Page 74 - BCM May 2024

One of Us

There’s Always More to Know

Getting involved with BPAA increased Watts’s bowling biz IQ.

BY DENNIS BERGENDORF
et’s go back to 1987, when Barbara sets aside lanes Monday morning for quali ed. Because they know their
L Watts was watching her young son special-needs schools. And she takes bowlers.”
bowl in the Saturday morning bumper those folks into account in her policy on When she bought Amity, she kept
league, and the manager asked her “cosmic bowling,” which is not o ered Dominic Rugeriero, the mechanic who
for a bit of help. She obliged, and that on a regular basis. has been there 35 years.
quickly led her to being put in charge of “We don’t advertise [it] because the e Connecticut BPA is one of the
Amity Bowl’s youth program. blinking lights… could cause someone smaller state groups because “Connect-
Her next task was bookkeeping. And to have an epileptic attack,” she notes. icut is a small state. A tough state.”
lling in for owner Bill Simone. And Amity also can be rented out. Four- Watts spends a lot of time working
doing every task short of replacing the teen lanes is typical, but some commu- on legislative matters, such as the push
sweep on lane 7. Finally, in 2012, she nity groups go for all 24. A rental usually to charge sales tax on bowling. Liquor
bought the business from then-owners runs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.. Groups can laws also are a concern, as well as the
Dan and Janis Blasiak, who were bring their own food, but the center occasional attempt to allow video gam-
heading o to Hawaii. Since she “was sells the beverages. bling in bars.
already doing everything,” ownership “In addition to a great revenue Proprietors from outside Connecticut
of the 24-laner center was a “natural stream, you don’t need as much sta have been known to take part in CBPA
transition.” on,” Watts says. meetings and educational programs,
en came Connecticut BPA Execu- Among the regulars are Rydas 4 though they don’t pay state dues.
tive Director Ken West and proprietor Righteousness (a motorcycle ministry), Looking back, Watts remembers the
Bill DeDominicis with an o er she New Haven re ghters and police, and friends she has made as head of the
couldn’t refuse: join BPAA and take even the Connecticut chapter of the association and being on the BPAA
advantage of Smart Buy. A decade later, Dallas Cowboys Fan Club. board.
Barbara Watts is president of the Con- Community involvement is critical “Going to the convention and
necticut BPA, and she’s on the BPAA for someone taking over an existing meeting Jamie Brooks, who had seven
Board of Directors, including a seat on center, Watts says. So too is knowing centers,” was among the highlights, she
the International Bowl Expo Commit- the sport and business of bowling. says. “It’s not so much the Connecti-
tee. “When I bought Amity, I was already cut area, as meeting proprietors from
Amity Bowl is in the New Haven here almost 25 years. Everybody knew all over who have years and years of
suburb of Woodbridge, a community me — even more than they knew the experience.”
of some 9,000 only four miles from Yale owners,” she says. When she purchased Amity Bowl,
University. In addition to more than its Watts also advises evaluating the sta Barbara Watts already knew the bowl-
share of college grads, Woodbridge has already working there. ing business. Now, by getting involved,
a household median income of more “And learn from the help if they’re she knows even more.
than $160,000.
To capitalize, Amity features a popu-
lar snack bar, the Stone Ten Lounge THE PYROTECHNICIAN
and leagues.
“We have Monday, Wednesday and
ursday with a full house,” Watts says. Around the time Barbara Watts bought Amity Bowl, she was a pyro.
“Twenty-four lanes, so we can’t have a As in pyrotechnician. She set up — and set o — those spectacular
breakdown.” reworks shows you see on the 4th of July.
Even the Sunday morning mixed Beginning with one of history’s oddest dates, she jumped in to help
league had 21 teams of ve bowlers reload launch tubes. Not long after, she had her own reworks com-
who competed for thousands in prize pany. In part because of time constraints, she hasn’t worked a show in
money and sidepots. a couple of years.
For a long time, Watts has been par- But as a competitor said, “Only re can freeze time.”
tial to people with special needs, so she

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