Short Season Leagues

I have bowled in many leagues over the past 20 years at Freeway Lanes. I would usually sub, get a team together from the bowling center itself, or perhaps a scotch doubles league with my Wife. I was at a Brown’s game and one of my good friends asked “Why don’t we put a team together of our friends?” So we went about finding people in that particular circle of friends willing to participate. We chose a short season league so it would not seem so daunting to new bowler’s and we started bowling three weeks ago. All of my friends, bowlers and non-bowlers alike, are having a great time! It is the casual competitive nature of the game that is found so appealing to all of us on the team. We talk about old stories, joke with the lane servers, and generally just have a good time. One of the guys on our team I met when I was 9 years old because we were on the same bowling team! We bowled at Mayland Lanes on Mayfield Rd. all the way back in 1974! It took 37 years to get back on the lanes together! We have had a lot of good times over the years and it is fun to back causing trouble in one of my centers.

How many of you out there have old friendships because of bowling? Maybe it is time to get a team back together, get a funny name for your team, and go out and light up the lanes once again! What are you waiting for? We have a league at Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe where the average age is 77, 45% are over 80 and 15% are over 90? Why are these guys living long and happy lives….most of them have been bowling for decades!

 One of our team mates is in the scrap metal business, so the name of our team is the Freeway Scrappers. We bowl on Wednesday nights at Solon at 7. I have been in the business for over 20 years and only carried a 178 average last week giving you lots of material to make fun of me! Come on up and maybe we will buy you a drink! Go bowling with old friends! Trust me you need it!

Glenn Gable

Fall Bowling is Here!

The summer has officially come to an end, and it was a record summer for Freeway Lanes. We had the largest league in Ohio bowl here at Wickliffe. We have been working all summer on pinsetters making repairs and cleaning the machines. We are proud how clean our equipment is for the beginning of the season. We have the new pins in at Wickliffe, and the new pins will be delivered to other centers in the next 4 weeks.
Fall leagues are down in two centers, we actually have an increase in 3 centers for fall league participation. We are encouraged about the start of the season, and hope we can fill in gaps with short season leagues and tournaments. Our new tournament director/league coordinator Dawn Freed has done a great job recruiting bowlers for this year, and look for a full list of tournaments on our web site shortly.
All though we had some slight increases in pricing in the kitchen and bar, we tried to keep the increases modest specially compared to the increase we have received from our suppliers. Look for some great specials this year, and keep us in mind for your next event with family or friends.

We are particularly excited about our juniors program this year. We have the buses getting ready to run, and looks like both buses will be full each day of the week. We are happy to have so many young faces in the centers guaranteeing us a good future in bowling.
Plans are well underway for the Mentor renovations. In March of 2008 we lost our financing on this project with the economic meltdown, but we are finally back on track to begin renovation sometime this bowling season. We apologize about the timing, but we feel we have waited so long we cannot worry about the timing of the renovation. Look for a complete bowler’s area renovation, a new bar, a new kitchen, and many outside improvements.
Many of you are aware, but the Bocce courts will be opening in Wickliffe in the very near future. This will be a great addition to the center, and we hope add some diversity to the offering. Bocce is a really fun game, and if you have the chance to see the tournament in the Wickliffe I and A, it is amazing to see thousands of people come out to enjoy Bocce. We will be the only full length professional courts in Ohio.
Please come see us and go bowling!
Glenn
Freeway Lanes

End of the Season

 In some ways it is sad to see the bowling season come to an end and in other ways it is a welcomed change up to our busy lives.  I have enjoyed going to many league banquets this year and it was a pleasure to get to know some people better.  I heard a lot about Freeway Lanes.  Some good, some bad, but people were very honest with me which I really appreciate.  Besides feedback from the bowler’s personally, we also did a survey to find out what we were doing right and wrong.  Here are the areas we are making improvements in:

1)  Vacuuming and cleaning lanes between shifts and parties.

2)  We need to make sure ALL foul lights are working in proper order.

3)  We need to clean our approaches better.

4)  Even though we had a banner year with award scores, we need to improve on our lane condition consistency.

5)  Somehow we need to develop new league bowler’s to get some fresh blood in the leagues.

6)  We need to keep all TV’s working in prime order, even though we are all from Cleveland does not mean we turn our backs on our sacred sports teams!  Go Tribe! 

I am open to any new ideas people have on how we can improve the centers.  Coming to league banquets one thing really rang true;  everyone bowls for the people.   The long lasting friendships that are built  in a league is the real treasure trove of league bowling.  The employees of Freeway Lanes are our biggest asset that deals with the people. 

I went to a league banquet this year that complete their 86^th season of bowling!  That’s right, approaching the century mark.  The history of the league was enough to keep anyone entertained for an evening.  We are planning a busy summer cleaning all the centers and doing preventive maintenance for a great season ahead of us.

Please give us feedback on things we can do better.  My direct email is Glenn@freewaylanes.com.  This summer as many of you know we are adding four Bocce Courts to Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe.  We are also adding a brand new round of pins!  Come by and see us this summer, if it keeps raining simply keep bowling.  Otherwise enjoy the nice weather if it ever gets here.  Keep us in mind for Summer Leagues, Graduation parties or any other event you may wish to have.  We are even having our first wedding at Freeway Lanes of Solon!  We are here for the customer and we will never quit working to improve your experience at Freeway Lanes.

Glenn Gable

Bocce is Coming to the Freeway!

Bowling is coming back at Freeway Lanes.  We have seen great responses to tournament, short season leagues, and healthy inquiries for Summer leagues.  Our after kids school program continues to grow with an estimated 250 kids to participate in the second session.  We are pleased so many kids take an interest in bowling.

In addition to our great bowling offerings Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe will be adding 4 bocce courts, see press release below.  We feel it is important to diversify our offering of bowling with this exciting new activity.  The Cleveland Area is filled with outdoor Bocce Clubs, and we hope companies will take advantage of it coupled with our new 100 person Grand Meeting Room. Stop in Wickliffe on Friday nights and check out our new Live Entertainment.  Last Friday was a lot of fun in the main bar, and we are sure this will continue.  Also on Wednesday nights we will have a piano player from Howl at The Moon.  He is entertaining!  We look forward to seeing everyone for all these new, exciting events at Freeway Lanes! 

 

 

For Immediate Release

Glenn E. Gable
C.E.O.
Freeway Lanes Bowling Group
28801 Euclid Avenue
Wickliffe, Ohio 44092
216-267-2150
glenn@freewaylanes.com

Indoor Bocce will also roll at Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe

Freeway Lanes Bowling Group is proud to announce the coming addition of Bocce to the Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe. 

With this addition, they will be adding:

• 4 Tournament Length and width courts measuring 86’ in length and 12’ wide.
• 4 Favero Scoreboards, one for each court.
• Italian polymer synthetic bocce court surface; offering the most level, durable playing surface in the world!
• Wood dividers of courts.
• A party place and spectator room space between the four courts.
• Plexiglass  at ends for safe, unobstructed view of the action.
• An Italian Café style sitting area for players to relax.

Plans are complete and the work will be awarded soon.  We are looking forward to adding this exciting aspect to our bowling center.  The four Bocce courts are complemented by our new Grand Meeting Room completed last November.  This private area is a high end party room that can seat up to 100 people, comes complete with sound system, pool table, bar  and high-definition TV’s.  With the inclusion of our in-house catering, this is the ideal meeting and team building space.

Glenn Gable states “We look forward to adding such a complimentary activity to our bowling center.  There are a lot of Bocce players in this area, and our initial response has been overwhelming.  As we make the plans for the Bocce we are also making improvements for our league bowler base.  We have added a state of the art lane machine, bathroom renovations, and improved lane service to enjoy bowling more in the center.” 

Recently added to the staff is Jim Musarra.  Jim comes from an extensive food and beverage background, and will be pivotal in launching the new Bocce Courts.

# # #

About the Freeway Lanes Bowling Group.

The Freeway Lanes Bowling Group is a collection of 5 bowling centers in Northeastern Ohio with locations in Mentor, Parma, Solon, Warren and Wickliffe.  Their locations have been nominated and have been awarded numerous awards ranging from Best Bowling Center to One of the 100 Bowling Centers to Visit.

The Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe is the Largest Bowling Center in the Nation with 96 unobstructed lanes.

Freeway Lanes Kids Programs

 Many people do not realize all that bowling has to offer kids today.  It is a sport that any person can excel in no matter what their athletic ability.  It is a game of finesse that does not require the physical stature of football or hockey.  It also allows the child to participate in a team sport that is essential to building leadership and social skills.  Bowling is a State of Ohio recognized sport and the child can letter in it.  As the child learns to compete there are scholarship tournaments almost every weekend that I have seen kids accumulate thousands of dollars towards college.  Last but certainly not least, there are many College programs that offer scholarships directly to the school.  Currently Notre Dame and Ursuline are bowling at Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe and many of the students receive funding for being on the team.  Under title 9 Woman need to receive 50% of all athletic scholarships amd this opens the door even further for full support of the college experience.  We have a few of our junior women on nearly full rides to college, every parents dream!  All of this I would be remiss not to mention what a good time our juniors are having!

This year at Freeway Lanes we bought two school buses.  They are painted a bright lime green so you can see them coming!  Almost daily they depart from Wickliffe and pick up kids from schools around the area.  We run six week programs, provide professional instruction, lots of oversight, and a great time that will expose your child to a sport that will last a lifetime!  The response has been wonderful, and everyone should consider getting your child into one of our programs.  Call 440-585-5800 for more details.

Sincerely,

Glenn and Sue Gable

Proprietors

Freeway Lanes Bowling Group

The Bowlers’ “Fun” Choice

It is hard to believe but all the league officers appreciation parties have been scheduled.  Parma, July 21.  Mentor, July 26.  Solon, July 27.  Warren, July 28, and finally Wickliffe on July 29.  We look forward to seeing all of our hard working officers at this party.  There will be great food, a bowling for dollars colored pin tournament, and of course of few free cocktails! 

We have been flooring leagues for over 20 years here at Freeway Lanes.   We stand for fun when it comes to leagues.  We are testing our Bowler’s “Fun” choice program here at Wickliffe.  We saw Wickliffe lacking the most to address the needs of the bowler’s in the chain.  Aspect for the “Fun” choice will be rolled out into other centers throughout the season.  Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe will be making many improvements this year to make bowling here more Fun!

1)  Adding additional counter service to take care of the bowler’s needs and Adding servers so there is 1 server for every 16 lanes of league.

2)  By the time you come back the Grand Meeting Room will be complete.  This room will be there for your needs throughout the season, and will be a great room complete with televisions and nice furniture.  We also hope you consider us for holiday banquets and end of season banquets. 

3)  This year we have re-worked our menu to improve the food and the value you receive.  We have gone to all fresh products, never frozen.  Besides a coupon book full of value for the holidays, we will also be offering specials in the following bowling weeks:

Week 3 50% off a hamburger and French fries

Week 5 50% off any large pizza

Week 7 50% off any large Salad

We hope you enjoy these specials and you have more fun!  Wait until you try our new “Bowl-O-Melt” sandwiches, it will melt your taste buds!

 4)  Your first league night back will include a party in the bar!  You will get $1  drafts and 30 cent wings.  Our way of saying welcome back and to start the fun!  Come meet the bar staff and stay for a few cheap cold ones!

5)  For your enjoyment we are adding televisions over the lanes so you do not have to miss any of your favorite shows and sporting events while bowling.

6)  A new deep cleaning bathroom service that will make us the cleanest restrooms in town!  This service comes in once a month with major equipment and cleans the bathrooms from top to bottom.  This service with an improved bathroom on the high end should make your visit more pleasurable this season.

7)  New Bowler’s fun Games to play while bowling.  More prizes, more games, and a bunch of new twists to league bowling that we are sure you will enjoy.

8)  Lights up!  Wait until you come back and see how bright the place is!  We added over 80 fixtures to really brighten the place up!  We hope you enjoy the new look and feel of the center.

9)  Finally, we made a very important addition to staff in the back end.  Tim Cronin who has been with Freeway Lanes for many years has had his role expanded to facilities manager for the chain.  He will be working with our already capable staff to address needs of the pinsetters.  Look for improvements in all areas of the operation of the center with him aboard.  Already the machine calls have been reduced by 40%!

 All this making Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe The Bowlers’ “Fun” Choice!  It truly is going to be a great season.

 Every time we post a blog many people read it, please leave a response or email me directly.  We would love to hear from you!

Glenn and Sue Gable

Bowling in 2010

The inauguration of the Bowling Museum Hall of Fame  and International Bowling Training and Research Center is this week in Texas.  It is a culmination of a lot of hard work of the people who really care about bowling.  Freeway Lanes is a proud supporter of this hall of fame just like we support competitive bowling all year long in the Cleveland area.  We believe it is important to teach bowling to our young kids, as well as lending a hand to local high school programs.  Currently Freeway Lanes is home to 9 high schools.  In the fall we were bestowed the honor of being the home of the Notre Dame Falcons bowling team.  We are proud to display their flag in our center and welcome them here for practices and meets.  It has proven beneficial to all involved.  Freeway Lanes is dedicated to all its league and competitive bowler’s.  If you have not been on a league lately, why not give it a try.  It is a great night out and good way to meet new people.

 Starting new for us this year is a host of people.  Bob Gager joined us as COO of Freeway Lanes, and along with him came his lovely Wife Cathy.  Both are rich in history in the bowling business, and both are accomplished bowlers.  We also have a new general manager of Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe, Tim Mullen.  He comes to us via Atlanta and is welcomed addition to the center.  His positive can do attitude is contagious, and his big personality is hard to miss.  Finally, we have a new league coordinator, Amy Salter.  She comes to us via  Cincinatti.  She is an accomplished bowler, believes in the game, and has already had a positive impact on the business.  She also will be working on strengthening our tournament business.   If you see any of these four people on the concourse, please give them a warm welcome.

 David Patz, long time friend and partner has now stepped down as President to perform his exciting new role of Vice President of Sales.  Any of you that know Dave know that his is a consummate salesman, and his is looking forward to his new role.  He has many exciting ideas and already has impacted the sales in his first 15 days in office.  He will remain active in the business as a partner and as Vice Chairman of the board.  As Freeway Lanes plows into the next decade,  Dave will be sure to be there to help develop and implement the exciting changes coming in the near future.   Dave will also be active in Done-Rite Bowling where he will serve as President.  Done-Rite represents manufacturers of bowling equipment and supplies to the bowling industry.

 We get many questions about the Mentor renovation project.  As many of you may realize the lending environment is pretty tough out there.  No banks want to even talk to you about new capital, and certainly Freeway lanes is not immune to this.  We have had to table this project for at least 12 months and will wait and see where this business environment is going to take us.  I look at the completed drawings in my office every week and look forward to the day of implementing this project.  In the mean time Larry Demoss continues to do an excellent job of improving customer service and keeping the place clean.

 2010 should prove to be a good year for all.  I feel it is time for all of us to improve our lives and the lives around us.  Things may not has gone as planned in 2009 for many of us, but we need to be healthy and let go of what we did not accomplish, and thrive on what is ahead of us.    Be well, go bowling and live happy!

Sincerely,

Glenn E. Gable

CEO

Freeway Lanes Bowling Group

Issue 3, Casino Gambling in the State of Ohio

The biggest thing I hear about Issue 3 that it is about time for Casino gaming in the State of Ohio. The problem is people do not understand what Issue 3 means to local small businesses. We are competing for entertainment dollars, and Casinos will dramatically affect the money people have to spend in small businesses, like local bowling alleys, restaurants and bars. It will massively decrease Ohio Lottery play affecting funding for the State, and it will funnel new dollars into our Counties instead of the State, which will cut into the education dollars mandated and provided by the State of Ohio.

So is Freeway Lanes against Gambling coming to Ohio? Absolutely not. Governor Strickland and the Ohio State Legislature had a wonderful chance to bring gambling to Ohio in a fair and equitable manner. Many states that surround Ohio have produced fair models that provided lots of revenue to the State and local business, but we chose to ignore this. Governor Strickland was too busy posturing to the far right and hiding behind the fact that Ohioans had turned down bad gambling initiatives 4 times in this State. What really was happening is Ohioans were too smart to let the mega rich get mega richer and monopolize on this piece of commerce.  We voted against it because it was not fair, not because we morally oppose gambling. Poles about gambling in Ohio prove this time and time again.

For the past year I have been going to the Statehouse regularly. The only consistent thing I ever heard was the Governor was not going to let gambling in the State of Ohio. For months and months when a strong gambling plan to produce badly needed revenue to the State should have been explored and negotiated, the Governor chose to listen to the wrong people on what is right for the State. We sat here and watched billions of dollars flow out of our State and into others, while we acutally watched Ohio border cities spend money to build better infrastructure so theses people could leave to gamble.  Does this sound right?

If Issue 3 passes the small businesses in this State will not get a shot at this lucrative market. The out of State big gaming companies and local billionaires did not invent this product, they should have no exclusive rights to market this product in our economy. Gambling should be offered and regulated through the Ohio Lottery and spread out evenly across the state. Why would we channel all these dollars to such a few individuals who will take our money out of the State, while local businesses suffer at home trying to compete with a product we are not legally entitled to?

We need to VOTE NO on Issue 3, and then write and convince our legislators to put a bill through the House and the Senate that legalizes gambling that make sense for everyone.  If Issue 3 passes you will see multi national gaming companies, billionaires and soon to follow Indian Casinos have an exclusive on gambling . It is difficult enough to do business in the State of Ohio and to create this unlevel playing field in the entertainment industry is just not fair.

VOTE NO on Issue 3, and you are voting yes for local Ohio businesses!

Calling All League Bowlers!

The league bowlers are such an important and appreciated part of the Freeway Lanes business.   Many of our leagues have grown over the past few years, and we hope to continue this positive trend as we try to improve facilities and make you a better place to bowl.  Over the past few weeks we have been calling and emailing league bowlers to reach out and keep in touch with you this summer. 

 As part of our appreciation we are offering FREE bowling to league bowlers every Monday night from 5 to 10 p.m., except in Warren where it is on Tuesday nights.  We also are offering a deep discounted price per game for friends and family members to come in with you.  Get together your team, your league or anyone who is thinking about the bowling league here and enjoy a few games on us.  You can also look for a couple of specials in the lounge and kitchen to even entice you more to come in!

 Soon we will be announcing dates for our league officer parties.  This party is a way for us to bring the league officers all together and tell you what is going on for the upcoming season.  Each party includes a nice spread of food, beverages and some fun rainbow bowling .  This is a tradition we started over 16 years ago in Parma, and have kept it up as our way of getting the season going again.  We know all the hard work that goes into running the leagues every year, and we thank you for your service and dedication.    It is hard to believe but we have a few leagues that have been bowling with us for almost 50 years!

 My Wife and I have personally been making some calls to the league bowlers and have enjoyed speaking to you.   As you can imagine we cannot call all of you personally, and that is why I invite you to call me at 440-585-5800 to discuss whatever is on your mind.  If you have a complaint, a suggestion or even a compliment  please do not hesitate to call me personally.  Hope to see you around the center on Monday nights, or at the league officer parties, and most of all bowling with us this fall!

 

Regards,
Glenn E. Gable

CEO

Freeway Lanes Bowling Group

Recession Busters!

Let’s hope we are near the bottom of this recession. Bowling is proving to be a cheap alternative, but like everyone Freeway Lanes is tightening its belt wherever we can. Our hope it is to weather this recession and still provide an enjoyable place to work and bowl. We have created many specials to help our customers and to bring in what business. We are prepared for a long summer and will do our best to keep making improvements in the centers.

Summer leagues went off with a smashing success this year. This is the largest amount of summer leagues ever established in the Freeway Lanes chain. Special thanks to Kevin and his staff at Wickliffe for putting together our largest summer league ever on Wednesday nights. The sport shot leagues have proven to be a great success in short season format. Fall league schedules will be coming out by July 1, and we hope you continue to bowl with us in the regular season.

More than ever we are all looking at cheaper ways to entertain ourselves. Freeway Lanes is here to help with recession busting pricing! Don’t let the economy get you way down, come in and enjoy our specials. The same as last year, we are happy to present Kidsbowlfree.com. Go to this web site and register for free bowling each and every day of the summer! That is right, free! To get an entire outing with the family we are offering a special discount on Pizza, Pins and Pop for only $39.95. Every Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon you can enjoy this reduced price for 2 hours bowling, rental shoes, a one item pizza and pitcher of pop! Go out and enjoy the time with the family! We make it easy for you.

Office Hours

We are pleased to announce office hours for the CEO and President of Freeway Lanes. Each Friday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. we will be in the corporate offices inside Freeway Lanes of Wickliffe behind lane 96. Wickliffe. I invite anyone to email me for a time slot to come by and discuss what is on your mind. Employees and customers alike are welcome. If you have an idea for a promotion, a suggestion for an improvement, or if you just want to come by and get to know us better, please email us a time you can be there and we will confirm a meeting. We look forward to your input, and hope to see you soon!

Employee Health and Wellness

We are continually trying to improve our benefits to our employees. In order to make an effort to encourage a healthy lifestyle, Freeway Lanes is announcing that we will cover up to $15/month for any health membership as long as the employee is using it. We hope that employees will take advantage of this, and we hope if you ever considered coming to work for us it encourages you to put in an application. You can go online to www.freewaylanes and put in an application at any time.

Enjoy the summer and time with the Family!

Best,

Glenn E. Gable
CEO
Freeway Lanes Bowling Group