IBI Marc h 2010

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

CONTENTS

VOL 18.3

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

6 THE ISSUE AT HAND

22 PROFILE

Capstone

The rock in the road

By Scott Frager

The life of rock music legend Wanda Jackson has had more than its share of breakthroughs and bowling.

8 SHORTS Bill Scheid retires...

At Bowling Summit, museum money; manufacturer is new NAIR prexy; and peoplewatching.

By Gregory Keer

OFFICE MANAGER Patty Heath heath@bowlingindustry.com

CONTRIBUTORS Gregory Keer Paul Lane

tahmizian@bowlingindustry.com

INTERNATIONAL BOWLING CAMPUS 28 History is made!

IBC officially opens. A souvenir portfolio of the crowds, the headquarters, the museum, the first balls, and a moment in history for the bowling industry.

A $20-million love song to New York City.

And an exclusive for IBI.

groh@bowlingindustry.com

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Victoria Tahmizian

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MANAGING EDITOR Fred Groh

32 History’s builder Hank Harris, the man who put the bricks together.

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

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

www.BowlingIndustry.com

HOTLINE: 888-424-2695

36 Showcase

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.

Range rider

38 Datebook

MEMBER AND/OR SUPPORTER OF:

Jamie Brooks has owned more than 40 centers in his career. What are the chances he is about to settle down at last?

39 Classifieds

14 MY FRAME

22

46 REMEMBER WHEN

Sarah who?

1943

Is the industry really so lucky to get Sarah Palin for Expo?

Lowell Jackson was one of the most remarkable stars the game has ever seen.

By Paul Lane

16 COVER STORY

By Fred Groh

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28

THE ISSUE AT HAND

Capstone Two years ago this month, we put aside half the editorial we had ready to go for our March 2008 issue because of something extraordinary that had happened at Bowling Summit. We created a special section on it and we put it on our cover.

The big event was USBC’s decision, announced at Summit, to move south and join BPAA in Arlington. The “integration” of the two associations that had been a catchword around the industry for a decade was going to happen, after all.

We followed the adventure closely, reporting on events, issues and people as things progressed until the 25th day of January this year.

On that day, a story ended that was two years in the telling and a new story began, when the International Bowling Campus–the combined BPAA-USBC headquarters–officially opened in Arlington.

I wouldn’t have missed it, and I wasn’t disappointed. The crowd, the excitement, the sense of festivity on that cool, sunny day fit the occasion perfectly. The offices, the Training and Research Center, the International Museum and Hall of Fame (and even the museum’s gift shop), all taken together are a stunner, as our portfolio beginning on page 28 shows. The next time you are in the Dallas area, be sure you drop by.

I will confess that when I first heard about the Arlington move, I was more than a little skeptical. I wasn’t convinced that the benefits of collaboration would outweigh the dollar cost of the move and the toll it would take on people then working at USBC. I still maintain some reservations whether it is a good idea for the

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governing body of the sport and the owners of the playing fields to be so intimate with each other. It’s not the physical distance that is my concern. It’s the ability to preserve and maintain a healthy system of checks and balances. Collaboration is great. Integration can get sticky.

Given some of USBC’s recent decisions, such as questionable changes it’s made in its award program, and with the Greendale building still unsold (reportedly its value has declined to about a third of what it was at the onset of the recession), there are some major financial obstacles headed our way.

BPAA and USBC are not the only groups with some serious long-term strategy issues, either. Once again, the viability of the PBA has been cast in doubt.

On the brighter side, we should all feel comforted that the new commanders at BPAA and USBC are eminently talented, smart and qualified.

Like you, when I peer toward the future that lies over the horizon, I wonder what the landscape will look like. One thing is clear, however. You can bet your bottom dollar that it will look nothing like it did in the past.

Good or bad? You decide.

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

THIS MONTH AT www.BowlingIndustry.com

Read Fred Kaplowitz’s ongoing blog on marketing your business.

SHORTS The opening of the International Bowling Campus stole the show, but some notable names in new roles were revealed at Bowling Summit, Jan. 23-27 at the Campus in Arlington, TX. Dissatisfied with the performance of outside sales agents to date, Strike Ten Entertainment is returning to its role in sponsorship sales and activation, announced Frank DeSocio. Meanwhile, STE awaits a new mission concept from BPAA. In the Town Hall Forum, former BPAA president Wally

Dan Labrecque

Johnny Petraglia

Hall asked BPAA treasurer Tom Martino if he thought STE, having lost $500,000 in the past two years, would be able to remain self-supporting. Martino answered in the affirmative.

E.D. Steve Johnson’s report to the membership five months into the job reiterated his drive to produce quality, not necessarily quantity, in programs for members. A new strategic plan is in the spirit of “Control our own destiny and lead the industry,” said Johnson.

He added that integration with USBC is “not a focus of mine at this time. Executing on our newly developed strategic plan will in fact over time force integration. USBC is not, at this date in my opinion, ready to Continued on page 10

Ebonite’s Scheid to Retire; New CEO Named Bill Scheid, president and CEO of Ebonite International, has announced his retirement effective April 1.

He will be succeeded by Randy Schickert, who filled executive positions at Regal Ware Worldwide, a maker of stainless steel cookware; Huffy Sports, manufacturer of basketball systems and other sporting goods; and DESA Indoor/Outdoor products, a consumer heating products company.

Ebonite board chairman Steven Tuttleman said the company looked for Scheid’s replacement among candidates with experience in product development, manufacturing, marketing, and both domestic and international sales.

Scheid said he is “impressed” with Schickert, who Scheid thinks will bring “a great crosspollination with him, coming from the outside with his own set of technical skills.”

At press time, the new man was expected to report for duty on Feb. 22. Schikert will initially be meeting with customers to learn about the company and its products from them.

Scheid said he was retiring because he turns 65 this year, “and I thought it was time.”

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He had no definite plans for retirement activity when we talked briefly with him about his career as this issue went to press.

Scheid got into bowling in 1989 because he answered an ad.

Then manager of assembly plant operations and warehouse and distribution for a sprinkler manufacturer, he started with Ebonite as vice president and general manager, as the ad had promised.

He became president when the sitting president retired a few years later, and CEO soon after that.

Scheid said he ranks the development of Ebonite’s Striking Effects program one of the two most satisfying accomplishments in his career with the company. Together with Bill Supper, then vice president for sales, he spent more than a year researching merchandizing techniques; the two men even attended a segment of the Professional Golfers’ Association pro shop school. Ebonite hired a consultant firm to help develop the program, then taught the techniques to Ebonite salesmen who provided hands-on assistance to help pro shops set them up.

“The program we developed has changed over time,” said Scheid, but “I think we brought a new perspective to merchandising and pro shop appearance. The legacy remains that what Ebonite International designed then is pretty much the standard for the way better-merchandised pro shops look today.”

Scheid’s other point of special satisfaction is company systems he describes as “fairly sophisticated and [that] match up well with the better manufacturers.” They include Ebonite’s ERP programs for intra-company flow of information, its warehousing and distribution setup, and its quality-control programs.

Asked what he would take away from Ebonite, Scheid said, “A lot of good friends.”

No further personnel changes at the company are planned in connection with his retirement, Scheid said.

SHORTS Continued from page 8

begin integration with BPAA. USBC needs to focus on USBC.” Annual awards to be presented at Bowl Expo were announced. They include Special Projects Award to Dan Labrecque for his job fair program (profiled in December 2009 IBI ); Dick Weber Bowling Ambassador Award to Johnny Petraglia, honoring the way he has represented the sport; Ruben Dankoff Award to Bob Stubler for spearheading Illinois’ recently passed legislation against slip-and-fall suits; V.A. Wapensky Award to former USBC CEO Roger Dalkin for his service to the industry, in particular his role in creating USBC; President’s Medal to Tom Martino for his exceptional support of and contributions to BPAA; and bowling’s highest honor, the Victor Learner Medal, along with induction in the BPAA Hall of Fame, to Ted Hoffman (our cover story in June 2009).

PASDIORA IS FIRST MANUFACTURER TO HEAD NAIR Gregg Pasdiora, vice president of North America sales for US Steltronic, became the first manufacturer elected to the presidency of NAIR. It happened at the organization’s annual meeting, co-located with Bowling Summit.

Pasdiora pledged to the NAIR board an “active” presidency during his two-year term, focused on casting a very wide net across the industry for independent bowling specialists and helping to offer their products and services to proprietors.

The new board includes, in photo from left, Ed Jandreau, secretary; Pasdiora; Cliff Adair, Ken Suprenant, and Barbara Peltz, directors; Nancy Suprenant, executive secretary; Steve Caffrey, director; Mark Neumann, vice president/treasurer; and Scott Freeman, past president.

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Roger Dalkin

Tom Martino

Ted Hoffman

MUSEUM MONEY At Bowling Summit, NAIR’s Scott Freeman presents a $5,850 check for the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame to Keith Hamilton, the museum’s vice president/vice chair. Also taking part were Pat Ciniello, president/chairman of the museum (next to Freeman), and Gregg Pasdiora of NAIR. The NAIR organization contributed $2,000 of the donation; NAIR members supplied the rest.

Freeman turned over the NAIR presidency to Pasdiora at the organization’s annual meeting the next day.

Presentation was made in the museum’s Reichert Learning Center during the IBC grand opening, in front of a mural of the National Bowling Stadium. Reichert was a leading supporter of the stadium At opening ceremonies for the museum, proprietors Lee Zavakos and Bill Kuczinski present Pat Ciniello with a check for $10,000. The money was donated by Bowling Business Builders International, which runs the Kids Bowl Free frequency program. Zavakos and Kuczinski are principals. Local musicians, behind them, entertained at the museum opening.

Brunswick’s Bart Berger beginning an announcement that brought cheers from the crowd: Brunswick doubled its contribution to a total of $100,000.

10

Bob Stubler

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CENTER

STAGE

Just a hint. Among the six properties in Tom Shannon’s portfolio are Strike Cupertino (Cupertino, CA), top, and Strike Bethesda (Bethesda, MD), middle. Bottom, “Carnival presented by Bowlmor” is a fun space for the family by day, a nightclub after dark with a carnival theme; it sits one floor up from Bowlmor Lanes in Greenwich Village, the first of Shannon’s trendsetting locations.

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$20 million, give or take.

That’s the budget for the most ambitious project yet by the man who first put bowling among the high-end leisure pursuits. And there isn’t a laser tag gun in sight.

Tom Shannon’s Bowlmor Times Square will be a love song to his flagship city, with 50 lanes parceled out among seven theme areas and 90,000 square feet. Patrons will bowl and dine in Central Park (concept rendering 1, to the right), Times Square in the ’60s (2), Chinatown (3), artists’ lofts, the subway, Gilded Age New York, and the psychedelic world of Andy Warhol.

The project is unprecedented.

So is the exclusive access to it IBI will have all the way through.

In a first for IBI and for the industry, we will be reporting in these pages as this one-of-a-kind bowling emporium moves toward completion. On our website, we’ll be posting more concept renderings as they are developed and slides documenting the progress of construction. Then we’ll be joining the evening-formal grand opening celebration, expected in October.

The building of Tom Shannon’s latest venue is just beginning. Check us often for its status, because Bowlmor Times Square is going to be one eye-popping stage for bowling. Our address: www.BowlingIndustry.com. ❖

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MY FRAME

Paul Lane and Neil Armstrong in mock confrontation at a memorable AMF sales meeting. The subject was telescopes.

SARAH

WHO? Is bowling really so lucky to get Sarah Palin?

BY PAUL LANE

T

he announcement that the BPAA had secured Sarah Palin as the keynote speaker for Bowl Expo was met with a mixture of positive and negative reactions by the industry at large, which perhaps was not surprising.

The agency managing Ms. Palin said bowling was lucky, and she would be able to appear. But I wonder.

Apart from the obviously high (exorbitant) fees speakers like Sarah Palin command, having speakers from the world of politics is treading on eggshells, to say the least. The potential is always present to offend the segment of the audience who do not subscribe to the particular speaker’s political stance or party.

The same could be said about last year’s choice of Fred 14

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Thompson–although probably most of the audience associated him more with his acting background such as his role on TV’s Law and Order than with his shortlived run for the presidency in 2008. His message about how he got into and out of politics was gripping–if you aspire to get into or out of politics.

In recent years we have also seen such high-profile entertainers as Bill Cosby and Jay Leno on the agenda.

Entertainers of this caliber command high, and even higher, fees than politicians currently in the limelight, not to mention off-the-record compensation that can equal their speaker fees.

This is not to say that these celebrity speakers were not excellent, and of course entertaining, at our conventions. But were they worth the expense when the message they delivered lacked anything a proprietor could take away and implement in his or her business to improve the bottom line?

Let’s put it another way.

Attendees pay an all-inclusive registration fee for Bowl Expo–the opening festivities, the workshops and seminars, admission to the trade show, the closing banquet. Suppose instead that attendees were charged a fee for each item on the agenda. They buy a ticket to attend the opening, another ticket for each workshop or seminar, admission into the trade show, and so on. How many proprietors would pay extra or separately to see a politician or an entertainer?

The number would at least be somewhat diminished, I’m sure.

The argument is not limited to the national convention. Virtually every regional BPA does something similar at its convention.

I have no problem with the idea of the BPAA or the regional BPAs hiring keynote or motivational speakers for their conventions. I’m all for it. What I am challenging is the value of these high-profile speakers given their cost to us and the message they deliver, compared to the benefit of ideas a bowling audience might take home and apply to their businesses.

In my years in corporate life I have been as guilty as anyone else in hiring speakers, for sales meetings for example. I will never forget having NASA’s Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, deliver a message to AMF sales people on the history of the telescope. The telescope? Did his message motivate anyone in the room to rush out and close a single deal? I don’t think so.

If a speaker does no more than entertain, then we’re talking about an expense where the dollars

MY FRAME could be reallocated to something that is surely more worthwhile at an industry convention–an added public relations program, marketing or promotion activity for proprietors at center level, a generic TV commercial that local BPAs or individual proprietors could run on a local cable TV channel, a donation to the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame. The list is endless.

Or even better, we could make it a point to find keynote or motivational speakers whose message, we know, will bring some added value to the proprietor and the industry. They are typically less expensive, too. These may be speakers whose message is sales- or marketing-related, focused on customer service or facility design and management, food service or pro shop management. Again, the list is long.

These speakers can be found both within and outside bowling, although to be believable, outside speakers should come from other service-related industries such as recreation, entertainment, food service, sporting goods consumer sales, the hotel and airline industries, and so on.

I recall attending a regional BPA meeting many years ago where the motivational speaker was the manager of a very successful pro shop at a local golf course. He touched base on myriad aspects of pro shop design, layout, window and shelf displays (merchandising), pricing, inventory management, seasonal sales opportunities and the value of offering lessons, all of which had the potential to improve the business for most bowling pro shops.

He was the best, the most memorable keynote speaker I have heard in 60 years in the bowling industry. And because of his message, as well as his delivery, he was also the most inspirational keynote speaker I have ever listened to.

Golf has no monopoly on such speakers. There are many potential keynote or motivational speakers within the bowling industry–from the manufacturer, distributor and proprietor ranks to bowling writers. Many of these men and women are accomplished speakers.

The industry has many great resources. We just have to do our homework. ❖

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

What’s your take on the Sarah Palin booking? Share your thoughts at www.BowlingIndustry.com.

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COVER STORY

BY FRED GROH

Cover and story photography by Gustav Schmiege Photography

J

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amie Brooks is life lessons from an old cowhand. A kid who runs to the window first thing in the morning because he can’t wait to see the new day. He is 75 years old, looks 55, and has been in the business 54 years.

He married a Peggy. “Peggys are smart,” he says, “they get great men.” He thinks his wife will probably knock him on the head for saying that, and laughs.

For though he ventures “If I knew what I know today back then, man, I’d run circles around the whole world,” Brooks is no braggart. He is a happy man in our conversations who has done a lot, learned a lot, started over, and who has an odd reputation for loving and leaving–bowling centers.

He’s owned “43 or 44.” Somewhere around 40 of them he bought from other people. “All dogs. It is the most fun to go into a place that is not working, it has no business, and fill it up.”

When we had our first talk, Brooks had seven centers in Texas, where he’s always operated, and in partnership with Randy Isenberg, who used to be his stockbroker. He was also helping a friend.

“One of my best friends. He has a bowling center up here in the metroplex [Dallas/Fort Worth]. He hasn’t had a manager in it in two years, the machines got to running bad, there was no air conditioning, it was dirty, and people were going to leave. I went in there in April and cleaned it up. We put some new

COVER STORY air conditioning in. I got a guy working in there all the time to get the machines to run better.

I’ve got [the center] going the other way now.”

Brooks was doing this as a favor. There is precedent for that. While he’s never had a mentor, he has mentored a half-dozen other men who became good operators.

Brooks said he would probably wind up buying the center. There is precedent for that, too, such as Plano Super Bowl, where he was headquartered in our early talks.

He and Isenberg drove over to have a looksee. “We didn’t have a plan to buy but we ended up [doing] it. That’s kind of the way things have happened. Some of [our centers] were so far down it’s taking us forever and all the money we can scrape up, but it’s been a hoot, man! We’re saving it, we’re saving it!”

Specifically, Plano was doing $1.9 million the year before they bought it; $2.6 million in their first year there, 2007; $4 million in 2008; and was projected above that high water mark in 2009.

to $45,500. The owner had been running everybody off immediately after leagues, then closing. Brooks opened it up and inaugurated glow on Friday and Saturday nights. From midnight to 3 a.m., he was full. He made $1,100.

“The next month, February, he owed me 7. He cried and moaned but I showed him how much he had made. He sent me the 7.

“We get into March. March is the best month in the bowling business in Texas, and he owed me 11. You’d have thought I killed him. He tried every which way to cut that down, but we had it there in black-and-white, so he paid me the 11.

“I could have gotten that thing to 200,000 a month if he would have left me alone. Let’s take it from the 50,000. I’m getting half of that, so I’m going to make 25,000 a month and he’s going to make 25,000 a month. That ain’t bad pay to run a 40-lane center. If he’d just left it alone, I could have gotten it to 200.

“So I got a friend of mine and we bought him.”

In four months, Brooks had the revenue up to $100,000 a month, which it regularly exceeded until AMF put in an offer of $1.7 million. Brooks says he was hurting the other three centers in the area, all owned by AMF. He and his friend had invested a million. They looked at each other. They would “not have to work for a while,” so they sold and split the $700,000. Brooks stayed on and drew a salary for a year and a half.

“Sometimes you take the money and run,” he observes. “And I never really

Big deal Brooks talks numbers with the best of them, in person as well as on the balance sheet.

The project that was “the most fun doing” was all about the numbers plus a tightwad from south Texas.

The deal brought Brooks back to bowling after he sold everything in 1994 and spent a year growing bored in retirement. Starting over was “fun,” he says. “It really was.

“Forty-lane place. This guy wouldn’t spend any money on anything. He called me, said ‘I have to have some help.’ This thing was flatlined at $32,000 a month. Every month was like that. It was doing like 1,000 a day gross.

“I told him, ‘I will run this thing for free. I don’t want any money until I get it to 40,000.

I want 20% of the gross [between] 40,000 [and] 50,000. If I get to 50, you’re making 18 more than you [are now]; I’m going to make 2 out of the 18 and you’re going to make 16. I want half of anything over 50.’ Now, if you’re sitting there drowning that doesn’t sound like a bad deal, does it?”

Brooks went in on the 15th of January and in two weeks punched the month’s revenue up IBI

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COVER STORY planned to be there. But opportunity knocked.

“I think a couple of things like that got me a reputation as building them up and leaving them.

It was never the plan. When I bought that [center], I thought that was going to be it. There’s always things you can do in one bowling center.”

Kid stuff Reputations can begin in childhood, with the rest of the life you make.

A scion of Depression parents who saved their money, Brooks’ wildest escapade was staying out late. The house had no air conditioning, not a small matter in Texas summers, and he was in college before his parents bought a TV. He was shy. Even so, “some engine in me made me want to succeed, I guess.” The engine wasn’t roaring to life, however.

Thinking geology “kind of neat” and his father being a geophysicist for Humble Oil, he enrolled for a geology degree and worked on research for the oil company. He also drew maps for a paleontologist who was writing a book.

But he hated college, he says. “I just couldn’t stand to sit and listen,” and his father was getting impatient with his son’s lack of direction in life.

Brooks had been bowling since high school.

Quickly shooting around 550 in the days when a 190 average was “pretty good,” he soon moved up to a 200 average. Several years later he would try the PBA when it started, but “I found out that I needed to be behind the desk–that I could never really make a living I wanted to out there trying to bowl with them.” He was good enough to be among the best bowlers at any of the centers he’s owned, however, which helped him manage league customers. They looked up to him.

For the present, trying to settle on a direction for the years ahead, he thought there could be a

by his father, he opened Lamar Lanes in Houston. The house had 24 lanes, it was 1955, and Brooks junior was 21.

The luck of the draw Twenty years later, he was riding high. With an assortment of partners, he owned 22 centers. “Doing really great,” he says of his business in the salad days.

Under the terms of a loan, Brooks had to submit monthly P&Ls to his banker. One day the banker suggested that perhaps Brooks’ operation had grown too complicated, as evidenced by the 2-inches-thick P&L report. He offered a loan if Brooks wanted to buy out some of his partners and reduce the number of centers.

Brooks did so, winding up with eight and loan payments of $71,000 a month.

He says he’ll never forget the number–especially when interest rates climbed from 10% to 21%.

A month later, he changed insurance agents to save himself about 10%, “considerable money” on eight centers that included a 72 and a 74.

Three days after that, Hurricane Alicia blew down his center in Galveston, which he had been counting on to cover the minus cash flow at another property. He paid the mortgage on the hurricane-devastated Galveston center for eight months before he learned that his new insurance company could not make good on his claim.

Next, Texas oil hit a slick patch. “A bad depression. Really bad.” In just one of his centers in one week, he lost half his leagues. “They just quit. [The downturn] did that to me in a lot of places, and I really struggled.

“It got to the point where I put [the business] in Chapter 11 to try to save it. I did that for about three years, and it kept getting deeper and deeper.”

At one point, he had a final payment to make on eight acres of freeway frontage in Houston, and the judge took away the property. It was worth

Some were so far down itÊs taking us forever and all the money we can scrape up, but itÊs been a hoot, man! future in bowling because of the new machines that automatically set the pins.

He “fiddled” with one for about six months and learned how to put it together. Then backed 18

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COVER STORY $5- or $6 million, he estimates.

The thing to do was cut out.

Brooks made the rounds and the deals necessary, but wanted to retain one center. He called on a friend.

“I had loaned money to [him] at one time and put him in business three or four times and he was doing good. He and my attorney bought one of them for me, and that’s where we started back up.”

Life on the edge in the early ’80s wasn’t fun, Brooks says, but it was never really awful. “Broke is not as good as having money, and I wasn’t so young then. I guess I was about 54 or 55. If one of those things [had] happened, I’d have been all right. But when you add them all together.... I had to pick up and move on.”

Staying cool Is it a surprise that Brooks says the most important thing he’s learned in his career is “never give up”?

Well, maybe not. “Maybe the most important thing I learned is it’s really a simple business. It has six things and if you do those things just good, you’re going to do great.” (Keeping the place cool–spelled air conditioning; keeping it clean, making sure the machines run, consistent lane conditions, good customer service, promote.)

That makes it hard for him to understand the “85%” of BPAA members who don’t care. He was president of BPAA 1984-86, which he calls “the most frustrating two years of great fun I ever had, because it’s [BPAA] an immovable object.” The 85% made it so. The other 15% “would do anything to make bowling better [but] that’s not enough to move a national program.”

As to the 85%, “I’ll tell you what happens. They probably did [care] when they had a 95% mortgage.

When they got it paid for, they were so beat up, they hired somebody else to [run the center. Now,] they’re not hungry.”

Brooks, by contrast, may not be famished but he’s had a tapeworm for many years.

“It’s never been about the money,” says a man who played good-stakes poker for 10 years and won, who owned a 36-foot offshore fishing boat, houses in Aspen and Crested Butte, CO, and who has traveled widely.

It was the fun of chasing the deal and the blast of getting into a “messed up” center and fixing it.

He talks about downsizing, and surveys his options. Recently he moved on from Plano and he and Peggy are selling their house. He thinks they’ll 20

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probably settle around Fort Worth, where he’s occupied helping his friend at the metroplex center. It’s been saved, says Brooks. Now the job is to make it more profitable, which he thinks will take him six or eight months.

“We might buy a motor home and go see the U.S.A. I don’t know how long that would take to get old. I don’t want to quit. I feel like I still want to be in the bowling business. I’ve loved it; it’s all I’ve ever done.

“Maybe I’ll go buy one [center]. I don’t want more than one.”

Maybe even better, he could move around from center to center and spend a few months at each, saving them. He’s not sure there’s a market, though. In the bowling business, “when you’re in trouble, before you realize it you’re out of money and you can’t afford to have anybody come help you.”

He’s called Ken Mischel, who handles Western U.S. centers for broker Sandy Hansell. There are always things you can do with one center in your wallet– But then, “the most fun times I had were when I went into those bowls, I had no money and I had to make it work.

“I’ll probably be better off if I stay in Texas because I know almost every [center] and everybody and we all get along pretty good.”

And, you know, “if the right opportunity came by, if somebody is in deep trouble...I might want to do that.” ❖ Our thanks to Main Event Entertainment, Grapevine, TX for assistance with the photography for this story.

PROFILE

The

rock

in the

road

BY GREGORY KEER

ou expect Wanda Jackson to be a badass. Call up a couple of the 72-year-old rock legend’s video clips on YouTube and you’ll notice the growl and the confidence. This is the First Lady of Rock ’n’ Roll–emphasis on ‘first.’

And yet, there’s no doubting the goodness of this person. In our interview, she exudes an earthiness that combines with the edgy singing to produce a beautiful soulfulness. This, you decide, is why she has been able to transcend gender discrimination and age prejudice to become the enduring entertainer she is. This is why in handling reverence from normal fans and celebrity idolizers alike, she is humble.

“Three years ago, in the manager’s office at the Asbury Lanes, I was getting ready for a show when the manager informs me, ‘Bruce wants to say hello’,” Jackson explains, referring to that Bruce: Asbury Park, New Jersey’s number-one citizen.

“I tell the manager, ‘Sure, and when the President gets here, he can come on in, too,” she continues with a tickle in her voice.

That’s when the manager ushers in two of Jackson’s biggest devotees, Bruce Springsteen and his wife, Patti Scialfa. They hug and have a good talk, with a shower of accolades coming from the Boss.

Later, while Jackson performs, she looks into the crowd and spots Springsteen. “It was cute to see him sitting on the ball return,” she remarks about this fan who has since been interviewed for

Y Here in a recent concert, Jackson was boomed for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

by Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Bruce Springsteen, among others. She was inducted last year.

The career of rock music legend Wanda Jackson has had more than its share of breakthroughs and bowling.

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PROFILE a 2008 documentary on Jackson’s career and been part of an all-star team of musicians who lobbied for Jackson’s 2009 entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category.

Bowling accentuates more of the rockabilly and country icon’s life than meets the eye of the average music enthusiast.

This past year, Jackson headlined a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of 66 Bowl in Oklahoma City.

The center, located on historic Route 66 running from Chicago to Los Angeles, has deep meaning to Jackson. It’s where the music pioneer, who has lived in Oklahoma most of her life, took the man she would marry on their first date in 1961.

“In the ’60s, women didn’t do things like call up a man for a date,” Jackson says. But that willingness to cross barriers to go bowling with Wendell Jackson led to a still-thriving marriage of 48 years.

She and Wendell bowled plenty over the decades as they

built a family and careers. Jackson rolled countless frames with her bands while on tour and still has the red-and-black ball she did it with. These days, she doesn’t bowl because of a bad foot arch and two knee-replacement surgeries.

Crossing barriers, breaking tradition, and getting longlasting results are Jackson trademarks. In the 1950s, she became the first female to record in the new genre of music Elvis Presley helped popularize. In fact, the King had a little something to do with it.

A professional country singer as a teenager, Jackson had “been touring with Elvis and he convinced me that I should record rock ’n’ roll,” she says. Elvis saw that most pop music was geared to older people while there was a need to sing for younger folks.

In addition to career advice, Elvis dated Jackson for two years.

“We were children when we met [Elvis was 20, Jackson 17],” she Continued on page 26

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PROFILE Continued from page 23

explains. Jackson’s father, who traveled with her during tours, found Elvis to be a gentleman who didn’t drink or smoke. The pair was allowed to go to matinees and meals.

“When Elvis and I were apart, he’d call every day.”

Professionally, Jackson was “one of the few artists who could work with Elvis. Country artists were embarrassed to perform with him,” she explains about Elvis’s barrierbreaking singing and dancing style. It worked out that “the girls would go to the concerts to see Elvis and their dates would be able to see me,” she laughs.

On her own, Jackson developed a rockabilly sound that easily matched the distinctiveness of male counterparts such as Elvis and Carl Perkins. In 1956, Jackson’s first record was “I Gotta Know.” “It had two lines of country, then rock ’n’ roll,” she explains about the tune. Next came “Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad,” a classic she continues to perform.

However, she could not get much airplay as a rockin’ woman. “They hardly accepted Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis,” she recalls. Underappreciated in the States, partly because of people’s discomfort with a female singing such freespirited music, Jackson wrote her own compositions. “No one was writing songs for girls,” says the woman who has since become a role model for female rockers. Ironically, she scored a number-one song in Japan with a version of “Fujiyama Mama.”

Her first American hit finally came in 1960 in the form of “Let’s Have a Party.” “I had gone back to country music,” Jackson points out, “when a disc jockey in Iowa told Capitol Records to release the song as a single.”

Jackson continued to seesaw between country and rock ’n’ roll in the years that followed. As a country singer, she became a big attraction in Las Vegas, was nominated

With The King in the 1950s. He encouraged her to sing rockabilly after they met on tour in ’55.

“I love the smell, the noises, all the new things they have at bowling alleys.” for Grammy Awards, and hosted her own syndicated TV show. In the ’70s, she became a devoted Christian and incorporated gospel into her repertoire.

In 1985, the raven-haired performer underwent a worldwide revival. She went to Sweden, “a country where ’50s rock never really died,” to record her first rockabilly album in ages. The woman who inspires countless iTunes downloads of such songs as “Mean, Mean Man” then did festivals and club performances in Northern Europe.

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First recording with Hank Thompson’s band was followed by 30 C&W hits between ’54 and ’74 and two Grammy nominations.

PROFILE In 2003, Jackson’s career got another boost. Her album Heart Trouble was released, featuring guest performances by Elvis Costello, the Cramps, and Rosie Flores. Then the 2005 Johnny Cash film biography Walk the Line had singer Amy LaVere playing the Queen of Rockabilly in her youth.

Just a few weeks prior to our interview, Jack White (of the White Stripes and the Dead Weather), asked for the honor of producing a new Jackson record.

“I knew he was one of the new kids on the block,” the rock legend says of White. “He stretched me a bit,” she explains of the way he had her cover a wide range of material, including songs by Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse, and Eddie Cochrane.

Today, Jackson reaches an ever-widening audience–and it’s not just because she can make her pink Daisy Rock electric guitar wail like a cat on the prowl.

“I have a bigger name now than I ever did,” Jackson says humbly. “Seventy-two isn’t old. Not these days.” The Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice (as the documentary on her life refers to her) attracts audiences that run the age gamut “from 80-yearolds down to 18,” says the woman who herself enjoys the music of Dolly Parton, Brooks & Dunn, and the Dixie Chicks.

“I’m impressed with the knowledge my audience has of my career. And I hardly ever see anyone drunk at the concerts. They are there to hear me sing.”

In addition to her husband’s management expertise, Jackson employs other members of her family. “My granddaughters play Daisy Rock guitars and one sings,” she says proudly. “They’ve even performed on stage with me.”

As far as appearing at bowling centers in the future, Jackson quickly responds, “I’ve played two New Year’s Eve parties and will do more concerts if they invite me!

I love the smell, the noises, all the new things they have at bowling alleys.”

If she does end up coming to a bowling center near you, prepare to be rocked by talent and grace. And try to leave the ball returns available for people named Bruce. ❖

In the conservative world of the ’50s C&W, Jackson pioneered on stage with sexy tight dresses, fringes and high heels. She designed many of her outfits.

Gregory Keer is an award-winning columnist, teacher, screenwriter, and guest expert in national media. Read more of his work at his online parenting magazine, www.FamilyManOnline.com.

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INTERNATIONAL BOWLING CAMPUS

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(1) International Bowling Campus offices, the main entrance. (2) BPAA president Jim Sturm, PresidentElect John Snyder, treasurer Tom Martino as the crowd gathered for opening ceremonies. (3) IBC foyer. (4) Henry Lewczyk of Strike Ten Entertainment and two men from Arlington: Wes Jurey, president/CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, and Jay Burress, Convention and Visitors Bureau president/CEO. (5) IBC, entry to BPAA offices. (6) Cathy DeSocio, BPAA secretary; Martino; Pat Ciniello, president/chairman of the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame; Sturm; USBC executive director Stu Upson. (7) Sturm and Upson on the mezzanine walkway.

Beyond them, entry to USBC offices. (8) An expected guest: past BPAA E.D. John Berglund, flying in from Caribbean retirement. Saying hello are Snyder, BPAA directors Bob Smith, Bart Berger and John Tierney. (9) On the second floor, USBC offices. (10, lower right corner) Kegel founder John Davis enjoying a laugh. Back to camera in the orange shirt, Gus Falgien of Kegel. (11) USBC carrels. (12) An appreciative crowd estimated at 400 at the opening ceremonies. (13) Checking the souvenir program. (14) Three presidents dust off after burying a time capsule: Jim Sturm, BPAA; Jeff BojĂŠ, USBC; Pat Ciniello, IBMHF. The capsule will be opened in 2060. (15) The red ribbon flies apart and International Bowling Campus is officially open, Jan. 25, 2010! The cutting crew included Robert Cluck, Arlington mayor on the left end, and Jurey of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, on the right. Between them, the three presidents: BojĂŠ, Ciniello and Sturm. (16) BPAA E.D. Steve Johnson marking the historic day. (17) Hero Noda, Japanese proprietor and indefatigable photographer of all things bowling, takes aim. (18) Expectant crowd, minutes before the ceremonies begin.

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We thought Steve Johnson struck exactly the right note.

Said the BPAA executive director the day after the grand opening of the International Bowling Campus on Jan. 25, “The most exciting part is it’s over. Now we get focused on membership and business.”

For Johnson, USBC E.D. Stu Upson and their staffs, the day was time out from a course of ordinary business that has had the two organizations working together at their Arlington address since the fall.

It was a day for feeling good.

It was a day for feeling a little frazzled if you were working on the logistics of the event.

Johnson was in his office at 4:30 a.m. to prepare for TV interviews. Others were busy making last arrangements for the opening ceremonies or tours of the campus scheduled later in the day.

It was a day for being impressed. Everyone was, by the building and by the class, the professionalism of the festivities.

We also liked Joe Schumacker’s comment to us the day after the opening. Said the BPAA past president, “It’s not the first step or the last step, but it is one step toward our future.”

A most memorable step, we would add.

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International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame: (1) Entry. (2) The Hall of Fame. (3) Ancient lanes and Brunswick semi-automatics to match. (4) Remember?

(5) The Reichert Learning Center. (6) The pinboy mannequin speaks–with a little help from technology. Video projected onto his face creates uncanny illusion of natural movement in the mouth and facial muscles.

Spare Partz, the museum store: (7) Main entry. (8) Shoppers got to work as soon as it opened.

International Bowling Training and Research Center: (9) Main entrance and crowd during IBC opening ceremonies.

(10) The 20 lanes. (11) Lucky BPAA and USBC leaders rolling the first balls.

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INTERNATIONAL BOWLING CAMPUS

History’s builder

H

ank Harris arrived at IBC after the outdoor ceremonies were over, but then, he had earned it.

The year and a half that Harris, Brunswick’s vice president for construction and design, put into IBC went pretty smoothly. The only problems he remarks were weather-inspired delays and the foundation for the Training and Research Center. It had to sit on soil with a powder-like consistency that expands when it gets wet and contracts when it dries out.

Harris remembers the project as one of his happiest.

“The excitement of employees coming in and wanting to make sure that their portion of the facility was updated, not on a wish list [basis] but [from] a professional business point of view. People from the loading dock to accounting to upper management. There was a tremendous involvement, [for instance] people working in the warehouse. They gave their input for what they needed in a loading dock, for automatic doors, shelving, the best traffic flow.”

Harris was brought into the project by Jeff Bojé, whom Harris says he “can almost quote word for word. ‘Hank, I want something that looks very nice, I want it to be practical, but I don’t want it to be overdone like a law office. I want something nice the industry can be proud of.’”

Harris hired the architect and all the engineers, reviewed the drawings, dealt with

Hank Harris city officials, obtained construction bids, oversaw the construction, reviewed monthly payment requests, and inspected the job site regularly. Most of the professionals and suppliers came from Brunswick’s Build to Bowl Program.

The company donated Harris’s services.

He personally designed the IBC lobby, including the reception desk.

INTERNATIONAL BOWLING CAMPUS

INTERNATIONAL BOWLING CAMPUS

He chose marble and glass as main decor elements but prevented them from turning into monumentality. Earth-tone decor throughout the building, short corridors and irregularly shaped rooms (using existing walls for the most part), create a friendly feeling that fits the character of bowling.

In the Training and Research Center, Harris applied the look of an up-to-theminute family entertainment center. Four of the 20 lanes (two by Brunswick, two by AMF) are devoted to USBC research and testing; the other 16 will be used like the lanes in a conventional bowling center.

The week before IBC’s grand opening, Harris was working at the Campus every day to make sure it opened on time with everything in place. He labored into the wee hours the night before the opening. He sleptin on the morning of the big day and missed the ceremonies. But then, he had earned it. ❖ 34

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International Bowling Campus Randy Little, on-site construction manager Office building – 102,000 square feet Merriman and Associates, architects Eric Nelson, Tricon Commercial Building Group, Dallas, construction Training and Research Center – 24,000 square feet Shane LaBeth, Cornerstone Architects, Oklahoma City, architect Chris Hicks, Sinclair Group, Tampa, FL, construction International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame – 16,800 square feet Phil Paramore, Museum Arts, Dallas, architect Tricon Commercial Building Group, Dallas, construction Spare Partz museum store Sandy Stein, Stein LLC, Minneapolis, design Project cost (est.) $14 million

SHOWCASE BOWLING PINS

Spring Forward Special from Diamond Duramid. Here’s your chance to save a bunch of money on pins! $89 per set plus S&H (for SuperGlow white pins only). Minimum 20 sets. Limited time only–through March 31. Contact us at 800-633-9025.

ROOF COATING

A bowling center roof that never chips, cracks or peels; that’s seamless and fully adhered; stands up to UV, withstands ponding water, rated for severe hail–what could be better than a roof coating by Benchmark Roofing? Cutting-edge epoxy technology that resists grease, fats and acid. 100% taxdeductible, and energy savings up to 40%. For more information, call 888-431-5352,

Instantly, your center is a more exciting place to be and have fun when your equipment is from Switch. In bowler furniture, hoods, balls, Switch is styled by Italian master designer Pininfarina for a modern, clean look like no other in the industry. Now this can be your style, too! For more details, call James Borin at 972-679-4824 or email james@switchbowling.com.

BOWLER ENVIRONMENT

Enhance your customer’s bowling experience with QubicaAMF’s Bowler Entertainment System (BES), the only entertainment and scoring system on the market. With more than 30 environments and games, including the new Bowlopolis® environment, there is something unique to offer each of your market segments. Call 877QAMF-SLS (726-3757) for a FREE demonstration today, or visit us on our website at www.qubicaamf.com.

LIVE SCORING

CASHLESS OPERATION

CENTER DESIGN

MINIATURE GOLF

Digital Signage for Vector® Scoring by Brunswick allows you to display live scoring throughout your center, using preloaded bowling-specific promotions, advertisements, graphics and user-friendly templates. Display waiting lists, price lists, lane assignments and now live scoring statistics simultaneously. For more information, contact your Brunswick Representative or call 800-YES-Bowl or 231-725-4966.

Dynamic Designs & Associates is a trailblazer in bowling centers and FECs. We offer interior and exterior design, logo development, architectural services, business plans, renderings, and more to make your facility a standout. Check out our design for Jupiter Lanes in February IBI. Your remod or ground-up project deserves Dynamic Designs & Associates. For more information, call 866-6445892 or visit www.DynamicDesignsInc.net.

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Lucky Strike’s Power Play concept, Bellevue, WA, is the newest installation of the Embed System to manage a cashless operation of more than 150 game stations, other attractions, and an extensive redemption counter. The installation is highlighted by Embed’s Color-Glo Swipers, the industry’s original and leading color-changing, interactive card readers.

For more information, visit www.embedcard.com.

Liberty Lanes Family Fun Center in Cottage Grove, OR has added an indoor 18-hole Professional Miniature Golf Course with Rotating Bowling Pins, Windmill, Lighthouse, Castle and Traffic Light. The miniature golf course was designed and manufactured by Mini-Golf, Inc., Jessup, PA, a manufacturer of prefab courses for indoor and outdoor use. For more information, call 570-489-8623 or go to www.minigolfinc.com

DATEBOOK

MARCH 17-20 B.E.R.–Bowling Event Rimini Expo Centre, Rimini, Italy. www.bowlingeventremini.it.

24-25 Bowling Centers Association of Ohio spring seminar and meeting Embassy Suites, Columbus. Pat Marazzi, 937-433-8363 or pat@bowlohio.com.

APRIL 6 Illinois State BPA board meeting Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Bloomington-Normal.

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

MAY 17-19 Bowling Centers Association of

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Ohio convention and trade show Holiday Inn, Perrysburg (Toledo).

Pat Marazzi, 937-433-8363 or pat@bowlohio.com.

24 Illinois State BPA board meeting Holiday Inn & Suites, Bloomington.

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

JUNE 1-3 Kansas State BPA conference with exhibitors Adams Pointe Conference Center, Blue Springs, MO. Mary Thurber, 913-638-1817.

27-July 1 Bowl Expo Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas.

888-649-5585 or www.bpaa.com.

JULY 28 Bowling Centers of Southern California Annual Golf Tournament Black Gold Contry Club, Yorba Linda. Victoria Tahmizian, 818-7890900 or bcsc@socalbowling.com.

28-31 Independent Bowling Organization Trade Show & Convention, in conjunction with GMBCOA Valley Plaza Resort, Midland, MI. Scott, 888-484-2322 or www.ibo-Show.com.

OCTOBER 11-15 East Coast Bowling Centers Convention Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, NJ. BPAA, 888-649-5586.

IBI is the official magazine of ECBCC.

CLASSIFIEDS

SERVICE CALLS WORLDWIDE • PRE-SHIPS • WE SELL 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.

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

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CLASSIFIEDS EQUIPMENT FOR SALE Qubica AMF TMS Synthetic Lane System (8 lanes) w/ Glow Highway pattern & Conqueror Scoring System.

Contact Mario Valadez at mvaladez@ipcconroe.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!

AMF scoring packages with or without LCDs. (712) 253-8730; www.complete-bowling.com.

AccuScore Plus low boys – 16 lanes with AccuDesk. Will split. (712) 2538730; www.complete-bowling.com.

AMF package complete: 8 lanes, 8270s & AccuScore Plus.

(641) 414-1542.

24-lane Brunswick A-2 package. Automatic overhead scoring. Brunswick 2000 returns; wood approaches. In operation through 2003 season. Available immediately. Make offer. (906) 786-1600. Ask for Denis.

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.

WWW.BOWLINGDIGITAL.COM

SELL IT FAST IN IBI

818-789-2695 40

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

CENTERS FOR SALE

CENTERS FOR SALE

CENTERS FOR SALE

WESTERN COLORADO: 12-lane Brunswick center with A-2s, wood lanes with synthetic overlay, 11,000 s/f building on 1+ acre. Business, equipment & real estate $740,000. Possible owner finance.

(970) 625-0680.

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.

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.

WWW.BOWLINGDIGITAL.COM

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.

WISCONSIN: Well-established, 4-lane center w/ auto-scoring & up-dated bar.

Good condition. $210,000. Possible home for sale for new owner behind business.

Shelley Finnessy, Coldwell Banker Brenizer (715) 829-5230; email: realestate@cvol.net.

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 NEW YORK: 12-lane center on 2.2 acres w/ attached 3-bedroom apartment. 20 years old in A-1 condition!

82-70 equipment. Wood lanes. Original owner. Call Gary (315) 245-1577.

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CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE 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.

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

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.

•One week turnaround on most orders.

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

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.

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

WWW.BOWLINGDIGITAL.COM

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.

WISCONSIN: Exceptional Investment Opportunity. Mayville center with full bar & food, pool tables & game room.

Apartment & storage area. Fred Kaping, First Weber Group (920) 210-8245.

MINNESOTA: AMF 12-lane center in college town of Crookston w/ full bar, auto scoring. Totally remodeled 2005. Additional property for expansion. Possible contract for deed. Call Steve (218) 759-0037.

SE WISCONSIN: 12-lane Brunswick center including building, real estate & 7 acres. Raised dance floor, grill, pro shop, arcade, tanning room and more.

Reasonably priced. Owner retiring.

(920) 398-8023.

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.

WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: One of the top five places to move! Remodeled 32lane center. Good numbers. $3.9 gets it all.

Fax qualified inquiries to (828) 253-0362.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS (Resort area): 15,000 s/f, 8-lane state-ofthe-art Brunswick center. Includes golf machine, billiards & two additional expansion spaces + historic bar. OWC. Arlie Holland, Coldwell Banker (530) 596-3303.

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CLASSIFIEDS

WWW.BOWLINGWEBDOCTOR.COM FOR SALE BLUE CHIP CENTERS NEW YORK - Mid-State. Large ctr in pretty college town w/comfortable life style. No competition for 12 miles. RE incl.

OHIO - Central. Large ctr w/all amenities. Classic turnaround.

Priced accordingly. RE incl.

NEW ENGLAND - Attractive large ctr in mid-sized community.

Only center in town. Unique opportunity. RE leased.

SANDY HANSELL & ASSOCIATES 28200 Southfield Rd., Southfield, MI 48076

(800) 222•9131

Check out our current listings at www.SandyHansell.com

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CLASSIFIEDS

I would not have secured this good of a loan without Ken.

CENTERS FOR SALE

Larry Schmittou Western Bowl Hoinke Tournament Cincinnati, OH The leading source for real estate loans with low down payments

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

UPSTATE NEW YORK: State-of-the-art 16-lane center with 82-70s in college town. 3.5 acres prime commercial. Call Bob (585) 243-1760.

WESTERN IOWA. Lucrative, modern family entertainment center. Sports bar, restaurant, bowling, pro shop. Karaoke, DJ, live music. Active leagues. No competition.

Lincoln Group (319) 352-0132.

PENNSYLVANIA: 20-lane AMF center on 6 acres, 1 acre parking lot, full bar, recently added 13,200 s/f outdoor beach bar, sand volley ball court & entertainment stage.

(724) 301-2318.

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.

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

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 44

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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.

CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE SW WISCONSIN: 10 lanes, new automatic scoring/sound. Bar/grill. Great leagues, local tournaments, excellent pinsetters. Supportive community. 2 acres off main highway. $299,995.

(608) 341-9056.

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.

TEXAS: 40 lanes with reconditioned pinsetters, new synthetics & upgraded scoring. Building in top shape including remodeled bar. Good revenue & cash flow.

Ken Paton (503) 645-5630.

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. 3-bdrm home included. $1.375m. Call Bryan (218) 380-8089. www.majesticpine.com.

MANAGER WANTED

TRAINING COURSE BRUNSWICK PINSETTER TRAINING COURSE – Colorado Springs, Colorado.

14-day sessions including hotel accommodations. RMGPinsetter@gmail.com; myspace – rmgpinsetter.com; (719) 432-5052 or (719) 671-7167.

Fax (866) 353-5010.

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

AMF scoring component repair.

(712) 253-8730.

KEN’S BOWLING EQUIPMENT – AMF scoring, pin decks, masking units & Brunswick power lifts.

(641) 414-1542.

SELLING, BUYING or FINANCING a Center? RC Partners can help–we are not brokers. (616) 374-5651; www.sell104.com.

WWW.BOWLINGWEBDOCTOR.COM

MANAGER/LEAGUE COORDINATOR: Experienced in league development & all facets of center activity. Email resume to: bowling123@live.com.

MANAGEMENT POSITIONS: Large Midwest chain looking for energetic people who like to smile to join our team. Strong customer service background required.

Positions available NOW!! Great benefits & compensation. Apply w/ resume to Box 501, Fax (818) 789-2812 or info@bowlingindustry.com.

Chain looking for a manager with experience in league formation & special events in central U.S. area. Respond w/ resume to Box 505 @ info@bowlingindustry.com or fax (818) 789-2812.

POSITION WANTED 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.

SELL IT FAST IN IBI

818-789-2695

BUY

INSURANCE SERVICES BOWLING CENTER INSURANCE.COM. Helping you is what we do best! Property; Liability; Liquor Liability; Workers Comp.

Bob Langley (866) 438-3651 x 145; blangley@bbsouthcarolina.com.

Insuring Bowling Centers for over 30 years. Ohio, Illinois & Michigan: Property & Liability, Liquor Liabiity, Workers Compensation, Health & Personal Insurance. Call Scott Bennet (248) 4080200, Scott@Bowl-mail.com; Mark Dantzer CIC (888) 343-2667, Mark@DieboldInsurance.com; or Kevin Elliott.

Sell Your Center or Eqpt.

Fast!

(818) 789-2695

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 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/

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

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

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 IBI

March 2010

45

REMEMBER WHEN

1943

46

IBI

March 2010

L

owell Jackson became one of bowling’s first pros when Brunswick signed him to bowl exhibitions and demonstrate the company’s products in the 1920s and ’30s. He is probably best remembered, though, as the conceiver and developer of the lane markings bowlers use to aim their shots. Introduced in the 1930s, markings were sanctioned for ABC competition in 1939.

According to Chuck Pezzano, writing on the occasion of Jackson’s induction into the ABC Hall of Fame in 2003, Jackson averaged 205 over a lengthy career. That was in years when stars averaged around 190.

With that record, you might never guess Jackson’s personal interest in lane markings: he was legally blind in one eye and had only 20% vision in the other.

Industry stats in this middle-of-the-war year: ABC membership, an estimated 697,000; WIBC, 252,540; certified houses, 4,335.

BPAA records do not reveal the number of members that year, but presumably it was less than 1,235. That was the tally four years later, in 1947, when the yearly counts began. ❖