Fun at Royal Pin

Royal Pin wants to reward the positive kids out there! Do you know an all around good kid? We’re looking for someone who stands out by supporting a local foundation, stands out in a local organization or even just helps clean up and plays well with their siblings.

Let us know who you see standing out in the groups so we can reward them with a party at Greatimes and a gift certificate to Royal Pin.  

Once your nomination is approved come back and hit the LIKE button below their entry. The children with the most likes from each bowling center will win. You will get a prize to. If you work with and organization that works with kids, please enter as many great kids as you know. You’re organization will be recognized as well as get a prize that can be used to help raise funds or even just thank someone for supporting you.

Nominations end at 6:00pm May 26. Get your kids entered and vote now!!

Payback Prize Package

Enter someone you know

Good afternoon!

I wanted to shoot you both an email and say THANK YOU for EVERYTHING you did with the 2nd Bowl for Kids bowling fundraiser event. I have to tell you it was absolutely amazing and a tremendous success. We raised over $75,000!!!! That was almost double last year. Besides that it was an amazing day with the kids and our employees and friends of the foundation.

I cannot thank you enough for your hard work putting this together. Ken your attention to our needs throughout this process as well as the day of was impeccable. You truly worked with us to make sure our guests had a top notch experience and I cannot thank you enough.

Thanks again so much.

Sincerely,

Marty Posch
Executive Director
Finish Line Youth Foundation

Thank you for your message, Marty. Woodland Bowling Center in Indianapolis is happy to host your bowling event. We enjoy working with friendly teams like yours. We hope that Finish Line Youth foundation will continue to use Royal Pin Leisure Centers for all your bowling events.

Thank you,

Stacey R. Davis
Marketing Director
Royal Pin Leisure Centers.

Arlington/Roe is home based in Indianapolis and each of our locations, Grand Rapids, MI – Geneva, IL & Louisville, KY organize a Spring and Fall outing designed to: 
#1 Have Fun
#2 Get to Know the many people with whom we work

In Indianapolis we have 90 plus employees so we thought team building “with a theme” would be fun. The bowling teams are made up of people from various departments and a general theme is established. Based on the theme the teams compete not only for bowling scores but a competition is organized for best name and best “costumes”.  Yes, our people go over the top being creative and competitive.  Themes have included Decades – Where each team had a different decade 50’s 60’s 70’s and so on. Our hat theme was a hoot and this year’s sock theme was more fun than expected when the Loose Socks won for their shirts with odd socks stuck to them and one guy wearing a washing machine made from a box and another cut a hole in the laundry basket and wore it at his waist.  Hilarious…and quite clever. 

The people at Woodland Bowling Center treat us like gold and for

Helen E. Cassada

Assistant to the President - Director of Communications
Indianapolis, IN Office

Arlington/Roe & Co

Thank you for having your event at Woodland Bowling Center every year. We do our best to host team building events in Indianapolis. Arlington/Roe has the idea down right. These people were dressed in the silliest costumes and all having a great time! I walked in and noticed the socks right away. How I noticed that over the tall guy in the pink leotard and big wig is beyond me!

We appreciate your business and your great attitude. See you again next year!

Contact me if you're intested in getting tips from Royal Pin or Arlington/Roe on how to organize a successful, fun team building event! 

Stacey: sdavis@royalpin.com
317-576-5174 ext 208

Hey NASCAR fans! Did you make it out to the Brickyard 400 this year?

I kept hearing how low attendance was going to be, but did you know it drew in an estimated crowd of 180,000. I’d say that’s quite a few people. Its bigger than most other events in Indianapolis that I’ve attended. I still think fans are loyal and they will do what they can to get out and support their favorite driver – even in near 100 degree weather! Royal Pin bowlers are no different!

Yeah, it was hot. I got a pretty good burn on my shoulders and nose, and had to drink 2 waters to every beer just to stay hydrated, but I enjoyed the race! Opening ceremonies are always exciting – America the Beautiful (Reba McEntire) and the National Anthem (Rascal Flats), followed by the jets flying over always get me pumped up for whatever event I’m attending. 

I didn’t attend this event alone. Royal Pin locations Southern Bowl and Western Bowl both had NASCAR bowling leagues. In these leagues bowlers enjoyed 15 weeks of light competition and meeting new people with similar interests. The leagues ended last week and all teams from both bowling centers received tickets to the Brickyard 400.

So Kristi King from Southern Bowl, Doug Hall from Western Bowl, the grill master of Royal Pin Leisure Centers, Jim Doty, several bowlers and I had a tailgate party and walked in to the race together. The tailgate party was a perk of the bowling league. In addition to the race tickets bowlers got parking passes, vouchers for Brickyard souvenirs, free food, sodas, water, and yes, even beer.

Paul Menard’s victory over Jeff Gordon (also a bowling fan) was a bit of a surprise for most. But you don’t have to be a champion bowler to win tickets to next year’s race, just join the Royal Pin’s NASCAR bowling league next year and you’re in. If you’re a real fanatic about NASCAR look for our merchandise bowl league where you can get bowling balls or bowling pins with photos and designs of your favorite driver.

Thanks to all of you for joining the league! You’re welcome to add comments to this post, or upload photos to this or our Facebook Fan page. We enjoy getting to know you outside of they Royal Pin walls as well!

Great so the NFL lockout is over! No more wondering when/if the football season is going to start. For many local businesses there is not more concern whether or not Indianapolis will host the Super Bowl this year.This will be the biggest events in Indianapolis! 

From my understanding of it all it is final. Players are in training. Austin Collie is healthy. Peyton Manning is a Colt for life. Colts fans have every reason to be excited for the fall.  

Many of us at Royal Pin are also true Indianapolis Colts fans. We have put together a fun, casual league for you. We have a short season bowling league starting in September in which all bowlers get a ticket to three Colts home games. If you're bowling in Indianapolis might as well attend a few Indianapolis Colts games, right?

Come in each week, bowl with friends and attend a few games this season. The three games are against Jacksonville (11/3), Caroline (11/27) and Tennessee (12/8).

Last year we had over 100 bowlers in this league.

But wait! We have something for you season ticket holders to! Bowl in our Pro Team league and get an authentic, high quality jersey of the player and team of your choice.

To get more information or join either of these bowling leagues contact your closest Royal Pin bowling center. We’ll be happy to get you on the right league and supporting your favorite sport and team!

Kenny, the manager of Woodland Bowl and I attended the Marion County Fair on Kids Day, July 30. It was HOT!

There was a cheerleading competition going on in one the buildings near our booth. With so many spirited high schoolers jumping around and having fun it was easy to forget about the heat and enjoy the afternoon.

Several families stopped by to spin the wheel and win lots of bowling discounts and free bowling games.

I met a several bowlers that bowl in a few different Royal Pin leagues. It is fun to see little kids excited about bowling and parents who had a few fun stories about growing up going to bowling allies when they were kids.

We gave away a grand prize every hour of a kids bowling birthday party. We also introduced Marion County residents to our Royal Pin Facebook fan page. And had registration forms there just in case anyone was ready to sign up for one of our upcoming fall bowling leagues.

I’ll looking forward to hearing how the kids enjoy their bowling birthday party.

As managers and program directors of Royal Pin, we’re wanting to reach out to families near our bowling centers and invite you back in. Maybe its been a week since you’re last visit, maybe a year or more. With this heat, and even when the cold months come up, who can pass up a fun time indoors with the family?

Look for us at the Indiana State Fair and any other upcoming community event. Stop by for free prizes and big discounts on bowling. If you know of an event you would like to see us attend, contact me or leave a comment under this post.

We look forward to seeing you all soon!

I remember early in junior high and even elementary school when the Guinness Book of World Records was so fascinating to me. I can still remember the pictures of the tallest man and shortest lady, big growths on people’s bodies and all types of human oddities. I also remember the fun things like the biggest ball of rubber bands or longest number of people holding hands. Classmates and I entertained the idea that we could make the longest chain of paper clips until we realized it was only one box and they belonged to the teacher.

Well, now we all have our chance at breaking a world record together!

Royal Pin Leisure Centers is joining more than 4,000 bowling centers nationwide inviting the public to attempt to break the current record of 923,948 bowling games played in a single day.

On August 6, Royal Pin is inviting the public to bowl their first game for free in this national project. All those who take part in the World Record breaking event will receive a certificate to verify their participation.

The 2011 National Bowling Week kicked off July 30 with the record-breaking attempt to occur on National Bowling Day, August 6. To launch the weeklong celebration, bowling centers across the United States will host special events that will include coaching clinics, bowling parties, quick and easy league sign-up and plenty of fun.On Saturday, anyone who downloads the free game coupon on our front page (www.royalpin.com) can bowl one game for free and take part in the World Record breaking event. For your efforts, you will also receive a certificate to verify your participation.

In Indianapolis and across the United States, this sport has seen an incredible resurgence in popularity. We are proud to celebrate a great year for bowling and to thank all of the people who have supported Royal Pin. We are excited to join thousands of centers, from coast-to-coast across the United States, in attempting to set a new world record.  We invite people of all levels and talents to stop by and play for free as we try to help make history!

We may not get our names or crazy, memorable photos in a book of records, but it would be a fun little fact you can share with your friends. Actually bring all your friends and family along. In this case the more really is the merrier!

The World Record Event and National Bowling Week are sponsored by the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America (BPAA), Strike Ten Entertainment (STE), the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association (IBPSIA), the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) and the United States Bowling Congress (USBC).

For more information about National Bowling Week and bowling in general, visit www.gobowling.com.

Royal Pin participates in a program called Kids Bowl Free. It was created by a marketing company that works for bowling centers. I believe its in the 7^th year. This year Darrin, Andy and the Kids Bowl Free guys decided to wrap a large bus with fun bowling graphics and tour the country, making many stops at the bowling centers that participate in the family bowling program.

 KBF Tour Challenge: 

The Kids Bowl Free Nationwide Bus tour will be hosting FREE bowling events in communities along the route. These FREE events will be highlighted with the Nationwide Kids Bowl Free Celebrity & Local Heroes Bowling Challenge. Kids Bowl Free will be giving away $5000.00 to local charities throughout the country as they compete in a unique, fun and non-skill based bowling tournament with other charities along the bus tour route. see more here

The bus came through Indiana in the beginning of May. Royal Pin's Expo Bowl hosted the bowling tournament for the Celebrity and Local Heroes Challenge that evening.

To be honest, it was quite a challenge to find local celebrities and heroes in the quick notice this event was put together. As the free charity bowling tournament came near, I felt less and less popular in my own city. (boo hoo to me, right?) But the Royal Pin family pulled together and we appreciate those that could take part in our free bowling tournament.

We had 13 teams of local celebrities and heroes compete in the national bowling tournament to win money towards the charity of their choice. The part that makes this tournament "fair" across the country is it's not completely based on talent. All scores from all the bowling centers across the country are recorded and put into 3 tiers. Then a team name is drawn from each tier.  The team name drawn from the top will win $2,500 toward the charity of their choice. Second and third will win $1,500 and $1,000.

We were happy to host this free bowling tournament and look forward to seeing if anyone from Indy will win!

Teams and their charity is listed below

Dan Cole, GIBA hall of fame and retired teacher - Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center
Steve Kunkel, Indiana High School Bowling Commissioner - Riley Hospital
Dale Bell - People's Full Gospel Church
Laryy J. Shortidge - People's Full Gospel Church
Jennifer Eichler, "the Watson's Girl – Juvenile Diabetes Research
Lori Delodge, IFD - Heroes
Amy Crisci - JDRF
Frank Wyant, representing 5 'til Dawn - Handicapable Camp Inc.
Rita Heldman, Pharmacy tech - Villa Oaks Baptist Church
Donnie Heldman, Repiratory therapist - Villa Oaks Baptist Church
Kevin Kirkhoff, representing Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts
Walt Guntharp, Guntharp & Assoc. - US Coast Guard Auxilary
Jonathan Bright, Chiropractor - Handicapable Camp, Inc.

Thank you again to all our great teams. We look forward to announcing the winners of the Kids Bowl Free, free bowling tournament! 

Hello Janice,

I just wanted to tell you Thank You so much for your help with this years Indy Middle of the Night! The students really had a great time and the staff was great!
I will definitely forward any inquiries I come across concerning places to have events in Indianapolis to you!
Thank you so much!

Brent

Chris put on his own bowling shoes and dusted off his ball. I went to the bowling center counter and got a pair slightly too big and a few house balls. I started with an 8 and a 10. I think I’m a little wimpy.

In 3 games I bowled something like 63, 112 and 80. That’s only an average of 85. So I guess it shouldn’t take much to improve after just one bowling lesson. Chris wasn’t impressed with his own scores, but did much better than me at 150, 165 and 167 – an average of 160!

Out of 3 games the only time I threw a strike is when I was joking and used Chris’s ball.

We took a few photos and videos and discovered one of my main issues. Click to look through and see if you can tell what we found out right away. Royal Pin Flickr. 

 I'm looking forward to actually feeling like I know what I'm doing.

Look at me bowl! Yikes. I didn't even know what I was doing wrong.



Chris, on the other hand, kinda looks like he does.

I’m what the industry calls an open bowler – someone who comes in on weekend nights after the leagues and bowls a few games once or twice a year. I call people like me recreational bowlers.

One of the things that keeps me from bowling is I’m not very good at it. As a teenager and in college my friends and I would go to the bowling alley and have a good time. But by the middle of the 3^rd game I was just throwing the ball down the lane to get it over with. I'm not about to sign up for an Indianapolis bowling tournament (yet), but I have a competitive streak in me and pretty much only have fun if I’m at least within a competitive score.

As the marketing director of several Indianapolis bowling centers it’s my job to find more recreational bowlers like me and introduce them back into bowling in Indianapolis. Royal Pin has a great Learn to Bowl program. I decided to promote the bowling lesson with Coach Ray Muir by taking them myself. I will blog about it the whole way through, including photos and videos.

Each week, or as we can set it up, I will have a bowling lesson with Ray. He’ll show me how things are suppose to be done and give me custom one-on-one training. As part of his program Ray will video record my steps as I bowl and give tips on how to improve my game. At my level, he’ll also need to give me the basic rules of the game.

Between coaching lessons I’ll be bowling with my friend Chris Nelson. Chris use to bowl as a kid and teenager. I plan to catch up and pass him. We’ll end up having to give him some pointers by the time this is done.

Ray and Dave Snell coach at all levels. They’ll do group or personal training. Check out our site for more information.

Our coaching program is a great step to getting non bowlers to feel good about bowling. As Coach Snell says, its 90% mental, 10% talent.

We had our first event pre bowling lesson, Tuesday. Let me say, there is very much room for improvement!