The sound of bowling balls colliding with pins echoed through the building Monday night at AMF Twin Star Lanes in Kent. One might be surprised that even with 40 lanes, there wasn’t a single one available. This isn’t anything out of the ordinary for Twin Star.

Monday through Thursday, the alley offers “Dollarmania” nights. It costs customers $1 for a game, shoe rental, hot dogs, popcorn or 10-ounce domestic drafts. There also isn’t any cover charge.

When customers can bowl for only $2, the lanes can fill up quickly. The regular price to bowl per game is $4.50, while the regular price for shoe rental is $4, which means customers that bowl on Dollarmania nights save $6.50.

“Dollarmania nights were originally one day a week, but it drew in such a crowd that they made it four days a week,” said Mark Miller, an AMF employee for four years.

Even faculty and staff of Kent State bowl at Twin Star Lanes.

Hal Lehman, who has been employed with Kent State for 12 years, said university employees first began bowling together in the 50s.

“They used to bowl in Eastway before it was remodeled,” Lehman said.

After Eastway closed, the bowlers began coming to Twin Star Lanes and the group has grown to around 50 bowlers since then, he said.

Miller said Thursdays typically draw in the largest student crowd.

“We only come every once in awhile,” Roxanne Kilbourne, sophomore visual communication and design major, said of her group of friends. “It’s a nice change of scenery when we want to do something different.”

Dollarmania nights are every Monday from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Tuesday through Thursday from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Contact off-campus entertainment

reporter Brittany Schmigel at [email protected].