When Ed Andrews took over as manager of Twin Pin Bowling at Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, he found a business model that wasn’t cutting it.
So he changed the game.
Andrews was recently honored with a Bowling Proprietor of the Year Award from the Bowling Proprietors Association of America in part for his effort to revitalize the alley by installing new light, sound and video equipment, modernizing the furniture and incorporating new programming focusing on private parties.
“The trend in bowling now is more into entertainment,” Andrews said. “The majority of new centers being built today are entertainment centers, like Dave & Buster’s.”
Though Andrews has worked to modernize the alley, many classic features such as league play — which has had declining participation in recent years — remain in place. He said the alley has seen double-digit growth in usage.
“I may get 15 to 20 calls a day about parties or renting the place,” Andrews said. “One of the first questions I ask is how did you hear about us and have you had a party here before. With the ones who have not, they say people told them this is the place to have a party.”
He has been at the helm of Twin Pin Bowling for about eight years, during which time he has crafted an alley that caters to birthdays, command parties, re-enlistment parties, retirement parties, office parties and family reunions. In addition to managing the lanes, he performs much of the maintenance work on the alley’s equipment, carries out any marketing and promotions the alley needs and handles other necessary tasks.
“We’re very fortunate to have someone with the professionalism and demeanor of Ed,” said Ron Hodgen, the program manager for bowling, bingo and gaming for the Department of the Navy. Hodgen, who nominated Andrews for the award, praised Andrews’ performance as the manager of what he characterized as the hub of the on-base community.
Andrews is the first bowling alley manager from a military base to win the award.
“[The alley] a place where our single sailors can go and have a laugh, challenge each other, it appeals to every facet of our community,” Hodgen said of Naval bowling alleys. “Our retirees use them, our kids use them, our active duty sailors use them, and particularly with our mobile community, it’s like a touch of hometown.”
Andrews, a native of the Virginia Peninsula, got his start in bowling management when he and his father bought a Newport News bowling alley, which they ran together for 25 years. Following a stint at a 64-lane bowling center in Florida, he returned to Hampton Roads where he managed a Navy bowling alley in Virginia Beach for eight years before accepting his current job.
Twin Pin Bowling is a six-lane alley on Lebanon Church Road near the intersections of Jefferson Avenue and Yorktown Road.
