy Award-winning animated series The Simpsons, where she bowled regularly with members of the crew. She speaks on career issues at conferences all over the world. You can reach Pamela at PamRecruit@q.com.

SHOWCASE ULTRA-VERSATILE

American DJ’s Ultra Hex Par3 takes center stage. Equipped with six colors in one, this unit will bring pure lighting excitement to a wide variety of lighting applications. With a 40-degree beam angle, users may produce wide washes with smooth color mixing from 63 built-in color macros, utilizing red, green, blue, amber, white and UV LEDs. It’s great for uplighting a venue.

Now available in the U.S. For more info or to order, contact distributor NLFX Pro @ NLFXPro.com or 888-660-6696.

BOWLOPOLIS SOCKS

CHROME LIQUOR POURER

Expert Hosiery is now offering Bowlopolis Socks by the Dozen.

Minimum one dozen per size can be ordered, mix and match with other styles as part of a 15dozen minimum order. Bowlopolis Socks available in XSmall, Small, Medium and Large. Try them today! All orders placed between March 1 and June 25 will automatically be entered in the Expert Hosiery iPad Giveway to be held in June at Bowl Expo 2014. A leading specialist in custom-logo and glow-inthe-dark socks, check out Expert Hosiery’s website, www.funtimefootwear.com or call 336-495-9100.

Alcohol Controls offers the world’s most highly requested free-pour liquor spout for both standard and wide-neck bottles.

Its tapered shape provides fast pouring speeds and maximum control to avoid spilling and splashing. At amazingly low prices, every pourer includes a spout cap to keep fruit flies, smoke, dust and debris out of the liquor bottles. Learn more about this product online at AlcoholControls.com or call 800-285-2337.

CUSTOM LASER TAG

‘STAND-ALONE’ SCORING

Creative Works, Inc. has brought its WOW Effect to Chipper’s Lanes in Broomfield, CO, with a 3,000square-foot laser tag arena. Planet ChipTAR-Sector.B was designed specifically for the center, incorporating the vision of owner Matt Hoeven and executed by the professional architects and painters at Creative Works.

This is the first project for Chipper’s Lanes, which has five locations in Colorado. Another one is in the works. For information on how you can wow your center, call 877-843-6348 or visit www.THEWOWEFFECT.com.

SWITCH’S ‘CIRCUS’

Switch introduces its new Switch Mini Series which will offer several themes, the first being Circus. This is a full-package system that comes in just the right size for children: smaller lanes, smaller and lighter balls, and an adapted scoring system with animation, 3-D character ball returns and effects that help create an entire universe. This is a great revenue generator and can be used as a stand-alone area or an add-on to a traditional center. Easy to install and move, Circus is a must-see.

Email info@switchbowling.com for additional information.

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CUSTOM LAYOUTS

Whether you are looking for chairs, settees, barstools or stacking chairs, Venue Furniture can provide your center with everything you need. Let them custom design a layout that works for your facility. You can use products from their current lines or have them design custom products that suit your needs. A full catalog can be downloaded at BowlingFurniture.com. Call 855-55VENUE or email sales@VenueFurniture.us.

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June 2014

Touchscore3 from New Center Consulting, Inc. is now available in a stand-alone scoring mode. The Virtual Desk window contains all the setup parameters found in Touch Desk. This gives center management capabilities without the expense of a front desk. Perfect for home installations, small centers without need of cash control or for FECs that want lane control without a front desk but ring up sales on a third-party POS system. For more information contact owner Glenn Hartshorn directly at 248-375-2751.

GET IN SYNC

Sync™ is Brunswick’s revolutionary new scoring and management system, coming in 2015. Sync aligns what happens on your lanes with what goes on behind your front desk and in the back office—in one streamlined and easy-to-use system. Make way for Sync. It’s how the game is one. Call your Brunswick representative for more information, www.brunswickbowling.com.

DATEBOOK

JUNE

2-13 A-2 Pinsetter Training Program Moline, IL Frank Miroballi 540-325-7684 Frankm1441@aol.com

3 QubicaAMF Webinar Series Redefining Family Fun with BES X 1:00 p.m. Eastern https://www1.gotomeeting.com/re gister/256425896

11 QubicaAMF Webinar Series How to Run Your Center, Your Way with Conqueror Pro 3:00 p.m. Eastern https://www1.gotomeeting.com/re gister/861973089

22-27 Bowl Expo 2014 Rosen Shingle Creek Resort & Orange County Convention Center Orlando, FL www.bowlexpo.com

14-25 A-2 Pinsetter Training Program Moline, IL Frank Miroballi 540-325-7684 Frankm1441@aol.com

JULY

20–23 65TH BCAM Convention & Tradeshow Shanty Creek Resort Bellaire, MI Ken Prokopec bowlerprok@aol.com

9 QubicaAMF Webinar Series Birthday Parties: Time to Change the Game (NEW) 2:00 p.m. Eastern https://www1.gotomeeting.com/re gister/864650881 14-16 IBECA Show Park Place Hotel & Conference Center Traverse City, MI Scott Bennett 888-484-2322 scott@bowlmail.com www.IBECA.org

24-26 BCA Carolinas/Georgia Annual Convention Sea Trail Resort Sunset Beach, NC Howard Baum 910-484-5178 29 Bob’s Business Showcase/Tradeshow Willowbrook Lanes, Willowbrook, IL 800-328-9311 www.bobsbusiness.com/events 31 Ace Mitchell Tradeshow Guy’s Party Center Akron, OH 800-321-0309 31-August 1 Ace Mitchell Tradeshow Turning Stone Resort Verona, NY 800-262-2695

AUGUST

15 Ace Mitchell Tradeshow Carolier Lanes N. Brunswick, NJ 800-262-2695 38

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June 2014

CLASSIFIEDS

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

NEW & USED Pro Shop Equipment.

Jayhawk Bowling Supply. (800) 2556436 or jayhawkbowling.com.

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June 2014

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CLASSIFIEDS EQUIPMENT FOR SALE FOR SALE: 24 wood lanes & approaches in excellent condition; AS-90 scoring system w/ 27 overheads, B/W lower monitors, cameras, front desk POS & back office command network system; Brunswick FrameWorx masking units; 8 Brunswick 2000 ball returns; and 18 AMF 82-70 pinsetters (single board chassis). (419) 227-7231 or email: Westgate@wcoil.com.

See redline-products.com for replacement foul lights. Home of bowlingtrader.com.

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

SEL L

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

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June 2014

REDUCED TO SELL! Automatic Scoring Systems: Steltronic SuperElex w/ flat screens & AMF Excel w/ flat screens. Used lane panels. Zot reconditioned Gloss Boss. Parts.

(719) 251-1616 or knotritellc@gmail.com.

NEEDING A NEW VENUE? Nightclub entertainment bowling is HOT. COMPLETE 4, 6, 8, (+) bowling packages with install.

Complete 10-lane package just removed and ready to reinstall. Affordable. See tenpinartisans.com for custom ideas or call (970) 946-9933.

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

MANAGER WANTED Don't miss your chance to grow with an Industry Leader!

Looking for Experienced, Service-Oriented General Managers for our U.S. bowling retail center locations. Please check us out at www.brunswickcareers.apply2jobs.com for more details on our current openings.

Act Now! Apply Today!

POSITION WANTED Accomplished District Manager with unique Operational, Team–Building/Leadership and Marketing skills seeking comparable position.

Very organized, self-motivated, multi-task master with a “can do” attitude. Open to relocation. Johnmillen@optonline.net or (201) 657-4684.

MECHANIC WANTED California, Lake Elsinore: Looking for an experienced GSX pinsetter mechanic with supervisory experience and familiar with arcade games, heating/cooling, plumbing and general building maintenance a PLUS. Salary negotiable based on experience. Please email resume to brichards@ipcompanies.com.

AMF and some BRUNSWICK PC board repair/exchange. 6-month warranty, fast turnaround. Call or write: WB8YJF Service 5586 Babbitt Road, New Albany, Ohio 43054 Toll Free: 888-902-BOWL (2695) Ph./Fax: (614) 855-3022 (Jon) E-mail: wb8yjf@sbcglobal.net Visit us on the WEB! http://home.earthlink.net/~wb8yjf/

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

A reasonable alternative for Chassis and P.C. Board Exchanges MIKE BARRETT Call for Price List

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

For FLORIDA CENTERS Call DAVID DRISCOLL & ASSOCIATES 1-800-444-BOWL 3800 Lake Center Loop, Suite B1, Mount Dora, FL 32757-2208 AN AFFILIATE OF SANDY HANSELL & ASSOCIATES

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/BOWLINGFAN IBI

June 2014

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CLASSIFIEDS MECHANIC WANTED Full/Part Time. A-2. 12 lanes. Fallon, Nevada.

Possible live on property. (775) 867-5551.

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

AMF 5850 & 6525 CHASSIS. Exchange your tired or damaged chassis for an upgraded, rewired, cleaned, painted and ready-to-run chassis. Fast turnaround.

Lifetime guarantee. References available.

CHASSIS DOCTOR (330) 314-8951.

CENTERS FOR SALE

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/BOWLINGFAN MINIATURE GOLF COURSES Indoor/Outdoor. Portable/Pre-Fab. Black Light/Traditional/Pro Putter.

202 Bridge Street Jessup, PA 18434 570-489-8623 www.minigolfinc.com

LOCKER KEYS FAST! •Keys & Combo Locks for all Types of Lockers.

•One week turnaround on most orders.

•New locks All types •Used locks 1/2 price of new

All keys done by code #.

No keys necessary.

E-mail: huff@inreach.com CALL TOLL FREE

1-800-700-4KEY Orange County Security Consultants

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NEBRASKA: 8-lane Brunswick center with bar, game room and restaurant. Active leagues. Call (402) 335-2095.

ALABAMA: 30-lane, well-established, profitable center with kitchen, lounge & pro shop. Real estate included. Located in thriving Huntsville. Russ Russell Commercial Real Estate (256) 536-7777.

LARRY DOBBS APPRAISALS. (214) 6748187. Bowlingvaluations@yahoo.com.

CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: One of the top five places to move! Remodeled 32lane center. Good numbers. $3.1m gets it all.

Fax qualified inquiries to (828) 253-0362.

GEORGIA: Busy 32-lane center, real estate included. Great location in one of fastest– growing counties in metro Atlanta. 5 years new with all the amenities. Excellent numbers. Call (770) 356-8751.

NE MINNESOTA: Food, Liquor & Bowling.

Established 8 lanes between Mpls & Duluth w/ large bar, dining room, banquet area.

Two large State employment facilities nearby. High six-figure gross. Call Bryan (218) 380-8089. www.majesticpine.com.

EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA: 6-lane Brunswick center, bar & grill, drive-thru liquor store in small college town. Also, 3 apartment buildings with 40 units, good rental history. Call (701) 330-7757 or (701) 430-1490.

SELL YOUR CENTER

(818) 789-2695

NW KANSAS: 12-lane center, AS-80s, Lane Shield, snack bar, pro shop, game & pool rooms. See pics and info @ www.visitcolby.com or contact Charles (785) 443-3477.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS: PRICED TO SELL!!

8-lane center with AMF 82-70s, full-service restaurant, pro shop. Plus pool tables, karaoke machine & DJ system. Asking $125,000.00 with RE. (217) 351-5152 or toms-uvl@sbcglobal.net.

SOUTHWEST KANSAS: Well-maintained 8lane center, A-2s, full-service restaurant.

Includes business and real estate. Nice, smaller community. Owner retiring. $212,000.

Leave message (620) 397-5828.

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CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE 16-lane center in Southern Colorado mountains. Great condition. 18,000 s/f building w/ restaurant & lounge. Paved parking 100+ vehicles. Established leagues & tournaments. $950,000 or make offer. Kipp (719) 852-0155.

CENTRAL NEW YORK: 12-lane center in great condition boasting many upgrades/ improvements. Offers pro shop, lounge and restaurant, OTB, NYS Lottery, Quick Draw & gaming arcade. Great ROI! Established clientele and no local competition. $449,000.

Call for pics/info: Jayne Wentworth, Broker, Kay R.E. (315) 264-1456.

INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS FOR OPTIMIZING CASH FLOW

Expense Reduction Solutions • • • • •

Credit Card Processing Fees Lease/Rent Restructuring Telecom Rate Savings Business Insurance Premiums Payroll Processing Savings

OKLAHOMA: 16-lane center w/ large laser tag, only arcade in area and thriving lounge.

Steltronics SuperElex w/ 42” flat screens and refurbished A2s. Completely upgraded and remodeled. Owner financing and option to purchase shopping center for viable buyers.

Business for sale apart from real estate.

(719) 251-1616.

CONTACT:

Andrew Nadler, CEO

(240) 821 - 6900 anadler@summit-strategies.com www.summit-strategies.com Clients include:

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/BOWLINGFAN

CENTRAL OHIO: 16-lane profitable Brunswick center with nightly leagues, lounge and snack bar. In fastest-growing and highest-income county in Ohio. Call Debra (740) 369-3451.

NW NEVADA: Retiring Owner-Financed. 12lanes + Leased Café + Large Bar/Lounge + Arcade. Established Bowling Leagues + Pool Leagues/Tournaments + Slots. A-2s, Synthetic Lanes, Auto-Scoring, 13,000 s/f Building, 2 Acres, All Equipment. $950K; $50K Down; 5% Interest. (775) 867-5551 or Email: oasisbowlcasino@yahoo.com.

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CLASSIFIEDS

SERVICE CALLS WORLDWIDE • PRE-SHIPS • WE SELL

AS80/90 • BOARD REPAIR • Frameworx NEW KEYPADS • FRONT DESK LCD MONITORS

Michael P. Davies (321) 254-7849

291 Sandy Run, Melbourne, FL 32940 on the web: bowlingscorer.com email: mike@bowlingscorer.com

SELL YOUR CENTER

(818) 789-2695

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REMEMBER WHEN

M 1956

ilwaukee has always been a mecca for beer and bowling. This was particularly true in 1956 when this ad ran. For nostalgia’s sake, gas averaged 22 cents a gallon, a new home ran about $11,700, and average wages settled in at $4,450–a year! Elvis rocked the hearts of young girls, and Dwight Eisenhower was President.

Bowling was in the beginnings of its heyday: YABA listed 131,255 bowlers, and the ABC certified 7,458 establishments and boasted 2,225,000 members.

A toast to beer, bowling and the all-American couple! ❖ –Patty Heath

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