Maintenance worker Rocky Russell explains how the pin deck works in the machinery at Royal Crest Lanes, 933 Iowa.

Editor’s note: Reporter Mark Boyle takes us behind the scenes of news stories in the area. This week, he travels to Royal Crest Lanes in Lawrence. While many of us have enjoyed bowling with friends and co-workers, few may be aware of what Royal Crest employees do behind the scenes to keep the entire operation running smoothly.

Those who require bumpers to keep their bowling balls straight far outnumber the population that has recorded a perfect score of 300.

That being said, probably all bowlers have something in common — we’ve had to call on bowling alley staff to reset a pinsetter or the ball return.

After a trip and tour of Royal Crest Lanes in Lawrence, I can tell you there is plenty of work behind the scenes to keep each customer happy and the games running — enough work that none of us should ever mutter a word when a breakdown occurs.

“There is probably quite a bit more that they don’t realize with all of the machinery and all of the equipment,” said Wayne Martin, co-owner of Royal Crest Lanes, 933 Iowa. “You have to have a maintenance man on at all times to make sure everything runs smooth, runs right and that the pins get out there right for everybody.”

Royal Crest has 40 lanes, all equipped with a machine that includes a pin deck and ball wheel. The pin deck is just one part of a large machine that reloads the 10 pins each time a ball is thrown. The ball wheel then returns the bowler’s ball to the approach area. The machines used at Royal Crest Lanes date to the 1960s, but new technology hasn’t changed much — and the old machines are more durable.

“With the newer technology there is more plastic and breakage,” said Rocky Russell, who works in maintenance at the bowling alley.

While the machinery in the back of the house hasn’t changed, technology throughout the approach area has. For those of us who remember scoring by hand, those paper score sheets are a thing of the past. And in many places, so are lanes made of wood.

“The synthetic (lane) is like bowling on a countertop, so you get a consistency in your oil patterns,” Russell said. “The scoring is high-tech; you get your automatic scoring, TVs, so it’s more like you’re at home.”

Martin says that Royal Crest ownership has spent a large amount of money in recent years upgrading the facility with state-of-the-art features, but when you lace up the shoes, it still comes down to you and those ever-elusive pins. He invites everyone to enjoy the new facilities, as well as cosmic bowling on select nights.