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New owner of Viking Bowl ready to get things rolling

by Marlys Kruger

COLFAX — With the start of bowling season just around the corner, there will be a new face running the Viking Bowl by the name of Amy Young.

After growing up in a military family which took her to many places around the U.S., Young graduated from high school in Texas and took a job with a Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Texas. She made her way to the midwest by transferring to the Menomonie Center in 1996 and after working there for several years, she decided she wanted to become a business owner. In 2003 she did just that by buying the Bodyworks Fitness Center in Menomonie and worked at both places before deciding to run the fitness center full time in 2007.She moved to Colfax in 2004 and has bowled in a league at the Viking Bowl since then.

The opportunity to purchase the local alley came about when the owners Lee and Kathy Bjurquist decided they wanted to retire and have more time for themselves. Young looked into the possibility of buying it and with encouragement from her friends, decided she could make a go of it.

“I talked to Lee about it a lot and he answered all my questions,” Young said. “Or at least a lot of them. I’m sure I will be calling him with more but I know he will help me when I need it.”

Young knows running a bowling alley will be a challenge and one of those challenges will be to draw more customers, especially bowlers to the establishment.

“We would like to get younger kids and adults involved with bowling,” she said. “There are so many other activities going on but we want to get our adult leagues full and maybe add another youth league to accommodate parents and their kid’s schedules. We will also be looking for other ideas to draw families to the place but we will play it by ear and get our leagues going for now. Eventually we want to have parties here such as for weddings, anniversaries, birthday, baby showers and the like. Our kitchen is not set up to provide food for those yet so we would have to use a caterer. But we can still serve our regular menu during open hours,” she added.

Young will have some new help including Jason Tuschl who will take care of the lanes and solve any problems which occur with them. His wife Dani will maintain the kitchen, and Colfax native Rick Prince will also help when needed. Megan Wallace and Whitney DeMoe, who both worked for Bjurquist, will continue to bartend and waitress but Young will also be looking to hire more workers in the next few weeks.

“Right now we are only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday but after Labor Day we will be open every day,” Young said. “Anyone who is interested in joining a league can call us here at 715-962-3252 and we can find a team for you. Our league meeting will be Wednesday August 26 at 7:30 so we will know what we have for teams and leagues after that.”

Young is looking forward to becoming involved in the Colfax community and meeting more people.

“I love living in a small town and I hope we can eventually have a lot of activities to make this a great place to spend time,” she said. “With daily specials and more open bowling, we hope to accomplish that. Until Labor Day, you can bowl for just a dollar a game so come on in and say hi and meet our staff,” she concluded.