Spare Time Bowling Center Owners Eric and Julie Peters and Managers Logan, Ale and Noah Peters (an up-and-coming manager) celebrated the 40th anniversary of the bowling alley on May 18. Pictured (left to right): Julie Peters, one year old Noah Peters, Eric Peters, Jessel Peters, Ale Peters, and Logan Peters.
Chasing the dream of opening a bowling alley, Don and Jessel Peters opened the Spare Time Bowling Center on May 18, 1984, converting the old Dyer Lumber Co. store (owned by Jessel’s parents Joe and Gertrude deArrieta) into a gathering place for the community.
On May 18, 2024, Spare Time celebrated its 40th anniversary with free bowling open to the community, raffle prizes, and of course, a great deal of their notorious fry baskets.
“We had a lot of bumps in the road along the way, but we made it,” said Jessel Peters during an interview.
The lanes themselves came used from California and with the help of “too many great people to name.” They were brought to Winnemucca where they survived rain and other weather while the building was constructed by many of the contractors that held credit accounts at Dyer Lumber.
“We couldn’t have done it without everyone,” said Jessel. “Many of the contractors did the work to take care of their bills from the lumber yard.”
From a decades-old unsolved gun point robbery, pesky adolescent vandals, and a global pandemic, Spare Time has encountered many obstacles throughout the decades, but one thing that has remained persistent — family.
Don Peters owned and managed Spare Time for nearly 30 years until he passed the business to his oldest son, Chad Peters around 2000.
Chad managed the bowling alley until 2013, around the time of Don’s passing, going on to pursue other ventures, and then passing the business to brother Eric Peters.
Eric and his wife Julie Peters then turned over the family business to their son, Logan Peters, and his wife Ale Peters in 2019 until present.
Logan and Ale also hope to pass the business to their son, one year old Noah Peters, and their little one on the way one day as well.
Eric and Julie’s daughter Maggie Peters (now Maggie MacMillan) and her husband Austin MacMillan have also committed countless hours to the family business.
“I can remember a time being 10 or 12 years old working the snack bar,” said Eric Peters.
Julie Peters joked that most of the hours put in throughout the years have been unpaid, especially through the Covid pandemic, which was undoubtedly one of the hardest times for the small business.
“Covid was definitely hard,” said Eric.
According to Eric and Julie, there have been multiple times that the family has thought about selling the business and they have even come close in the past, but their dedication to the business has kept them from ever fully doing so.
“On the good days this place brings us a lot of joy, but I think every one of us has quit at least once,” said Ale Peters.
Alongside the family have been many employees that have shaped the culture of the small business and become as recognizable as the family at Spare Time.
“A lot of the time our employees have become like family over the years,” said Eric Peters.
Despite the struggles, Spare Time has also inspired countless joy-filled memories for not only the Peters family, but the community at large.
From memorable birthday parties and competitive league tournaments and college scholarships, Spare Time is well-known for not only their unparalleled burgers and chicken wings, but the successfulness of their youth tournaments.
“A few of our league kids have paid their way through college with bowling scholarships,” explained Eric.
“By the time I graduated high school I had accumulated enough winnings to pay for a good portion of my Associate’s Degree from Great Basin College. It is exciting to see the youth bowlers now work hard on the lanes and I am excited to see what they do with their scholarship funds,” said Natalie Betschart, a former Spare Time youth league bowler who started bowling when she was just 5 years old.
The kids program has also grown from around 10 kids pre-Covid, to 60-70 at present, according to Logan Peters.
Spare Time has also gained national news coverage during a tournament in 2009 when Chris Acker bowled a 900 game — 36 perfect strikes. The United States Bowling Congress (USBC), the “NBA of bowling”, recognized Acker and his achievement at Spare Time as well as another bowler, Andrew Teall of Medford, N.J., who also bowled a 900 game just three days apart from each other, a very rare occurrence.
The Peters agreed that they plan to keep Spare Time around and hope to see another 40 years of business.
“I just would like to thank the community for supporting us over all these years. We wouldn’t be here today without them,” said Jessel.