In fact, European bowling “houses” have used string pinsetters for decades, instead of lumbering machinery that needs regular maintenance and costs several thousand dollars a month to maintain.

Scott Willoughby, 59, the owner of Esmond Bar, was working to restore the two-lane bowling alley attached to his bar when he was crushed by a pinsetter, the Benson County Sheriff’s Office said.

Dayer learned everything he could about pinsetters. Some, like the ones at Cloverbank Bowling, date back to 1959. Virginia man paid for 40 pet adoptions as wife’s 40th birthday present “People ...