[FSPA] NEW Sterling location / League Hangout a reality

Tue Nov 21 11:11:30 EST 2017

Sadly for you Monday night-ers all the Ashburn/Sterling breweries are
closed Mondays.  The closest place for pre-game suds would be O'Malleys
which is 2.2 miles away.  The trunk bar is probably your best bet. :)

On Tue, Nov 21, 2017 at 10:10 AM, Roland Joyal via FSPA <fspa at fspazone.org>
wrote:

> Thanks J, and good idea about the pre-gaming.  And thanks for
> volunteering!  -Roland
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: J. Bell <svubell at msn.com>
> To: FSPA main discussion list <fspa at fspazone.org>
> Cc: Roland Joyal <joyalrj at aol.com>
> Sent: Tue, Nov 21, 2017 9:13 am
> Subject: Re: [FSPA] NEW Sterling location / League Hangout a reality
>
> Roland - Beyond great to hear that we in the refugee camp have a new
> home!  Maybe even an early Christmas present.  For those of you who are
> wondering about beer, there is a new brewery that opened within walking
> distance so I'm sure there might be an opportunity for some "pre-gaming"
> before league on Monday nights to keep Making Pinball Great Again.
>
> If volunteering for one/multiple shift(s) means "keys to the castle", i'm
> happy to pick up a shift or two a month when I am not traveling for work.
>
> Keep us posted as things develop further and congrats on your growing
> family as well.
>
> Best Regards,
> J.
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* FSPA <fspa-bounces at fspazone.org> on behalf of Roland Joyal via
> FSPA <fspa at fspazone.org>
> *Sent:* Monday, November 20, 2017 1:53 PM
> *To:* fspa at fspazone.org
> *Cc:* Roland Joyal
> *Subject:* Re: [FSPA] NEW Sterling location / League Hangout a reality
>
> Thanks Dave, will look forward to a visit.  -Roland
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Hubbard via FSPA <fspa at fspazone.org>
> To: FSPA main discussion list <fspa at fspazone.org>
> Cc: Dave Hubbard <dave.hubbard at gmail.com>
> Sent: Mon, Nov 20, 2017 1:31 pm
> Subject: Re: [FSPA] NEW Sterling location / League Hangout a reality
>
> Congrats Roland, this is great news!  If I weren't about 60 miles away I'd
> totally volunteer some time.  Regardless, I will definitely visit.
>
>       --- Dave
>
>
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> On Mon, Nov 20, 2017 at 12:15 PM, Roland Joyal via FSPA <fspa at fspazone.org
> > wrote:
>
> All-  Finally some good news on the reference subject.  After a lot of
> false starts & stops with other established commercial locations, and a lot
> of searching and research for my own Pincade place, I have secured a place
> for FSPA/Sterling league and misc tournaments to play.  All negotiations
> and due diligence has been completed and a lease was signed.  This is a
> going to be a pin haven *for* pinball people run *by* a pinball person,
> and as such I will do almost all maintenance myself.  My intention is to
> not only have this as the Sterling/Loudoun League location, but* also* as
> a "club house" or *hangout* for the league, and as such, it will be
> manned by volunteers under limited hours.  You don't have to be a finance
> major to know the between the expensive rent (unless you go way out), the
> lack of parking in many industrial complexes, and the typical
> non-pinball-friendly views of merchants and landlords, this area is not
> conducive to pinball places.  But I have found an industrial area that is
> close by (just 1 mile past intersection of Rt 28 and Rt 606 Old Ox Rd), is
> perfectly configured, is just the right amount of space to be efficient
> with an actual shot at breaking even, and has plenty of free parking in the
> evenings and weekends (well over 50 spaces!), and a pinball-friendly
> landlord.  The place will also serve as a showroom for used machines I am
> liquidating, as well as a couple new pinball machines from Stern.  I am
> also working a deal to broker and offer $50 off to league members on just
> about all smaller brands of pinball machines drop-shipped that are
> generally not discounted in the market. Pinball sales/commissions are few,
> so I am not counting on much revenue from that, but every bit will help to
> pay the expenses.
>
> The concept is we need evening and weekend volunteers (referred to as
> officers) that will have keys to the place and be trusted with opening and
> closing the place a few nights a week as well as weekends.  Other than
> league night (when the place will be opened by league mangers) the regular
> volunteer officers will be able to play some games for free while they are
> there.  We currently have a few volunteers lined up in off-line
> communications, but NEED MORE, so please email me off line at *JoyalRJ at aol.com
> <JoyalRJ at aol.com>* if you can be a regular officer or a backup when the
> regular officers can't make it.  To help pay the rent, heat/AC, and other
> utilities, plus a portion of the landlord's expenses, parking lot
> maintenance, taxes (yes, sadly, tenants must pay that in just about all
> commercial leases), and liability insurance, I will need a LOT of coin
> drop, and will supplement that with proceeds from the sale of soft drinks,
> bottled water, and snacks, at vending machine prices, or maybe lower.  In
> the *club house* style, we will use the "Honor System" to pay for those
> things and have a coin box to deposit exact change in quarters.  We also
> need volunteers to run tournaments, similar to the existing ones run at
> other locations, as well as any other new ones if someone wanted to try
> something different.
>
> I wanted a clean place that will make playing modern & retro pinballs fun,
> and therefore not be too dark, not too light, and highlight the games with
> proper acoustics, to allow the music and speech the designers work hard to
> produce to be properly heard.  As such the place has both carpet and
> acoustic ceiling tiles, so the games will sound great and people will find
> it easy to talk and socialize, and not sound all echoey (is that a word?).
> The place is VERY clean with it's brand new paint & carpet and it will be
> Non-Smoking, but smoking is allowed 25 feet away from the building.
>
> After speaking with league mangers, we have decided to allow the current
> league to finish at it's current temporary "MM's refugees" location in
> Fairfax, but Joe can speak more to that if there are any questions.  I had
> hired professional movers to wrap and move 5 pins, plus Touchtunes jukebox,
> large coin changer, and some misc furniture and fixtures ...the move went
> well.  Ultimately there is room for another 5 or more machines.  And to
> that end, I am purchasing a Star Wars (Stern) and have had on order order a
> Guardians of the Galaxy since it became available, plus there is the
> Ghostbusters that we had for a littlle bit at Mighty Mikes before they got
> shut down. There will likely be a couple of C titles coming end of the
> month, so no biggie.
>
> The hours will depend on league volunteers, and is still being worked on,
> but roughly they will be Mon (league night) 6pm to 10pm (or whenever league
> finishes or when the "after party" finishes).  Tues & Wed, 6pm -9:30pm,
> closed Thurs, Friday 3 or 4 PM - 10 PM (Tim of Premiere has graciously
> volunteered to do this longer shift).  Still looking for people to help
> with weekends, but if we get some more volunteers I am guessing it can be
> open Sat 1pm to 10pm (two shifts) Sun 1pm - 6pm.  All that can change, and
> it may be closed sometimes when it should be open, and vice versa, but that
> is the best guess right now.  I want to get a few chairs in I have on
> order, a small drink refrigerator, and the 2 new pins in before opening.
> The address is 22977 Eaglewood Ct, Suite G130, Sterling, VA 20166 and the
> name of the place will be, simply, "Roland's Place" (yes, a nod to John of
> "John's Place")
>
> Feel free to comment on this thread, but also send a second note offline
> if you are willing to volunteer and let me know what days/times you are
> available and your frequency.  Since this is not space in a busy mall or
> city street, it's success or failure will depend heavily on our area
> pinball community and FSPA league.  I will have an announcement when it is
> complete enough to open, I am guessing end of Nov or beginning of Dec.
> It's one of the biggest ventures/risks and commitments of time I have
> undertaken.  Having said that, I also undertook an even greater
> responsibility and commitment of time ...the same day I signed the lease I
> also signed the paperwork to foster care a 13 year old kid.  I have been
> volunteering for the foster care program and driving back and forth to
> Richmond area, as well as undergoing training, for the past couple years in
> order to meet and handle traumatized kids/teens that have been taken away
> form their parents for various reasons.  I just can't believe the crazy
> coincidence that both these life-changing responsibilities and commitments
> officially happened the exact same day.
>
> Thanks
>  -Roland
> Professional Amusements, LLC
>
>
>
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>
>
> --
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