Int'l Bowling Industry - Jan 2011

CONTENTS

VOL 19.1

6 THE ISSUE AT HAND

26 NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Celebrating People

A billionaire’s house Foxwoods Casino’s new High Rollers Luxury Lanes

By Scott Frager

By Robin Breuner

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31 PROFILE Lands’ End catalog shows off camp Great Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks has offered bowling since 1914.

12 CENTER STAGE

33 THIS IS BVL Wally Hall remembers his grandson, Jason Hall.

16 OPERATIONS From counselor to the “real” thing

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20 OPERATIONS

35 WHAT BOWLING MEANS TO ME Arthur Fortaliza keeps San Diego’s Mira Mesa Lanes shining.

By Kelly Bennett

Dream comes true Brothers Uyeda transform Aiea Bowl in Honolulu.

46 REMEMBER WHEN 1938 LOOK magazine features tips on bowling with Joe Falcaro.

22 COVER STORY Fran and Dave Deken

By Patty Heath

Two bowling careers, one bowling couple.

groh@bowlingindustry.com

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Gregory Keer keer@bowlingindustry.com

OFFICE MANAGER Patty Heath

CONTRIBUTORS Kelly Bennet Robin Breuner Patty Heath Lydia Rypcinski SPECIAL PROJECTS Jackie Fisher fisher@bowlingindustry.com

ART DIRECTION & PRODUCTION Designworks

FOUNDER Allen Crown (1933-2002)

13245 Riverside Dr., Suite 501 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (818) 789-2695(BOWL) Fax (818) 789-2812 info@bowlingindustry.com

HOTLINE: 888-424-2695 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 $50 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.

POSTMASTER: Please send new as well as old address to International Bowling Industry, 13245 Riverside Drive, Suite 501, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 USA. If possible, please furnish address mailing label.

Printed in U.S.A. Copyright 2010, B2B Media, Inc. No part of this magazine may be reprinted without the publisher’s permission.

MEMBER AND/OR SUPPORTER OF:

By Lydia Rypcinski

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36 Showcase 38 Datebook 38 Classifieds Cover photo by Michael Cooper

January 2011

MANAGING EDITOR Fred Groh

www.BowlingIndustry.com

How Robin Douglas turned the tables on his career.

IBI

frager@bowlingindustry.com Skype: scottfrager

www.dzynwrx.com (818) 735-9424

Big Al’s – take two in Beaverton, Oregon

4

PUBLISHER & EDITOR Scott Frager

heath@bowlingindustry.com

8 SHORTS Barbera promoted at Brunswick … Bowl for Water … charity bowling …Steltronic expands

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

THE ISSUE AT HAND

Celebrating People In January 2010, IBI zigged from its traditional roots of focusing exclusively on hardcore, how-to, bowling business stories that were admittedly dry and cold. We zagged after our research discovered that what our readers were really yearning for was an emotional connection to the industry.

However, it wasn’t until Bowl Expo that the concept and the reality hit home. There, in an ice cool convention hall surrounded by 110 degree heat, I was surrounded by people, all types of people, from all over the world. My face was tired from smiling, greeting friends and making new acquaintances.

My feet were exhausted from walking the miles of aisles and rows of booths. My brain was fuzzy from a general lack of sleep and slight over consumption of spirits from the previous night’s dinner.

Yet with all of that, I felt good.

No, great. What made sense in January made even more sense in June and now.

After all, what is a bowling center?

It’s a place where men, women and youth congregate and socialize.

Whether for fun or competition, bowling is all about people and IBI wants to celebrate the people who bring life to our industry.

That celebration extends to the cathedrals of bowling too. Bowling centers of all types have been featured in our magazine. From the divinely gorgeous archetypes of what modern bowling centers can

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be to the downright historic. We hope the words and photos within IBI will inspire you.

In many ways, this issue is the culmination of that dream and vision.

On the cover, we celebrate Dave and Fran Deken, a classic American bowling couple with a not-so-ordinary tale to tell about life, love and the business of bowling. In our modern take on Grant Wood’s famous painting, American Gothic, we explore how this amazing couple met and how their lives grew together in bowling.

You’ll discover two brothers who own a bowling center in Hawaii and how well they pair, even though their distinctive professional backgrounds dictate that they should not be traditionally compatible.

And, this month we’re launching a brand new section title “What Bowling Means to Me.” Be prepared to be inspired by the story of a 43 year-old Arthur Fortaliza. A very unique and special employee of Mira Mesa Lanes in San Diego, CA. Yes, bowling is much, much more than a place to gather and much more than a simple place to go to work.

Be warned, you will shed a tear or two over Wally Hall’s own deeply personal connection with the BVL and why this organization is held so close to his heart.

We believe everyone has a story to tell. The way we see it, it’s our job to find these stories and bring them to life. What’s your story?

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

THIS MONTH AT www.BowlingIndustry.com On January 13, 9 AM PST; 11 AM CST; NOON EST Bowling Industry will host the next in its series of FREE webinars—“Bowling 2035 Saving the Industry”. Joe Schumacker, BPAA Past-President and Florida proprietor, will present his view and plan for the future of our industry.

The last webinar gave Kristen Bair of Hanover Bowling Center a Baltimore Ravens jersey! This time, learn how you can grow with the times and possibly win a $75 American Express gift card! Sounds like a no-brainer to us.

Thanks to our sponsors, New Center Consulting and TrainerTainment. Without their support, we could not offer IBI’s Webinar series for free.

SHORTS

RICK BARBERA PROMOTED TO BRUNSWICK DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Rick Barbera, a long time veteran of Brunswick Corporation having served in a variety of positions of increasing responsibility since 1973, has been promoted to Director of Business Development for Bowling Products. Immediately prior to joining Brunswick Bowling Products, Barbera held the position of Director of Operations for Brunswick Retail Centers (BRC), with direct operational responsibilities for nine (9) bowling centers in the Chicago market.

In this new role, Barbera will work with various customers and appropriate internal Brunswick colleagues to improve capital equipment sales throughout the North American market. He will focus on continued improvement of the Brunswick Buildto-Bowl Program as well as focus on sales, marketing and development of electronic business products.

In the Build-to-Bowl role, Barbera reports to Hank Harris, Vice President of Design and Construction. In the electronic business products role, Barbera reports to Kurt Harz, Vice President of Sales, North America.

N E W

B E G I N N I N G S

Set for a December opening, Latitude 30 in Jacksonville, Florida will be a destination for the entire family. The 50,000 square foot complex will house a movie theater, arcade games, restaurant, sports bar and boutique bowling. The parent company, Brownstone Group, is the developer, contractor and owner. According to the Jacksonville Business Journal, Brent Brown, managing partner, states that a similar project is in the works in Nashville, TN and talks are under way for future locations in Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.

Each will bear the name Latitude followed by the number of the city’s respective geographical latitude.

Canada is increasing its tenpin bowling establishments. Inspired by several highend boutique centers in Los Angeles, a group of five entrepreneurs will open the first new tenpin bowling center in Toronto’s downtown district since 1980. The Ballroom, encompassing two floors, will cater to young professionals. The $4 million project houses 10 lanes of bowling, 50 HD televisions, ping-pong tables and a dining area specializing in local fare such as poutine and pogos. The Globe and Mail in Toronto quoted Matty Tsoumaris, one of the owners, “We saw a big void in the market, of a complete entertainment complex where someone could enjoy food, music, entertainment, activities, all under one roof.”

Langford, Victoria will welcome Canada City Centre Park Sportsplex, a 20-lane tenpin bowling center and a NHL-size skating rink with seating for 600. The $14.3 million sportsplex will get all of its heating and cooling needs from an ice plant in the new arena.

Philadelphia introduces the Depot Bowling at the Depot Marketplace. Mike Price, the owner, stated that he just wanted something safe and secure for families to do without having to travel. The Depot has 20 lanes of bowling, pool tables, virtual golf, a diner and an ice cream parlor.

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Media watch Bowling is everywhere. Within a three-week period from Mid-November to early December, the national airways and other mass media like the Wall Street Journal were buzzing with bowling: On November 14th, CBS’s popular program “Undercover Boss” starred Steven Foster, president of the innovative Lucky Strike chain of boutique centers. We followed him humanizing the trials and tribulations not as a creator and developer of highend entertainment and bowling venues but as an anonymous employee struggling as a waiter, mechanic and front desk attendant. The everhumbling lessons were again made paramount—it all boils down to people.

The following week there were two sightings. On November 21st, The Cooking Channel’s “Unique Eats” went to Brooklyn Bowl to show off the center’s own special Blue Ribbon menu. The Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” on November 23rd spotlighted Doug Glover of Cloverleaf Family Bowl in Fremont, California and the saga of being a pinspotter mechanic.

He put the host, Mike Rowe through his paces. One forgets or doesn’t even know what goes into keeping a center up and running well…it’s the mechanic behind the scene that makes the magic happen.

And finally, the edition of the Wall Street Journal brought attention to the boom in kids’ bowling. “Bowling Alleys: the New Chuck E. Cheese.” The article pointed out that the BPAA’s records show a 17% increase in kids under fourteen years of age bowling through programs in 15,000 schools and birthday parties are more and more found in “alleys”. It is fun with safety that makes parents embrace bowling.

BPAA’s executive director Steven Johnson was quoted, “You can’t have kids go right out and play tackle football.” Bowling works!

SHORTS

Steltronic Announces Expansion Steltronic, one of the world’s leading independent automatic scoring manufacturers, is announcing the expansion of its North American operation to the Midwest. As of December 1, Steltronic opened an office and warehouse in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area.

Roberto Simeone, founder, owner and CEO of Steltronic, says the second facility is necessary to insure service and support. By expanding, “we now can offer the service and support our customers and future customers expect and deserve from Steltronic.” Simeone went on to point out that Steltronic will still continue to have its office and warehouse in Southern California to maintain the West Coast presence they have enjoyed since Steltronic came to the United States in the mid 90s.

The driving force for the expansion is the exponential growth the company has experienced the past few years due to the introduction of Vision and Focus scoring and business systems. “Vision and Focus sales have met and exceeded our expectations so we decided that it is the perfect time to expand our operation,” says Simeone.

The sales and marketing teams are also moving to the Midwest office. With sales and marketing managed out of the Midwest plus the current distributors the company has in place throughout North America, Canada and Mexico, Simeone is confident Steltronic has in place a full service company that the bowling industry can rely on for many years to come.

To contact Steltronic, please call (262) 754-2300 or toll free (800) 236-2559.

Steltronic is the official scoring system for the USBC Open and Women’s Tournament of Events.

Freeway Lanes

Bowls for Water Water is the stuff of life. Just ask 1.1 billion people who do not have access to clean water. That is one out of every six people in the world.

Katie Spotz, the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic, has championed this cause, and through her efforts along with the Rotary Club and Freeway Lanes of Solon, Ohio, raised $6,000 in an event called “Bowl for Water” to benefit Blue Planet Network, an organization committed to bringing sustainable, safe drinking water to people throughout the world.

This is not the first event of this kind for Katie.

Born in 1987, Katie has taken on other physically challenging goals. She was the first person to swim the entire length of the 325-mile Allegheny River, averaging 12-15 miles per day, with one day a swim of 22 miles. She cycled 3,300 miles 10

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GAMES We Bowl hits the App store.

First there was Wii Sports and bowling. Now, Freeverse Software has developed an iPhone and iPod Touch game We Bowl (Free) for the App Store. We Bowl is a touch take on the sport of bowling requiring little more than a finger swipe to send a threeholed ball down a virtual alley.

Amping it up a bit, there is an avatar system flexible and fun enough to create all kinds of different looking characters to personalize your game.

GDL Multimedia has developed a computer game available through Amazon.com called Cosmo Alley Bowling. Sit right at your desk and bowl away. However, it might possibly be a better choice at home than the office.

across the U.S. from Seattle to Washington, D.C. and ran 150 miles across the Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert, solo and self-supported. The Blue Planet Network could not ask for a more stalwart advocate.

The goal for next year is $10,000. “Because $10,000 buys a village of 110 families a complete water system,” said Rob Previte, President of Solon Rotary. Blue Planet Network can be reached through their website: http://blueplanet network.org.

Mayor Susan Drucker, Salon, OH, Rob Previte, President of Solon Rotary, Glen Gable, President Freeway Lanes, Katy Spotz, Adventurer, Row for Water

CENTER STAGE

CENTERSTAGE The people behind it decided to raise the roof when they built Big Al’s number two in Beaverton, OR. They went two stories tall, and put in a U-shaped mezzanine (with 180 games) that overlooks the 42 lanes, the reception desk and the sports bar.

Daniel Kirkwood, vice president of Kirkwood & Kirkwood, the family firm that built it, likes the layout especially because it Continued on page 14 12

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CENTER STAGE

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CENTER STAGE Continued from page 12

allowed the bar to be constructed like a stadium, complete with a sky box suite. Murals on two sides depict the teams at two nearby colleges and extend into a sky painted on the ceiling.

Parents can sit at tables and divide their attention between their kids in the arcade above and sports action on the 14x55-foot video screen along the backbar.

After a $15 million built and outfitting, Big Al’s number two opened in August. Public response has been clamorous.

Number one, opened in September 2006, is in Vancouver, WA, still doing land office business. Kirkwood said he is shopping for a site for number three. â?–

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OPERATIONS

The real deal. Robin Douglas behind the counter.

IN THE THICK OF IT When you leave the government to a business, what do

run

you find?

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W

hy a bowling business? For Robin Douglas, because it was more “real” than what he did for 15 years.

He studied financials every day and they were real. So were the men and women who sat on the other side of his desk, but they were in the thick of things and he wasn’t. Working in government-sponsored offices can remove you from the scene of action.

First it was a job with the Small Business Development Center in Cumberland, MD, an organization sponsored by the federal Small Business Administration. It was Douglas’ maiden voyage into the world of jobs after an

OPERATIONS MBA from Frostburg State U (Frostburg, MD).

As an economic development professional, he was counselor, consultant, trainer and financial modeler for people who wanted to start small businesses. With a budget of $200,000 and his staff of six, he was handling such demand for the services that he stopped marketing the new office after six months. Word-ofmouth gave him all the clients he needed after that.

Five years later, in 1995, he moved to the State of Maryland as an economic development regional manager. His staff was five this time but his budget was almost $300,000.

“We were a government service to provide the financial and marketing expertise to help [businesses] expand and hire more people. Basically, we were providing the knowledge,” Douglas says. “For instance, a business knows where they want to go but they don’t know how best to get there. Our expertise was in knowing what banks will do, what federal, state and local government loan programs can do, and [in putting] them all together.”

Douglas never intended to move on. But, he says, his “tastes changed.” His kids graduated and left home and he had more time.

He had caught the whiff of his clients’ tales. “I almost always thought to myself, ‘If I were in his/her shoes, I’d do this’ [or] ‘this would be a no-brainer’ [or] ‘boy! I could really be making a killing on this.’”

And business had been on the table from the beginning. He got into economic development, “I think, because I love business.

I love the free enterprise system, and [economic development] gave me the most opportunity to get intimate looks at different types of businesses.” He was also good at analyzing and advising, “so it was a natural.”

And at last he had the time to venture into the “real” world.

“I guess I have more of a love for the private sector.” He says it again: “Just more real to me – the whole thing about meeting a payroll and etc. If I make a decision and it’s a bad decision in the private sector, then I pay for it. In the public sector, all I can do is my best and what happens, happens.”

He decided on bowling because his family had owned The Bowler in LaVale, MD for 50 years. His uncle, who started it, was about to retire. So was the manager. “And I decided it’s a fun, challenging, real business, so here I am.”

•

Douglas says two things hit him right away when he took over The Bowler in 2004: the responsibility and the time commitment.

Like other proprietors who run the shop themselves, a “good” week turned out to be 60 hours; tougher weeks, 70 and more. He says he had to shed some of his hobbies.

He had the right mindset immediately, learned from his clients. In 15 years he had come to appreciate how a retailer’s challenges and environment are different from a manufacturer’s, which are different from those of a high-tech company or a service business.

Douglas had been able “to get into the psyche of all these

RETURN OF THE COUNSELOR All told, what would Robin Douglas, former economic development professional and now fiveyear bowling proprietor, advise a bowling center if he were back on the other side of the desk?

As to business in the ordinary course of things: “Debt level is certainly [a potential pitfall]. If somebody is going to go deeply in debt to build or purchase a center, let’s run the numbers and put the debt service in there and if at the end of the day you have realistic sales figures and have a positive bank balance, then maybe it’s a good idea.

“But the keys there are an accurate market analysis. Just because you think you’re going to do $500,000 in a 12-lane center doesn’t mean you’re going to do it.

“And I would certainly use the BPAA data [Benchmarking Studies]. I’ve worked with a lot of different business, and types of businesses, and the BPAA Benchmark Studies are probably one of the most comprehensive data sets of any type of small business that’s available.”

The studies are sometimes criticized on the basis that while bowling is a neighborhood business, the BPAA data give national figures. Says Douglas, “I absolutely agree. I don’t believe I could sell one game of bowling for $9.50, but in New York City they do it all the time. So you definitely have to take that [data] with a grain of salt.

“They have different percentiles, so one of the easiest ways is to try to identify what your percentile is. We for instance are in a cheap area. People are very price-sensitive. So I don’t compare my data with the folks that are in metropolitan areas in upscale boutique centers. But it does give me [at my percentile] for instance a national average of percentage of utilities to sales, or percentage of payroll to sales.”

As to the recession, Douglas offers this point of counseling: “Monitor your cash flow like there [is] no tomorrow – specifically, timing payments [or] withholding payments to selected vendors at times, in order to keep money in the bank. I keep daily watch on it online so I know when checks come through and when deposits go in – sometimes a couple of times a day.”

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OPERATIONS different business owners to really find out what made them tick.” And what makes bowling tick is that it is “just about a perfect model for the American mom-and-pop entrepreneurial situation. There are more true entrepreneurs in the bowling business than in most other businesses I saw. That,” Douglas knew, “puts a lot of pressure on a bowling proprietor to make the right decisions, to work hard, and work smart.”

As an economic development professional, he had to dose out a little reality once in a while. He even had scripts to use with clients. Most restaurants, for instance, don’t make it and just because the client could bake a delicious pan of cookies did not mean she was going to be the next Mrs. Fields. “‘Your friends and family are going to say it’s a great idea because they like you, but if you get beyond that and do a real accurate market analysis, you might find that the reality is a little bit different.’”

Now, his own thinking had to change.

“As you learn more about business, you tend to get the analysis paralysis. At some point you have to take chances, you have to gamble a little bit. The more willing somebody is to take an educated gamble, the more successful they’re going to be,” he learned. “If they’re constantly analyzing opportunities then they’re not going to have the time or ambition to actually take advantage of [an opportunity].”

Sometimes, he says, you need the Nike philosophy: Just do it.

The recession has upstaged Douglas’ operation, as it has for everybody else. Like others, he has “right-sized” his staff, joining his managers in taking some turns at the reception counter and cutting man-hours about 10%. Operating hours remain the same, so the net effect is a 10% staff reduction at any given time.

He is also coasting on a major renovation in 2006 that consumed his $40-50,000 annual budget for upgrades to 2010 and is “briskly” marketing his product, mainly selling discounts in casual play business. The pitch: bowling is a high-value recreation alternative.

The results as he entered the current league season were gratifying, Douglas reported. With leagues up 4-5% he was “cautiously optimistic” about the season, even though he’d just been hit by a “real plunge” in open play. “We’re convinced it’s because it’s discretionary spending for our customer and they’re spending it on the non-discretionary things.”

But Douglas is not looking back. “It’s an all-encompassing, engrossing business,” he still finds. Although his family might qualify that just a little.

“My wife and family aren’t involved, but they are, if that makes sense. They have to work within my hours, within the demands this business makes of me.

“It’s a family business, whether it is or not,” Douglas says, and laughs. ❖ 18

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OPERATIONS

GIVING A T FIG FOR BOWLING In which two brothers prove that people will head to a bowling center for

haute yum-yum.

Gregg and Glenn Uyeda. Dining upscale at the bowling center.

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he brothers Uyeda – Glenn and Gregg – just heard around that Aiea Bowl in Honolulu was closing. Sure enough, the owner’s numbers were pretty bad. At least, as far as the rent raise the landlord wanted.

“There was no way [the owner] would make it, for sure,” Glenn says. “We just took it out of the box and changed that gear to try and make it. It’s worked for us.”

This talk of gears, boxes and numbers isn’t where the Uyeda heart lies, though. Part of it is in bowling, yes. “Both of us were bowling rats,” says Glenn about growing up. He started bowling about age five, slightly ahead of brother Gregg, who is a year and a half younger.

They were a determined little pair. Around age eight, they wrote in a book that someday they were going to own a bowling alley and, come 2005, they did.

But the restaurant – called The Alley, for obvious reasons – is the meat and potatoes of this brotherly enterprise. Or maybe we should say it’s the French-Asian-Hawaiian fusion food of the enterprise, since that’s what chef Glenn specializes in.

He studied at the reputed Harvard of culinary institutions, Le Cordon Bleu, and worked in top New York eateries like Le Bernadin.

“Actually, I was going to build fine dining here,” Glenn says about home base Honolulu, but “the competition is really tough.” The bowling center might backstop an adventure in gastronomic entrepreneurship, though, especially since the brothers both liked bowling. They could easily see it as a backdrop for the with-it younger crowd.

Gregg could be the decision-maker for the business and Glenn could handle the F&B. They were right. On “Her Way Thursday” every week, the girls bowl free and the guys come to see the girls and the waitresses dress up. In fact, bowling biz is booming all week, which Glenn attributes to the former owner, whom the brothers put on the payroll after they bought the center.

But the moral of this particular story is that a bowling center restaurant can indeed be a destination. Eighty percent of customers come to eat and don’t get around to bowling, Glenn reports.

Small wonder, to judge from Honolulu Weekly reporter Shantel Grace, who sampled Tasty Tuesday, a prix fixe ($39), five-course adventure on the aforesaid day each week.

Miss Grace started with cheesy buttermilk biscuits, then ahi and hamachi with Japanese cucumber and jalapeño ponzu, accompanied by a red wine sampler to clear the palate.

Next, chinois chicken salad with Oriental veg and Asian

OPERATIONS mustard dressing. Linguini and Parmesan cooked tableside in a cheese wheel, served with fresh basil and prociutto. Beef Wellington, which Miss Grace cut with a butter knife. And to finish, strawberry panna cotta – lemon cake and honey tuile cookie with haupia sorbet and wild berry coulis.

No figs on the menu that night, but a prociutto-fig wrap was a feature some time ago.

Also, every night, linen tablecloths, wrapped silverware, three-course wine tasting, and superb waiter service.

Miss Grace was ecstatic.

Glenn says the restaurant serves about 750 a day. Breakfast is 10% of the business, lunch another 25% or 30%, and the other 60-65% is dinner and the latenight menu.

Tasty Tuesday is a test-bed for the regular menu, although a little more upscale, he says. His most popular item: Tasty Chicken #1, in which the bird is battered with a garlic/chili pepper/soy-vinegar sauce. “We do 2,800 pounds of chicken per week. $9.95.” Oxtail soup comes in second with patrons and Korean kalbi short ribs third.

The Tasty Tuesday menu changes monthly.

Lest you go away thinking of Aiea Bowl as a laid-back operation, note that Glenn works from 8 in the morning to 3 the following morning, with Wednesdays off. That gives him a little time to breathe – and maybe jot down an idea for his next installment of Hawaii’s Kitchen, a cooking show he does on a local TV station. ❖ The Alley by day.

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COVER STORY

By Lydia Rypcinski

M

illions of people have gone to Las Vegas hoping to hit the jackpot, but most have left empty-handed.

Not so Fran and Dave Deken, who came up aces when they met in the pro shop at the Showboat Bowling Center in 1991.

“It was kind of love at first sight,” said Dave, who was running the shop at the time. The 73-year-old former weapons service officer landed at the ’Boat in 1987 after retiring from the U.S. Air Force four years earlier. Before moving to Vegas, Dave ran his own pro shop in Plattsburgh, NY, worked for ball designer Mo Pinel for a year or two, and drilled at the ABC nationals in Tulsa (1985) and Niagara Falls (1987).

“After Niagara Falls I swore I’d never work in a pro shop again,” Dave said.

“Then I get to Las Vegas. I’m in the Showboat center, and Pat Holseth [his boss at nationals] is there. He tells me they need a ball driller in the pro shop.

I started work there the next day and stayed 10 years.”

Dave was in the right place at the right time four years later, when Fran Wolf wanted to get a new ball drilled. She had just signed on as Showboat’s group and tournament coordinator following a 10-year stint as tournament/executive director for the Ladies Pro Bowlers Tour. Fran’s son Paul, who was working in the ’Boat’s pro shop, suggested she see Dave.

“My son told me, ‘Watch out for the Colonel, he’s kind of a grump,’” Fran said. “But that’s how we met.

“Jeanette Robinson [resident teaching pro at the Showboat at the time] was the real matchmaker between the two of us,” Fran continued. “She pushed us together as often as she could.”

One thing led to another for the pin-loving couple. Fran had bowled on the women’s tour before becoming tournament director. Dave had won the all-Air Force singles and all-events titles in 1970 and the Hoinke Classic doubles in 1976. He started working on her game and turned her from a fullroller into a semi-roller. They bowled leagues and tournaments together. They liked each other’s company.

“We enjoy laughing about things together,” said Fran, who is seven years Dave’s junior.

“One day I just out of the blue said to her, ‘Why don’t we get married?’

And she said, ‘Okay,’” Dave said. “And that was it.”

The Dekens tied the knot July 14, 1995 – Bastille Day. Prisoners of love and bowling, they spent their first evening as man and wife at two bowling centers.

“We got dressed up, went to dinner at Sam’s Town and then went to the ’Boat to watch a sweeper,” Fran said.

“And that’s when I started telling people that I sleep with the guy who drills my bowling balls.”

Dave followed Fran to Reno in 1997 when she became director of operations at the National Bowling Stadium. She left the job after a year but the couple stayed in Reno until 2002, when they moved to Coweta, OK. Fifteen miles outside of Tulsa, the self-proclaimed oil capital of the world, Coweta is cattle and horse country and a town of around 9,000. Home for the Dekens is four acres, a field currently rented to two horses, and a barn that is storing lane resurfacing equipment and a miscellany of machinery in parts and pieces. By the time they set up household there, the Dekens had 22

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also established a business called D&F Services that leased and serviced ball polishing machines.

“It got started in 2001, when the nationals were in Reno,” Dave recalled. “ZOT Pinsetter had put three ball polishers in at the stadium, and two at the Reno Hilton. When the tournament ended, they didn’t want to haul them back to Denver, so I bought them and started from there.”

Now Dave’s ownership responsibilities take him to 101 bowling centers in nine states during the bowling season to service, clean and vend 93 ball polishers and several bowling retail vending machines. While Dave’s on the road, Fran stays home and takes care of the books.

When Dave gets back to Coweta, Fran is often on her way to any of a number of bowling projects she’s involved with. If she’s not competing in the Golden Ladies Classic or an Oklahoma women’s tournament, she’s probably running one somewhere in the state.

And if she’s not attending a USBC Hall of Fame board meeting or Bowling Writers Association of America convention, she’s likely to be coordinating publicity for her local bowling association or recruiting women bowlers to compete in the Jewish Maccabiah Games – something she did in 2001 and 2003. Or bowling in leagues. Or coaching the local high school bowling team.

Or...you get the picture.

But then, an overflowing plate is old hat for Fran, who was inducted into the USBC Hall for meritorious service in 2006. During the 1970s and ’80s, she used to write, publish and distribute The MoKan Bowler in Kansas City, MO, while working at a center, raising two sons alone after losing her first husband to cancer in 1972, and competing part-time on the Professional Women Bowlers Association tour.

“My mother, who used to work for the Hollister newspapers in Chicago, had already retired to Kansas City, so we had a lot of fun with [that bowling paper],” Fran said. “I had 37 centers to cover in greater Kansas City at that time. It was a 300-mile trip every week just to deliver the papers!”

Fran is also a two-time cancer survivor, having beaten colon cancer in 1988 and lung cancer in 2004. She was still LPBT tournament director when the first cancer was diagnosed. True to form, Fran matter-of-factly arranged for her surgery to take place during the tour’s downtime Cover photograph and story photography by Michael Cooper.

COVER STORY

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COVER STORY between the fall 1988 and spring 1989 swings.

“The bowlers were [hilarious],” Fran recalled. “I would walk around on the concourse after getting the squad started, and they’d all tell me to go eat, go sit down – they wouldn’t even let me take my luggage into the hotels. They’d find someone to carry it for me.

“It was like having a hundred daughters,” she said with a chuckle.

Now Fran is involved with a project to honor many of those “daughters.” Along with former LPBT chairman John Sommer, publicist Joan Romeo, and Stars & Strikes editor Jim Goodwin, Fran is charged with creating an exhibit at the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame that will pay tribute to all who made women’s professional bowling a reality.

“We’re a pretty fussy, pushy committee; we’re very protective of women’s professional bowling,” said Fran, who serves as historian. “It has all this great history and I want to see these ladies, and everyone else who made a huge effort [to advance women’s pro bowling], get their due.”

All of Fran’s rushing around is no problem for Dave, whom she describes as a “quiet, don’t-rock-the-boat kind of guy.”

“I’m pretty well tied up with what I’ve got going here,” Dave said. “We go our separate ways. If I’m not on the road, she is.”

“Because we were grown up when we got married, we don’t feel like we have to be together 24 hours a day,” Fran

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said. “I don’t worry about going to Vegas for a weekend to bowl. All he asks is that I call him and tell him how I bowled.”

Dave retired from bowling a couple years ago due to injuries. Prior to that, he ran the gamut in bowling action.

Stationed in Guam and Thailand as a B-52 navigator during the Vietnam War, his bowling ball accompanied him on every flight. In the West Coast Senior Tour during the 1990s, he won four Super Senior titles.

His biggest payday came in 2002, when he won the Senior Easter Classic High Roller and $25,000 first prize. Yet Dave thinks his toughest competitor has been Fran, with whom he won the 1998 Nevada Senior Bowlers Tour doubles title.

“It was a lot of fun bowling with Fran,” Dave said. “She enjoyed kicking my butt. She hates to practice, really doesn’t like it, but she still kicked my butt.”

“I figure if my body doesn’t know what to do after 60 years of bowling, well…” Fran responded.

What’s obvious is that, practice or no, both Dekens know how to celebrate life together fully, on the lanes and off. ❖ A frequent contributor to IBI, Lydia Rypcinski has been writing for and about bowling for more than 30 years. She has won writing and photography awards in and outside the sport for her coverage, which has taken her to six continents and more than 20 countries.

She co-authored Revolutions:The Changing Game with Chip Zielke in 1998 and Sports Traveler Chicago with Anbritt Stengele in 2009.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

A BILLIONAIRE’S HOUSE That was the idea behind the bowling at North America’s biggest resort casino.

By Robin Breuner

C

handeliers, champagne, grand pianos and martinis – these are not the typical images evoked by the thought of bowling. At the newly unveiled, 35,000-square-foot High Rollers Luxury Lanes in the Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT, these images combine with tradition to create high-end bowling reality. High Rollers opened to fanfare in October with Kim Kardashian as celebrity host.

Foxwoods Resort Casino together with the MGM Grand at Foxwoods is North America’s largest resort casino property, with over 4,700,000 square feet of space. Owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, it opened in 1986 as the original high-stakes bingo hall. It is located approximately 50 miles from Hartford and less than two hours driving time from Boston.

High Rollers is the innovation of Boston’s Big Night Entertainment Partners – Ed Kane, Joe Kane and Randy Greenstein. The three have proven their talent for out-of-thebox entertainment concepts with two other Foxwood venues, The Scorpion Bar and Shrine at MGM Grand. Their newest restaurant concept, Red Lantern, opens in Boston next year.

The VIP suite.

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According to Ed Kane, the partners’ decision to create a bowling center was influenced by a lot of things. “We’ve been trying to do bowling for years. We started the Josh Beckett Foundation with Josh Beckett, who is a star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, and when we did it, we learned a lot about what we liked about bowling alleys: format, how the lanes are set up, and what the viewing areas are like for big parties.”

The Foundation hosts an annual celebrity bowling tournament called Beckett Bowl, which raises money for community-based programs that strive to improve the health and well-being of children, especially children that are severely ill, disabled, poor

NEW DEVELOPMENTS What would Steve Wynn build?

or otherwise disadvantaged.

“We just love design,” Kane said, “so when we got an opportunity to do it, the casino said, ‘Yes, go ahead.’ We made our rounds [of] bowling alleys in the country and picked up a lot of ideas. There are certain technical requirements that you have to try to adhere to, whether it’s lighting, measurements or length of the approach, all those things. We wanted to incorporate those [requirements] into a very beautiful, high-end look, like if you went into your billionaire friend’s house, and he had a bowling alley there. That was kind of our look – 1920s meets Bellagio.”

The concept of bowling in a resort casino is not a new one, but at High Rollers, bowlers feel as if they are still a part of the glamorous nightlife in the casino rather than in a separate venue. This $6 million bowling center cum elegant lounge sports 14 beautifully appointed lanes plus six separate VIP lanes. The classic decor features rich, dark woods, plush carpeting, flocked wallpaper, oversized leather banquettes, and walls lined with retro-chic, black–and–white photography of feathered showgirls and Rat Pack look-alikes.

Kane said that every decision the partners made, whether they were picking out mosaic tiles, hardwood floors or curtains, was influenced by the idea of what Steve Wynn would choose.

“If Steve Wynn built a bowling alley, what would it look like? We thought that High Rollers would be it,” he said.

Touted as a “state-of-the-art adult destination,” the center provides more than bowling. A two-level piano lounge featuring a 50-seat custom marble bar and a 103” plasma television complements the cutting-edge sound system and 60 high-definition televisions that span the lanes, flashing music videos and sporting events.

Lane-side food and beverage service includes inventive selections from Executive Chef Kevin Long such as hot lobster dip, Philly spring rolls, Narragansett clam chowder, and brick oven pizzas. The drink menu features specialty martinis with names like “Lexus” and “Indulgence” and an oversized cocktail called “The High Roller Experience” described as a “giant classic French martini topped with champagne from your personal Dom Perignon bottle for you to drink after your champagne toast.”

Beyond the six VIP bowling lanes, High Rollers has three private rooms that can accommodate 30-100 guests. The entire facility is available to rent for up to 800 people.

Specialty theme and customizable menus are available. High Rollers also offers four professional Brunswick Gold Crown billiard tables, shuffleboard and a video gaming area.

Lanes are available on a first come, first served basis and can hold eight people. There is a two-hour limit when there is a wait. Day rates are $5 during the week and $6 on weekends; night games cost $6 and $9, respectively.

Age groups are diverse, according to Jason Nichols, Director of Operations for Big Night Entertainment Group. “We’ve had young children in here but late at night, after 7 p.m., we turn to 21 and older only. Children are coming in with families for the most part. We do have a lot of groups coming in, older folks coming in early as well to have lunch and basically to enjoy the ambience of the lounge.”

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NEW DEVELOPMENTS The 14 open lanes in a wide-angle view.

“We have a dress code at night,” Kane said, “and it does skew ‘higher end’ in the sense that I think it’s great for dates, I think it’s great for bachelorette parties, it’s great for a group of girls who are going out on a Friday or Saturday night because it’s kind of glamorous-looking. But anybody can come out and bowl. It’s not like you have to have a tuxedo to come out.

“The music is all over the board – top hits from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, and our age demographic after 7 at night is basically 21-80.

“We like to call it ‘the Four Seasons of bowling’.”

Lane reservations are available with the purchase of packages, which start at $35 per person for 8-24 guests during the daytime. This includes two hours of bowling, shoe rental, homemade Yukon potato chips and brick oven pizza. The most expensive evening package is $90 per person for 8-24 guests. This package includes two hours of bowling with shoe rental, two hours of premium bar service, teriyaki chicken skewers, Philly spring rolls, crabbie melts, “oversized” grilled cheese, and classic shrimp cocktail. Luxury VIP packages are also available after 10 p.m.

“Our feeling is let’s give people a reservation option,” Kane said, “let’s give them a package option and sell the lanes, because we’ve got a limited amount. Twenty lanes is not a lot of lanes to sell out. On a busy day there, they have 45,000 people through the doors.”

Luxury decor elements include chandeliers that parade above the lanes, hanging from coffered ceilings and surrounded by classic dentelle work. The coffered ceilings were cleverly designed to help deaden the noise of the actual bowling in order to facilitate conversation and the sound of the music. Each section has three sets of coffers. Kane said that the ceiling height is intentionally lower than most bowling centers for the same reason – to create a boutique-scale 28

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feeling. The ceilings are 13.5 feet in the bowling area and nine feet in the billiards area.

In the settee area, soft seating is arranged for privacy. “It’s like going in your living room to watch television and bowl and hang out with your friends, ” said Kane.

According to Nichols, the partners have no current plans to accommodate leagues but hope eventually to host sweepers or charity events. Local bowlers are mostly Foxwoods employees coming in after work or on their days off with their families.

“We operate independent of the casino, so our economic structure is independent of theirs. They like us because we bring in national, regional and local people. We run it as a private business. Our goal is to tap into the 45,000 people who might want something else to do other than gamble, eat and shop,” said Kane.

“It’s unbelievable, it really is,” Nichols said. “When you first walk in, it’s so grand you don’t even feel like it’s a bowling alley.

With everything set up and the multi-level lounge, it’s unbelievable. And then you look left and right and see the lanes, that’s when you actually realize that you are in a bowling alley.” ❖

Robin Breuner is a freelance writer who lives on Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, California with her husband, two kids and two dogs.

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PROFILE

Photo by Dave Scranton

BOWLING AT LANDS’ END M

aybe we should have slugged this piece “New Light on Old Developments” because the two bowling lanes at Great Camp Sagamore in the Adirondacks were put down in 1914 and haven’t been renewed since. What we glimpsed in the Oct. 1214 catalog for kids’ apparel from Lands’ End was just about what workers laid down in those pre-World War I days.

They dug down six feet to get below the frost level, then poured concrete. Brunswick-Balke-Collender completed the job.

The lanes lie in a pavilion open to the summer air when Sagamore is receiving guests, Memorial Day to mid-October. Tent canvas rolls down to batten the hatches when the weather cools and Sagamore is closed.

Originally 1,526 acres at Racquette Lake, NY, the camp was developed by architect William West Durant. He lived there until 1901 when he sold the property to Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, son of railroad IBI

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PROFILE Photos by Dave Scranton

and shipping pioneer Cornelius Vanderbilt. From the Vanderbilts, the camp passed to a private conservatory group, Sagamore Institute of the Adirondacks, which manages its 18 acres and 27 buildings today.

Tours that include the lanes are twice daily in the summer and daily in the autumn.

We understand from Executive Director Beverly Bridger that Sagamore Institute is trying to raise funds to restore the lanes and to establish an internship program with a local school for historic preservation to do the work. For more information on the camp, visit www.GreatCampSagamore.org. â?–

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IN

CENTREVILLE

FIELD J

ason Mileo Hall is at rest now in a corner of his father’s field, where the woods begin.

His grandfather Wally drives the hour and a half from Arlington National Cemetery on most Veterans Day to visit the grave. A director of the Bowlers to Veterans Link for seven years, Wally has taken part each of those years in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns on Veterans Day, which he usually calls Armistice Day because that was its name when he was a young man. The President lays the first wreath; after the speeches, invited organizations, including BVL, each lay a wreath. The day is usually overcast and cold even in the afternoon when the ceremonies are finished.

The Marines wanted to bury Jason at Arlington but his mother and father wanted him at home with them. The grave is in 200 acres where his father runs a construction company and the family farms the land. It is in Centreville, across Chesapeake Bay from Pasadena, MD, where Wally lives and Jason grew up, about 34 miles from Baltimore. Wally owns and operates three bowling centers in the area. He was BPAA president in 1990-92.

Jason went straight from high school graduation into the Marines when he was 17. He planned to go to college but thought a hitch in the Marines would be great experience first, and it was. He was stationed around the

With brother Zachary, then about four, and dad Phillip in Colorado, fall 2002.

world for the next couple of years until he was deployed for the war in Iraq in the spring of 2003.

Wally has a letter from Jason written on the eve of going into battle. The letter

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says, “I hope we will not go to war, but if we do I am ready to defend the nation.”

“In his mind, [he] also saw them going to relieve the citizens of Iraq from the despot Saddam Hussein, as liberating the people and bringing freedom to them. That’s how he saw his mission and his purpose. It’s so naive in a way but so good in a way.” Wally is among those who believe the war came to be about oil.

It was the last letter Jason wrote him.

The next day, Jason’s unit swept across the Kuwait border and raced for Baghdad. Jason was in the leading group.

The city was taken on a Thursday and one of the embedded TV reporters lent Jason his satellite phone to call home. His father and mother were out. He left a message on the voice mail. “He was so happy in that message. So upbeat. He said ‘They’re all cheering us. It’s so great.

We’ve got Baghdad. We’ve won the war.’”

In the next few days, Marine units were assigned to secure the city and went out on night patrols looking for guerillas. Jason’s unit was resting but they were asked for volunteers and he offered to go. An impromptu group was put together to stake out a mosque where guerilla activity had been rumored.

The group took positions on the roof of the mosque so as to monitor the streets below. They didn’t know that a group of Marine snipers that had left the bivouac about the same time on the same mission had settled into a high-rise building not far away. They did not know this because their leaders had not kept in touch. The snipers were high enough in their building to look down on the roof of the mosque. When one of them picked up the movement of a figure in the dark on the mosque roof, he fired. The bullet hit Jason in the back.

“We tend to be complacent about these things. We see it on the movies and it’s all heroics. The goodies always win, the cavalry always arrives. That’s not the way it is in real life.”

Wally’s work for BVL, which began at his centers five years before Jason’s death, is “a very personal thing now.

“There’s a whole difference between peacetime and wartime. We have this wonderful life in America here and because of the nature of the

March 2003 in Kuwait. The next month he was in Baghdad.

United States being so far removed from other countries, with the exception of Mexico and Canada, most Americans have not felt first-hand the horrors of war except for 9/11.

“I don’t think you can really do enough for these men and women.”

Jason Hall did well in the Marines, having already been recommended for a promotion from corporal to sergeant when he died. He was 20 years old.

He was elevated posthumously. ❖ For more information on BVL, visit www.BowlForVeterans.org.

WHAT BOWLING MEANS TO ME

Mr. Clean Few employees can match the dedication of Arthur Fortaliza.

By Kelly Bennett

T

ables at bowling alleys are places, like bus stop benches and public water fountains, where you can almost feel the germs crawling into your body.

The sense is not unfounded. Watch a pair of grimy little hands grip a slice of greasy pizza, reach up to a snotty nose for a quick wipe, then smear the ooze all over the edge of the table before dashing back to the bowling lane for an attempt at a strike or a spare, and you’ll see the table in front of you in a different light.

But not all bowling alleys employ Arthur Fortaliza. His thrice-weekly cleaning effort is the kind of painstaking scrub-down you hope happens – but assume doesn’t – when the last person has gone home from places like this.

One recent weekday morning, Fortaliza barely looks up as I walk up to the table he’s spraying with a bottle of green cleaning solution. He takes one white towel from a stack and folds it, matching corner to corner before mopping up the puddle of cleaner.

Fortaliza is 43 years old and has Downs syndrome. He works here three mornings a week, from 9 to 11, before heading out for life-skills training with an

aide. He utters a few words of hello to me, answers a couple of questions, but is clearly not in the business of speaking to some reporter when there is work to do. For two hours, he’ll barely acknowledge my presence.

His dedication is captivating.

“He doesn’t stop for anything – he just keeps going and going,” says Barbara Raeburn, the manager behind the counter at the bowling alley this morning. “We have to make him stop working.”

The job is tedious, the type someone might take with hopes of leaving for something better in a month or two. As Fortaliza executes it, it means spraying and scrubbing and wiping every inch of the hard surfaces at the end of the lanes: the tabletop, the table legs, the under part of the table, the chair backs, the chair legs, the chair seats, the underneath of the counters, the trash can lid, the plastic holders advertising special events and pizza specials.

Fortaliza has worked here for a decade. He has an employment coach who sits within sight while he works. But paychecks for $8.50 per hour are paid directly to Fortaliza. He’s one of about 400 people in San Diego County [CA] placed in jobs like this by a local nonprofit, Employment and Community

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WHAT BOWLING MEANS TO ME Options, which got started 25 years ago.

Fortaliza’s outfit – gray shorts, red-and-black Nikes, and a T-shirt from his friends at N.F.L. Alumni Association – enables the gymnastics of his work. He crouches and rolls to scrub invisible dirt and dust, cramming his head into crannies and lying, limbs outstretched, on the carpet to reach that one...last...spot. Then he moves on to the next table, pulling three chairs into a straight line before spraying the green solution.

“We have a cleaning crew that comes in and cleans up the place every night, but really, Arthur does a better job than the cleaning crew does,” Raeburn says.

He’s a mainstay at Mira Mesa Lanes. In the few moments he diverts his gaze from his duties, he shakes his head to joke with co-workers, his eyes sparkling under a flop of gray-and-white hair.

Fortaliza was one of the first people in the program when it started in 1985. He moved to Minnesota for a while with his parents, but they’ve passed away. Now Fortaliza lives with his brother.

He takes the bus alone every morning, stopping first at Winchell’s for coffee. After work, Fortaliza and another coworker with disabilities will head out with their coach to practice

things like crossing the street safely, depositing their checks at the bank, and grocery shopping.

At about 10 a.m., an hour into Fortaliza’s shift, a few buses pull up into the parking lot, and dozens of summer camp kids stream through the door. Fortaliza is unfazed. He’s on his fourth table. At one point, all I can see of him is a few fingers, resting on top of a counter while he reaches down to clean the bottom of the other side.

Near the end of Fortaliza’s shift, he’s beginning to show the first slight signs of fatigue. On his seventh and eighth tables, he stops between swipes of the towel to put his hands on his hips and take deep breaths. He exhales upward, blowing the white flop of hair on his forehead into the air.

Finally, Fortaliza’s job coach comes over to him to tell him, it’s time to wrap up. He nods, gathers up his towels, takes them to a back room and comes to sit down while he waits for his co-worker.

He fills a small cup of water, plunks his 4-foot-10-inch frame into a chair, swings his legs out in front of him, and yawns. He’ll pick up where he left off in a couple of days. ❖ Reprinted from voiceofsandiego.org.

SHOWCASE WEB-BASED LOCATOR SERVICE

LIFT ROD COVERS

Your potential customers type in “bowling” on their search engine and up comes your contact info, even if you don’t have a website or new scoring – if you have Internet location service.

New Center Consulting, Inc. now offers a web locator service that can include your center information, website links, and/or coupons at the touch of your customer’s fingertips, starting as low as $100 set-up and $35 a month. For more information, call Glenn Hartshorn, 888-452-3748.

From Lifelong International Bowling, Inc. and Bowling Products.com, patented Rocket Rails for Brunswick A2s and A2 conversions are the easiest-to-install lift rod covers in the industry. Designed to self-center as the ball goes up, they stay aligned. Special hybrid material repels oil and has the grip of rubber with the longevity of urethane. For more information, visit http://www.bowlingproducts.com/en/products/rrbruns.htm.

LED LIGHTS

ON-LANE ADVERTISING

New general purpose indoor/outdoor LED lights from Industrial Lighting replace inefficient incandescent, flourescent or metal halide lights. Super-long life saves 80-93% on energy bills. Produce no UV or infrared, contain no hazardous materials, and reduce CO2 emissions. Eliminate maintenance, replacement lamps and ballasts. For more information, call 800-875-9006.

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A fresh breeze from Switch Bowling–as in “it’s a breeze” to turn your Switch scoring system into a powerful on-lane advertising medium. Just take your digital photos of flyers, signage, personal messages to your bowlers, whatever. Then upload them to your monitors using the Switch terminal.

That’s how the new Santa Clarita Lanes in Santa Clarita, CA did it and wowed their bowlers and themselves. For more information, call James Borin, 972-679-4824 or email james@switchbowling.com.

SHOWCASE REVENUE BUILDER

The Profit Platform, manufactured by GKM International, LLC will be an important revenue-generating component for a Chicago area center scheduled to open early 2011. Viper Alley in Lincolnshire, IL will have the unique ability to transform its 6 Qubica/AMF lanes into a large performance platform for events found at venues like The House of Blues. For more information on Profit Platform visit www.profitplatform.biz or phone 310-791-7092.

WOMEN’S PRO BOWLING EXHIBIT

Help the industry pay tribute to the women trailblazers, tour organizers, international players and legends of the sport.

The International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame needs your support to build a special permanent exhibit honoring the past 50 years of Women’s Pro Bowling.

Send your tax-deductible donations to IBMHF, Attn: Women’s Pro Bowling Exhibit, 621 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, Texas 76011 or call 800-343-1329.

QUBICAAMF PINS FALL DATING

NEW PRODUCTS SHOWCASED

DELTA STRIKE LASER TAG

GAME PRIZES

IN-SEASON INSTALLATIONS

REPLACEMENT MONITORS

QubicaAMF pins are high scoring, incredibly durable and now even more attractive. Get your AMFLite pins today and don’t pay until fall 2011. No minimum purchase required, free custom logo with 10–set order, special pricing AMFLite Pinnacle pins, plus 2year warranty, special pricing on Entry Level Birthday pins.

Orders must ship by 1/31/11. To order call: 1-800-333-0527.

Delta Strike touts its new generation laser tag gun as “the most advanced laser tag product in the world.” To be released January 2011, this gun has a new light-weight injection molded casing, a warning device to minimize misuse, optical hand sensor, membership card log on plus a vibrating hit sensor and wireless PC control. A new outdoor adaption kit is coming out in the first half of 2011. For more information, email: info@deltastrike.net or visit www.deltastrike.net.

Brunswick encourages in-season modernization of lanes with Brunswick Pro Lane or Avilane— the industry’s best, most reliable, high scoring lanes. Installation is managed around business hours providing uninterrupted bowling throughout the process. League bowlers see and experience the investment being made in their center! For more details, call your Brunswick Representative at 800-YES-BOWL or 231-725-4966.

US Bowling Corporation congratulates Sparians on its new bowling center in Raleigh, NC which was set to open this past December. New US Bowling products showcased in this center are: new “Reflections” Ball Rack and Hood System, Lighted Division Capping System, 3-Lane Media Mask System and US Bowling’s Z-Bumper and Gutter System. For info on these products, contact US Bowling Corp. 877-858-2695.

Redemption Plus has acquired Emerald Toy Company, maker and distributor of quality soft-stuffed toys. Now Redemption Plus offers flexible container programs for customers interested in volume quantity savings; U.S. warehouse operations, allowing quick distribution for North American companies; and custom items for specific sizes, price points, colors and materials. For more information, visit www.RedemptionPlus.com or call 888-564-7587. Visit Emerald Toy at www.EmeraldToy.com.

QubicaAMF offers full LCD Monitor Replacement Packages, Video Interface Only Packages, and Video Interface/Support Assembly Packages. With 30 years monitor sales and service experience, we have the technology and know-how you need today. Available for QubicaAMF Bowland, Bowland X & BES; AMF AccuScore Plus, XL, BOSS; Brunswick AS80/90/90C, Frameworx & Vector. For more information, contact your local sales representative or go to www.qubicaamf.com and view LCD Monitors on the Products page.

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DATEBOOK

CLASSIFIEDS

JANUARY 13 IBI FREE Webinar Series “Bowling 2035: Saving the Industry” Joe Schumacker.

Visit www.bowlingindustry.com to register. 818-789-2695.

19-22 BPAA’s Bowling Summit Red Rock Resort and Casino, Las Vegas. 800-343-1329.

FEBRUARY 28 Illinois State BPA Board of Directors Meeting and Leadership Development Workshop Doubletree Hotel, Bloomington.

Bill Duff, 847-982-1305, billduff@bowlillinois.com.

MARCH 8-10 1st International Bowling Exhibition Kuwait 2011 Mavenpick Convention Center, Salmiya. www.BestExpo-kw.com.

MAY 16 Illinois State BPA Board of Directors Meeting Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, Normal.

Bill Duff, 847-982-1305, billduff@bowlillinois.com.

NEW KEYPADS • FRONT DESK LCD MONITORS

291 Sandy Run, Melbourne, FL 32940

26-7/1 Bowl Expo Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Grapevine, TX. 888-649-5685.

IBI

AS80/90 • BOARD REPAIR • Frameworx

Michael P. Davies (321) 254-7849

JUNE

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SERVICE CALLS WORLDWIDE • PRE-SHIPS • WE SELL

January 2011

on the web: bowlingscorer.com email: mike@bowlingscorer.com

SELL IT FAST IN IBI

818-789-2695

CLASSIFIEDS

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE AMERICAN-MADE PINSETTER PARTS – HIGHEST QUALITY. Visit us on the web at www.ebnservices.com or call toll free (888) 435-6289.

USED BRUNSWICK PARTS, A2 parts and assemblies.

Large Inventory. www.usedpinsetterparts.com.

NEW & USED Pro Shop Equipment.

Jayhawk Bowling Supply. 800-2556436 or jayhawkbowling.com.

Pinsetter Parts New from ALL major manufacturers. HUGE IN STOCK inventory.

USED Brunswick Scoring parts, AS90 cameras, processors, lane cables, monitors, and PC boards. Order online @ 888SBIBOWL.com or (888) 724-2695.

The Mechanics Choice!

Buy or Sell @ www.bowlingyardsale.com; one-stop shopping for bowling equipment — from lane packages to dust mops!

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

MUST SELL. 20 lanes Qubica scoring equipment. Purchased new in 2007. Monitors, VDBs, Keyboards, Scoring Pedestals, POS +.

By piece or make offer on entire lot. Pictures available @ www.bowljupiter.com/qubica. htm.

(214) 431-7561; email: jongano_9@hotmail.com.

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

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CLASSIFIEDS

I could not have gotten my loan without him.

Bill Hanson All Star Lanes Fort Myers, Florida The leading source for real estate loans with low down payments

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 WISCONSIN: 12 lanes, auto scoring, Anvilane synthetics, 82-70s. Great food sales. Yearly tournament. Attached, large 3 bedroom apartment w/ fireplace. $550K. (715) 223-8230.

Ken Paton (503) 645-5630 www.kenpaton.com kpaton@kenpaton.com

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

UPSTATE NEW YORK: 8-lane center/ commercial building built in 1992.

Synthetic lanes, new automatic scoring, kitchen and room to expand! Reduced to sell @ $375,000. Call (315) 376-3611.

•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.

FAX YOUR ORDER TO US AT:

530-432-2933

CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-700-4KEY INTʼL 530-432-1027 Orange County Security Consultants 10285 Ironclad Road, Rough & Ready, CA 95975

For FLORIDA CENTERS Call DAVID DRISCOLL & ASSOCIATES 1-800-444-BOWL P.O. Box 189 Howey-in-the-Hills, FL 34737 AN AFFILIATE OF SANDY HANSELL & ASSOCIATES 40

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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.

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

Includes business and real estate. Nice, smaller community. Owner retiring. $212,000. Leave message (620) 397-5828.

SOUTHERN INDIANA (close to Indianapolis): 18-lane Brunswick center with lounge, liquor license & movie theater on 4+ acres. Turnkey business.

Owner retiring. Great investment!

(765) 349-1312.

ARIZONA, PAYSON: 16 LANES. Assume mortgage. Details @ http://rimcountry lanes.com/4sale.pdf. Bob (602) 377-6657.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: 16-lane center w/ synthetic lanes, 82-70s, 19,000 s/f building w/ lots of parking. Newly remodeled bar & large kitchen. Owner retiring. (530) 598-2133.

CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE NEW YORK STATE: Thousand Island region. 8-lane Brunswick center w/ cosmic bowling, auto scoring. Established leagues + many improvements. $309,000. Call Jill @ Lori Gervera Real Estate (315) 771-9302.

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.

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. $1.2m. Call Bryan (2180 380-8089. www.majesticpine.com.

WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: One of the top five places to move! Remodeled 32-lane center. Good numbers. $3.1m gets it all. Fax qualified inquiries to (828) 253-0362.

NE PENNSYLVANIA: 12-lane center, 10,500 s/f with 82-70s, Twelve Strike scoring, a great sports bar and game room. Large parking lot.

Huge potential. Possible owner financing. $625,000. Call Mike (727) 858-3427.

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CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE

CENTERS FOR SALE SOUTHWESTERN WYOMING: 12 lanes + cafĂŠ & lounge, 2 acres w/ 5 bedroom home. Full liquor & fireworks licenses.

Outside Salt Lake City area. Dennis @ Uinta Realty, Inc. (888) 804-4805 or uintarlt@allwest.net.

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.

SOUTHERN NEVADA: 8-lane center.

Only center in town of 15,000. 30 minutes from Las Vegas. AMF 82-70s, newer Twelve Strike scoring. R/E leased.

Will consider lease/option with qualified person. REDUCED TO $175,000. Call Steve @ (702) 293-2368; email ljjaa1414@yahoo.com.

CENTRAL IDAHO: 8-lane center and restaurant in central Idaho mountains.

Small town. Only center within 60-mile radius. Brunswick A-2 machines; Anvilane lane beds; automatic scoring.

(208) 879-4448.

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: 16-lane center REDUCED to $799,000 for quick sale.

Synthetics, 82-70s, 19,000 s/f + parking.

Newly remodeled bar, large kitchen. Owner retiring. Will consider selling only equipment or building. www.siskiyoulanes.com. (530) 598-2133.

NORTHWEST LOUISIANA: 12-LANE Brunswick center. REDUCED TO SELL NOW! Includes auto scoring, glow bowling, pizza, large dining area & video poker. Good income. Long Lease. Great opportunity. Call Mike (318) 578-0772.

CENTERS FOR SALE NW INDIANA (Lake Michigan/National Lake Shore area): Well-maintained 32lane center, family owned & operated since 1997 with spacious nightclub lounge on 6.6 acres. Also billiards, arcade, pro shop, full-service restaurant, established leagues, birthday party activity & MORE! Owner retiring. Reasonably priced. (219) 921-4999.

CENTRAL ALABAMA: Recently remodeled, split house w/24 synthetic lanes (16 & 8) in 28,000 s/f building in shopping center; Brunswick A2s & 2000 seating; AccuScore Plus; VIA returns & storage tables; systems for Cosmic; established leagues; snack bar, pro shop & game/pool table area. Nearest competition 28 miles w/ colleges & Honda factory within minutes. Need to sell due to health. Reasonably priced. (435) 705-0420.

NORTHERN WISCONSIN: Turnkey business. 12-lane center, Brunswick A-2s, Frameworx scoring, full bar and restaurant.

Good league base with large tournament.

Contact Bruce @ (715) 614-7779.

WWW.FACEBOOKBOWLING.COM

CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE

CENTERS FOR SALE MISSOURI, St. Louis area: Two centers for Sale or Lease in great bowling areas.

1) 16-lane Brunswick recently remodeled.

2) 24-lane Brunswick/Qubica Scoring, stateof-the-art with all the whistles and bells.

MUST SEE! Contact Voss Management Properties (636) 458-9430 or stlbpa@aol.com.

MICHIGAN, Lake Odessa: 12-lane center with updated AMF scoring, 82-70 pinsetters and full-menu restaurant & bar. Indoor/patio seating across from public beach. R&E. Owner retiring. Call Patti @ Freshwater Properties (616) 260-6500 or patti@grar.com.

NE NEVADA: New 2001. 16 lanes, 19,200 square feet, 1.68 acres paved, sound & lighting, lounge w/ gaming, arcade, full service snack bar & pro shop. Call (775) 934-1539.

CENTRAL ILLINOIS: PRICED TO SELL!!

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

MINNESOTA—Brainerd Lakes area: Successful 8-lane AMF center with pizza, restaurant & bar. 7,952 s/f. In middle of Nature’s Paradise! Contact Chris @ CloseConverse (218) 828-3334.

TEXAS, SE Houston: 40-lane center in mid-sized market. Updated scoring, lanes, seating, masking units in 2007 plus remodeled bar. New roof. Includes RE. Bank owned. Ken Paton (503) 645-5630.

Sell Your

Center or

Eqpt.

Fast!

(818) 789-2695 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@earthlink.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

(570) 346-5559

MIKE BARRETT Call for Price List

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

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CLASSIFIEDS SERVICES AVAILABLE Drill Bit Sharpening and Measuring Ball Repair. Jayhawk Bowling Supply. 800255-6436 or Jayhawkbowling.com.

AMF 65-25 CHASSIS: Conversion, Repair, Replace & Exchange. Includes rewiring, requested repairs, conversion to MK 30 board system and converting chassis to new PR system where applicable.

TOTAL SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. References available.

CHASSIS DOCTORS (330) 314-8951.

MANAGER WANTED MANAGER WANTED for large Midwestern center in a GREAT city.

For further information, please fax or email resume to Box 4005, (818) 789-2812 or info@bowlingindustry.com.

HELP WANTED PROMOTIONS PERSON for multi-centers in Indiana/Kentucky area. Great opportunity!

Dennis (502) 722-9314.

POSITION WANTED

BUY

AMF • BRUNSWICK EQUIPMENT COMPLETE PACKAGES WORLDʼS LARGEST NEW – USED SPARE PARTS INVENTORY

SEL L

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 - bpitx@texasonline.net

www.bowlingpartsandequipment.com

MINIATURE GOLF COURSES Indoor/Outdoor. Immediate Installation. $5,900.00 & up.

2021 Bridge Street Jessup, PA 18434 570-489-8623 www.minigolfinc.com 44

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WWW.FACEBOOKBOWLING.COM

Brunswick “A” mechanic, 12+ years experience, AS-80/AS-90 scoring system expertise. Former owner/GM. Willing to relocate. Contact me at (308) 380-8594.

Wanted—-job as a manager for a Brunswick center. 30+ years experience in all phases of running a center. Trustworthy with great references. Seeing is believing! Call Owen (763) 497-3139. Please leave message.

CLASSIFIEDS

3

EASY WAYS

to place your Classified Ad in International Bowling Industry Magazine

Call (818) 789-2695

Fax (818) 789-2812

E-mail your ad to:

info@bowlingindustry.com

"Bowling Center Construction Specialists" New Center Construction Family Entertainment Centers Residential Bowling Lanes Modernization Mini Bowling Lanes Automatic Scoring CONTACT

BRIAN ESTES

Toll Free: (866) 961-7633 Office: (734) 469-4293 Email: build@capitalbowlingservice.com

www.CapitalBowlingService.com IBI

January 2011

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REMEMBER WHEN

1938

46

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t’s 1938, Look, a photojournalistic, popular magazine with a circulation of 2 million, is one year old, and Europe is immersed in the beginnings of war. However, it was the lull before the storm for Americans who were entranced by Jeanette MacDonald, Ginger Rogers and Alice Faye. They followed the boxing victories of Henry Armstrong in the pages of their favorite magazine, and the indoor sport of choice was bowling with 10 million men and women bowling regularly.

In this February 1938 Look photo spread, Joe Falcaro, Champion Match Bowler gives tips on how to bowl a perfect strike. The prewar years showed association membership on the rise with ABC members at 446,000 which would not peak until 1964 when it reached 4,575,000 members. â?–