Jeff Moeller is the new owner of Marysville Lanes. The facility will remain the home base for the high school bowling teams from Marysville, Fairbanks and North Union. It has been renamed “Dragon Lanes.”
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Jeff Moeller feels there aren’t enough recreational opportunities in Marysville.
That’s why he stepped forward to become the new owner of the city’s only bowling alley.
The final papers were recently signed and the financing went through for Moeller, who lives on Lantern Drive, to purchase Marysville Lanes from Bob and Allison Boggs.
The facility had been on the market since last fall and Moeller said he didn’t know what the future held in store for local bowlers.
“I made a few calls the first day I saw the ‘for sale’ sign up,” said Moeller, who retired from Honda America after 28 years. “I wanted this to remain a bowling and family center.”
Moeller said there were rumors floating around town about what would happen to the long-time bowling facility had someone else purchased it.
He didn’t want that to happen.
“I had heard it was for sale and I had always bowled here,” said Moeller. “My two sons basically grew up here.”
Moeller had a keen interest in keeping the facility as a bowling center.
Not only was he a bowler at Marysville Lanes, but also worked there.
“I’d work my shift at Honda and come out here as the night and weekend manager,” he said. “I did that for about five years.”
Moeller said he plans a number of changes to the facility, with the idea of expanding its business.
“We’re going to do some painting, revamp the restrooms and mechanically tweak the lanes a little bit,”
he said. “A lot of the work will be done in the off-hours, once our contractors are freed from other projects they have.”
The business officially opened under the new ownership at 1 p.m. last Friday under the name “Dragon Lanes.”
That’s the latest in the monikers for the facility that at one time or another also went by “U-Co” and “Sunshine” Lanes.
“My son Ethan’s football nickname is ‘Dragon,’” said Moeller. “That’s the name his teammates gave him and that’s what he wanted me to rename the bowling center.”
The younger Moeller is 13 and also is an avid bowler.
The elder Moeller originally had another name in mind, had he not gone with his son’s gridiron nickname.
“We were going to call it ‘Monarch Lanes,’” he said. “Kids from the other schools (Fairbanks and North Union), though, reminded me they bowl here as well.”
Moeller said the prep bowling teams from Marysville, Fairbanks and North Union will keep the facility as their home base.
“We’re going to give each of those teams their own wall,” he said. “They will be able to paint that wall in their team colors.”
Moeller said he doesn’t know where the local high school teams would have gone if the facility would no longer have been used for bowling.
“I had heard that Fairbanks might have gone to Plain City and North Union might have gone to Marion,” he said. “I hadn’t heard where Marysville might have gone.
“Those teams don’t have to worry about that now.”
The business will be open from 1-10 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for the present time.
Sundays will be Family Day.
The center will be closed the other days of the week as Moeller devotes that time to begin upgrades.
It will eventually be open every day of the week.
“Our bowlers may see some delays during the course of the work,” he said. “I don’t think it will disrupt things too much.”
Moeller also hopes to see new leagues formed.
“We currently have our Wednesday Afternoon Ladies, a Wednesday night league and our youth program,” he said. “There used to be two shifts of leagues every day in here Monday through Friday.
“I’d love to see five or six leagues in here.”
Moeller is also a big supporter of the Marysville Youth Bowling Association, which has been under the direction of Kirk and Janice Rounds for a number of years.
“What a lot of people don’t know is that there is scholarship money available for United States Bowling Congress youngsters,” said Rounds, who will serve as interim manager of the facility.
“Ethan already has scholarship money saved,” said Moeller.
“My grandson (Michael Helton Jr.) received a bowling scholarship to Rio Grande University,” said Rounds.
“We used to have 125 kids in our youth bowling,” said Rounds, who also is a bus driver for the Marysville school district. “The last few years, we’ve had between 60 and 65.
“There are so many other sports to compete with for the kids, but I’d really like to get the numbers back up in our youth program,” he said.
With so many activities spreading people thin, Moeller was asked if bowling is still important in Union County.
“I think so,” he said.
“High school bowling is the fastest-growing sport in the state, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association,” said Rounds. “We lose some of our older (youth) bowlers during the winter when the high school team competes in its season.”
“Bowling is a varsity sport at both Fairbanks and North Union,” said Moeller. “It’s still a club sport at Marysville, but we’re working on it to become a varsity sport.”
Moeller paid a purchase price of $750,000 for the business, which included the building and equipment.
He feels it is an excellent investment.
“We just want to build business and make this a good, family place,” he said.