$1 a week.’ It was ….

$1 a week.’ It was a lot, 33 cents a game was a lot. It was a huge raise. I said this is well calculated on my part. I said you saw my picture in the paper with my wife holding my newborn son. I’m a young guy. I figured only a couple of things were going to happen. Number one is, you guys are going to be so mad that half of you are going to quit bowling. I kinda weighed that. Or you can support me. If you support me I have a chance. I have the expertise to make this the finest bowling alley in the nation. I know how to do it, I just don’t have any money. I promise you I’ll get you the best stuff if you do. And you know what, they did. That’s the truth. They stuck by it. They came out the next year. That was a great moment.”

With his son managing the Eau Claire facility and Tyler Messman managing The Sports Page, Platt said the day his involvement in the bowling business ends is coming sooner rather than later. The COVID pandemic of the last year certainly has been a huge hit, but he’s optimistic about the immediate future.

“People are just putting their toe in the water now,” Platt said. “They’re just finally going, ‘maybe I can go out locally.’ I think we’re going to have that for 18 months where people are going, ‘maybe I can do this’ and I want to show them something new (with the scoring system). They’re saying now, ‘I want to take my kids out and do something.’” His goal for next league year is to bring people back to the sport by offering shorter, more flexible league seasons that hopefully can accommodate the schedules of anyone interested in bowling.

“What we’re telling people now with COVID, is when do you want to bowl?” he said. “Do you want to come Tuesday at 4 p.m.? With all of the computers now, I can put you in whatever time you need. You don’t have to bowl every Tuesday at 4 p.m. You can bowl a split shift, you can bowl for eight weeks. When do you want and we’ll figure out something to make it. I’m going to try to really go after that.”