For those of you bowling this Spring, welcome! Most of you know the drill, so I'll keep the first part of this brief and put the info that is specifically for all the new people a little further down the page.
By now everybody bowling in Spring 2022 has received an email about getting me your team info, which is needed by this weekend so I have time to set up the scoring tablets and initial scoresheets. (If you didn't see an email, check your junk/spam folders, they were sent the evening of January 18.)
Bowling Payment Info - one small change
We are still offering discounts for paying in advance. If your name is NOT Jonathan Vigliaturo, here is what you need to know about bowling fees:
- The cost for the season is $240, which should be paid weekly in $15 increments.
- You can save $20 by paying $110 on or before January 25, then paying another $110 throughout the season.
- You can save $40 by paying $200 on or before January 25. This will count as being paid in full.
Payments must be sent electronically. For Venmo, send to @scooterjm (4466). For Cash App, send to $gutteralley. For PayPal: scott@syphon.com ... though we prefer you not use PayPal because its fees are too high. Please: no cash or checks.
Whichever plan you choose, all money needs to be paid by week 15, If you don't prepay, please make payments weekly so that we are able to pay our rental fee each week.
Jonathan Vigliaturo: As the lone VMLY&R bowler this time, I am working to try to get your employee discount approved. I'll let you know your payment options once I hear from your employer.
Scoring
For those who are new: Because our bowling alley is a hundred years old, it lacks automatic scoring and we have to track our own scores. Each pair of lanes has a tablet that we use for entering scores. The interface is pretty easy to use and pretty self explanatory, and each of your teams has people on it who are familiar with using them. The important thing to remember is to make sure each of your rolls gets scored before the next ball gets rolled. Update for the returning bowlers: During the break I had intended to rewrite the interface to try to solve the occasional freezes that happen, especially during the first half of the first game. Unfortunately all of my free time has instead been spent catching up on a backlog of work projects, so that rewrite will have to wait until summer. So it will still be necessary to refresh the screen from time to time. Sorry. 
COVID Update
There is not a mask mandate in Wyandotte County. We still recommend their use if you are not fully vaccinated and you are also of course welcome to wear them for any reason. We do ask that you wear a mask if you have any cold/flu symptoms even if it's known not to be covid. Do not come to bowling if you have a fever, have covid, or have been exposed and are awaiting test results. League rules about minimum team size are waived during the pandemic, any time one healthy bowler can be present we will count it as quorum. Hand sanitizer is available at a couple of locations in our facility, and our scoring tablets are sanitized before each bowling session.
Everything below this line is for the new members. Everyone else, see you Tuesday!
Location: St. John's Catholic Club, 414 Barnett, Kansas City, KS. You cannot see the bowling alley entrance from the street, it is located in the center of the block. (The map marker linked to in the address is the location of the entrance.) Look for a set of blue doors with bowling pins on either side.
Parking: You can parallel park on Barnett (one-way eastbound) or use the angled parking on 4th St overlooking the West Bottoms. There is also a small parking lot in the center of the block (located off Barnett in the alley between the community center and the church) but it fills very quickly and is tricky to turn around in if you get back in there and find it full.
Things to remember while bowling:
- In case you are unfamiliar with league play, each time it's your turn you will alternate lanes. Check the scoreboard or the scoring tablet to know when it's your turn and which lane to bowl on.
- IMPORTANT: When it's your turn to bowl, do not step up to bowl if someone else is already up to bowl on the lane immediately to your left or right. Always maintain one empty lane between yourself and the next bowler.
- House balls and shoes are available at no charge. Please return them where you found them after bowling is completed each week.
- Everybody will be setting an average the first night. Averages are used to determine handicap. This means no one will truly know the outcome of any of the first night's games until all three games have finished. What looks like a loss might actually be a win, and vice-versa.
- Do not be discouraged if you don't bowl well. A low scoring bowler who improves over time benefits a team just as much as a bowler who is consistently good.
Food/Drink:
The snack bar serves various grilled and fried foods (burgers, chicken strips, taquitos, etc) and has soda and a variety of bottled beer. (No draft.) Hard liquor is not served, however you are welcome to bring your own and they will provide ice if you want to make your own mixed drinks. (Just do not bring your own beer, that will get us in trouble.) There are also several great places in the surrounding neighborhood for food and/or drinks before or after bowling.
League Announcements
Weekly recaps and other announcements are posted here at GutterAlley.com, the site you are on now.
These recaps plus any more pressing announcements are posted to the league's Facebook page, so we strongly recommend you follow that page.
If there is an emergency (most likely scenario: bowling canceled due to bad weather) we will post in both locations as well as send out an email and SMS blast to all bowlers.
Natural Bodily Functions:
Finally, to pre-emptively answer what was probably about the third or fourth most commonly asked question during the initial weeks of the previous season, the women's restroom is located in the lobby and the men's restroom is located in the far back right corner of the snack bar. So if any of you ask this question, that's how I'll know you didn't read this. 
