Michael DeTullio and Jason SmithRobert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
Since their days as desk clerks at the old Reno Hilton bowling lanes in the 1990s, Michael DeTullio and Jason Smith shared the dream of someday owning their own bowling center.
On Oct. 1, that dream came true.
DeTullio and Smith are the new owners of the Frontier Fun Center, and aside from fulfilling a longtime ambition, they also bring the desire to make the center more of a fabric of the community than it has been. One of their first steps in that direction is to try to bring more bowlers to the center and get more youth involved in the sport.
After a process that took more than a year, DeTullio and Smith became official owners of the center on Oct. 1.
“We closed the loan Sept. 30 and opened the next day closed as Entertain NV LLC,” DeTullio said.
DeTullio was the general manager of Frontier from 2007-2010. He looked into buying the center when it closed in 2012, but it was ultimately sold to Dean Johnson, who reopened it in 2013 and ran it until the sale to DeTullio and Smith.
“They had a 10-year plan and accomplished their goals, and they’re moving on to other things,” DeTullio said. “They did what they wanted to with the place.”
DeTullio, who has lived in Fernley since 2005, said having local owners will help the center bond more closely to the community.
“You have to have owners who are local and involved,” he said. “Three months out of the year Dean was here, and that wasn’t enough. This gives us an opportunity to fix that.”
Frankie O’Brien who was the assistant operations manager and has worked at the center for six years, is now the general manager. Linda Fitzroy, who has worked at the center for 7 ½ years, was the lead desk clerk and is now a supervisor. Another supervisor, Sharon McNaughton, is new to the staff. They lead a total staff of 20.
Each of them say one of their main goals is getting youth involved in bowling.
“The youth is the future of the sport,” DeTullio said.
They will be hosting their Kids Bowl Free summer program, from April 1 through Sept. 30, a Learn to Bowl class, open for all ages, starting the first Saturday in January that will meet for five weeks on Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 7 p.m. Players who enroll in that class will get a free bowling ball, professional instruction and free games.
DeTullio said they are also working on fixing things to host Cosmic Bowling, under black lights and a light show, from 3:30-5:30 on Saturdays and Sundays.
The center currently has two primary leagues, but DeTullio said they hope to add more. Frontier is a member of the Greater Reno Sparks Bowling Association, and they will also host at least one event this year,
Open play is open during all of the center’s open hours, and can be by the game or by the hour. Friday and Saturday nights have been extending until 2 a.m., and food and drink specials are usually available.
The center also hosts birthday parties, corporate parties, and has a full service bar and food menu. Detullio said they are looking into new food specials and they’ve already done Taco Tuesdays and boneless wing days.
Along with revamping the menu, Fitzroy said they are planning to enlarge the Pro Shop with new techniques for ball drilling and provide better services to bowlers, such as free wi-fi.
“I think it’s gone pretty smooth,” he said. “We haven’t made a whole lot of procedural changes, but we have some plans coming up.”
DeTullio and Smith were both on the PBA Regional Tour from 2006-10. DeTullio has rolled 25 300-games in his life, with a high series of 797. He has served as a member of Lyon County Search and Rescue for 17 years and as a captain since 2011. He is also the head coach of the Fernley High School bowling team, which Fitzroy also helps coach, along with another staff member, Jessica Davis.
So if DeTullio responds with “Living the dream” when you ask him how he’s doing, rest assured, he isn’t being sarcastic. He is now, after all, living a dream he’s had for almost 30 years.
“We’re loving it, living the bowling life,” DeTullio said.
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