Home > News > Article Display

Forty years of bowling service

By Tech. Sgt. Les Waters, 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published January 13, 2010

PRINT | E-MAIL
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- For nearly 40 years the recreation supervisor of Planet Bowl has walked the boards maintaining machines, conditioning lanes and keeping the bowling balls rolling.

Allen Ruffin has always held an interest in mechanics, but got his foot in the door of the bowling center by maintaining lawns and performing janitorial work.

"I had to start somewhere," Ruffin said. "I was 19 and I needed a job. My father had been working at the bowling center for eight years, before I started. He ended up working another seven before retiring."

After working the grounds for a few years, Ruffin moved to the control desk, issuing lanes, shoes and assisting customers however possible.

"I enjoy working with the customers, some of them I have known since I started working here," he said. "Working here allows me to meet new people stationed at Seymour Johnson and others who were just passing through."

Eventually, Ruffin fulfilled his dream of getting his hands dirty and became a "jack of all trades" at the bowling center. He started tinkering with the bowling machines, conditioning the lanes and maintaining the automatic scoring equipment and ball return.

His supervisor says his experience and continuity is invaluable to the bowling center.

"He can remember when items were installed in the center, how long ago something was upgraded and whether a particular program might work well here, since he has seen 'it all under the sun,'" said Bernard Nichols, Planet Bowl manager. "Allen is the type of person we rely on to do most anything in the bowling center as he's done it all over the years."

Nichols says he does not have to worry about the bowling center when he goes home at night.

"I've been managing (bowling) centers for 15 years and I'm always grateful when I have 'Junior' at the helm," Nichols said. "His dad worked here a long time ago and his name was Allen also; so the old-timers call him junior because that's how they differentiated between father and son."

Ruffin has seen Planet Bowl go through many changes during his time here. He recalls when it used to be referred to as a bowling alley and belonged to the MWR, or morale, welfare and recreation section. Other changes include the number of lanes and leagues.

"Bowling was bigger back then," he said. "The center had two leagues per night, five days a week verses two nights a week now. "I watched the number of lanes increase from eight to 16 and the equipment become more modern with automatic scoring."

He witnessed the snack bar change from a small concession stand selling only hot dogs, sodas in a can, potato chips and canned beer to a large snack bar with a seating area and a wide variety of food on the menu.

Throughout the years of working on a military installation, Ruffin said he never had the desire to join the military.

"There are those who are not military material, and I fit in that category," he said. "Being able to work on base and serve the service members and their families is good enough for me. It has allowed me to learn a lot of things about the military and the opportunities they have to better their lives and those of their families, especially if they are not able to go to college."
USAF Comments Policy
If you wish to comment, use the text box below. AF reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.

This is a moderated forum. That means all comments will be reviewed before posting. In addition, we expect that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees, with respect. We will not post comments that contain abusive or vulgar language, spam, hate speech, personal attacks, violate EEO policy, are offensive to other or similar content. We will not post comments that are spam, are clearly "off topic", promote services or products, infringe copyright protected material, or contain any links that don't contribute to the discussion. Comments that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. The AF and the AF alone will make a determination as to which comments will be posted. Any references to commercial entities, products, services, or other non-governmental organizations or individuals that remain on the site are provided solely for the information of individuals using this page. These references are not intended to reflect the opinion of the AF, DoD, the United States, or its officers or employees concerning the significance, priority, or importance to be given the referenced entity, product, service, or organization. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying AF endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service.

Any comments that report criminal activity including: suicidal behaviour or sexual assault will be reported to appropriate authorities including OSI. This forum is not:

  • This forum is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact OSI or your local police agency.
  • Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this forum. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
  • This forum may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

AF does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this forum is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. AF may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. AF does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those websites that may be reached through links on our website.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the public affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted. We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain "on-topic." This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of the AF or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, DoD ID number, OSI Case number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the page. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, DoD ID numbers, OSI case numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. The default for the posting of comments is "anonymous", but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.