Thoughts as We Close Out 2021
by Jack Guarnieri, Jersey Jack Pinball & PinballSales.com
Here we are in December 2021. Another year ends, and this one still with “pandemic” in our vocabulary. It does seem to be better in some ways as we push along into 2022. Next month, there will be no column from me, just lots of great RePlay Directory assistance you can keep on your desk.
As the year ends, I always get more nostalgic, thinking of times past and opportunities ahead. As we all get older, if we are lucky, we think about those who we lost this year and how we will remember them going forward.
Old-timers: A report on the 1995 meeting of the industry’s Century Club which was held in Reno, Nevada, that year.
Years ago, there was a “Century Club” where the longtime industry veterans would gather to talk about the glory days and share old industry war stories. I remember sheepishly walking into the room once I had passed the 25-year mark in the industry. I thought there would be some wonderful food and drinks but alas just a few bottles of water. Not even a deli sandwich from Al Kress’ TooJay’s could be found. It was a wakeup in a way. Geez, I must be getting old.
Eddie Adlum meets up with “Jersey Jack” at a show a few years ago.
This past week I was at Rob Berk’s Pinball Expo in Schaumberg, Ill. Rob inducted Eddie Adlum and RePlay Magazine into the Pinball Hall of Fame. Congratulations, Eddie! Anyway, thank you for my name, “Jersey Jack” and thanks truly for everything you have done to promote pinball as well as the rest of the “coin-op” industry for these many wonderful years.
The industry rolls along… We gather some new people, we lose some veterans and so it goes.
Thanks to the old-timers who built the industry and thanks to each one of us for working together to get through the last couple of years. Better days are coming.
Joanne joins me in wishing you and yours the most joyous holiday season filled with faith, friendship and love and a happy and healthy 2022!
Jack Guarnieri started servicing electro-mechanical pinball machines in 1975 and has been involved in every phase of the amusement game business since then. He was an operator in NYC, then began a distributorship in 1999, PinballSales.com, selling coin-op to the consumer market. In January of 2011, he founded Jersey Jack Pinball (named after his RePlay Magazine pen name), which builds award-winning, full-featured, coin-op pinball machines. Email Jack at jack@ jerseyjackpinball.com.
