His affinity for bowling almost killed Terry Stike. Once an employee of the old Triangle Lanes in Christiansburg, he was told to change out a dead light bulb in the outside sign. He climbed the ladder, reached in and woke up in a hospital room. An electric shock had entered his left wrist, then careened throughout his body. But this story isn’t about death or bowling, it’s about living. And a little bit about bowling.Despite near-death, Stike (unfortunately, no, not ‘strike’), savored a full career in the bowling industry and is now pushing 66 years old, which means people keep asking him about retirement. “I wish they wouldn’t keep asking because then I have to acknowledge it exists!” While many, many, people count the years down to punching in the last time card, Stike has no similar plans. “There hasn’t been a day that I don’t want to come to work. I can honestly say that. It’s the coolest thing ever,” he declares. Working His Way Up Stike has loved the recreational sport since he was 8 years old, when his mom first put a bowling ball in his hands. Aside from a 4-year break in high school to play school sports as an Auburn Eagle, he’s bowled. In his early 20s, he went to work for the Triangle Lanes — now the Walgreens on North Franklin Street. He picked up trash and cigarette butts while also working as a mechanic. Once he insisted that he could save the alley money by resurfacing the lanes himself, which he did by working through one long overnight.Eventually, he took over the youth bowling program, an organized youth league for budding bowlers associated with the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), similar in feel and execution to municipal rec sports. After a brief time building up the same program at Leisure Lanes in Pulaski (now closed), he returned to Triangle Lanes in the early 90s, this time as manager. By 1996, it was time for a change. Stike was integral in designing and building what would replace the historic, beloved Triangle Lanes: Today’s NRV Superbowl. He made conscious choices, like not having the small step up to the lanes, with his senior leagues in mind, and not installing ceiling panels to help alleviate the heavy, trapped fog of cigarette smoke (which was still legal indoors then). On May 19, 1997, the Superbowl doors opened with 40 lanes, billiards, an arcade, a snack bar and a lounge area. Transformation Challenge “Bowling had become a thing not to do instead of thing to do around 2014. It had a bad reputation because of smoking and drinking trends, and it had just become boring. You had to make a move or be finished.” Stike met with consultants and decided to rethink the business as a ‘family entertainment center.’ Even a simple branding adjustment away from the word ‘alley’ to ‘center’ was important, to better infer a full experience that is supported by friendly customer service.He demolished eight lanes and the billiards area in favor of a 2-story laser tag room. He added more arcade games and bumper cars. The cars were ultimately removed during covid because of a parts shortage (spoiler alert: they may come back!). Because there were more activities, patrons stayed longer and bowled more.To continue his affinity for putting bowling balls in the hands of kids, he takes portable lanes (carpet lanes, plastic pins and rubber balls) to area elementary schools to teach the sport during P.E. classes. Afterward, the entire school gets to come bowl for free. He offers summer bowling camps and various kids-bowl-free specials.”Creating a family atmosphere was the best thing we’ve ever done, better on my staff, better on my wife, better on my kids [two daughters] and better on me,” he laughs. He used to get home at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. on the weekends, now he’s home by midnight. “We try to do everything we can do on the family-oriented side of it.”His favorite part is talking to people in the community, talking to all the friends he’s collected over the years. “It’s constant. It’s one huge family,” Stike says. “If you keep having the relationships and happy times with people, you don’t want to retire. I’ve worked almost every Saturday for 34 years. We do it because it’s what we like doing.”He is a firm believer in leading by example and doesn’t have any employee do anything that he wouldn’t do. He works alongside them every day. Amanda Crawford, general manager, has been working with him for 24 years.Every year he attends the largest entertainment expo in Orlando, IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions), to peruse ‘what’s next.’ He currently has his eye on golf simulators and what’s called a Neoverse LED wall (worth looking up). Later this summer, stop by and play the wildly popular tradeshow hit, the ICEE Slush Rush. What’s Next? “You have to look at the future, at what can be. If you can’t be about what’s next, you get stale. Even though new things are expensive, they put you up into the next level of modernization. The bowling game itself is never going to change.”With a career marked with consummate hard work and forward thinking, a genuine appreciation for staff and a supportive family, one can understand how retirement might not be so attractive. “If I had known when I was younger what I know now, watch out, I would’ve had a chain of bowling centers. I’ve toyed with buying other ones, but my wife won’t let me.” While he’s never bowled professionally, Stike attends tournaments nationwide for fun. In May, he’ll be off to Baton Rouge, La., for a tournament. Again, this isn’t really about bowling, more about living. But for some, the two things are kind of the same. Photos by Jon Fleming Text by Nancy S. Moseley Nancy S. Moseley is a born and raised Blacksburg writer. She frequented Triangle Lanes’ disco bowling nights in the spring of 1997. Not a huge fan of the sport (local record-holder for gutter balls), she was happy to ride the bench, cheer and keep the team hydrated.
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