Three brothers who have established a mini bowling empire in and around Raleigh, N.C. — John, Ricky and Bill Buffaloe — have been selected as the 2018 Proprietors of the Year by the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America.
The brothers will be honored at an industry awards luncheon on June 19, during BPAA’s International Bowl Expo at the Paris Hotel and Casino resort in Las Vegas.
“The Buffaloes are great proprietors and, more importantly, great people,” said BPAA President Nancy Schenk. “They treat their employees and customers like family. Their five centers are all modern, clean, welcoming and busy. Their junior program is top notch, filled with amazing coaches and full of opportunities for their youth bowlers. What they do for them is, no doubt, creating lifetime bowlers and great stewards of our sport.”
The Buffaloe centers — South, North, Cary, Erwin and Mebane — include a total of 148 lanes. All promote bowling above all else, and enforce a strict no-drinking and no-smoking policy to maintain a family atmosphere.
The centers have developed a strong Junior Gold team concept, and this year will send 50 youth bowlers to the Junior Gold Championships in Dallas. Melissa McDaniel, who chairs the International Bowling Campus Youth Committee, is the company’s youth director.
The Buffaloe centers also are known for their annual Team Championships, free to all league champions, open to other teams for a fee, and featuring $20,000 in added money plus a catered lunch or dinner.
“The Buffaloes’ commitment to league bowling is second to none,” added Schenk. “The tournaments, awards and recognition they give to their league bowlers is the most of any proprietor I have ever met.
“It is a great honor to award the BPAA Proprietor of the Year award to the Buffaloe family for their commitment to our great sport and running not one, but five, amazing bowling centers.”
The Buffaloe brothers will be featured in the cover story of the June issue of Bowling Center Management magazine (BCM), the official publication of the BPAA.
The BPAA Proprietor of the Year award was established in 2016, when Jim Chambers of Cloverleaf Family Bowl in Fremont, Calif., was honored. The 2017 recipient was John Losito of Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln, Neb.
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