Manes Lanes open in Beatrice, backed by community support

BEATRICE, Neb. - Under new ownership and redone interior, a southeast Nebraska bowling alley is getting the ball rolling. 

Michelle Manes and her son Waylon are the proud new owners of Manes Lanes in Beatrice. 

“It needed to be this way or not at all,” Michelle Manes said. “The community needed it, the community needs a bowling alley, it needs a family fun center, someone had to do it and so we dove right in and decided to go big or go home.”

The bowling alley remained for over a year, with the Manes’ hard at work to get things up and running. That included remodeling the entire interior, creating brad new lanes, updating the arcade, and even adding in a modern scoring system. 

Michelle Manes says all work was done by local contractors. 

“I can’t believe the passion they had in getting to this point,” Manes said. “The whole community anted it and I was very particular about local contractors… Everything we bought was local, everything we did was local  and they were excited to help us get it to this point.”

With the new lanes, new arcade, and updated everything the communities reception has been beyond what the Manes’ could have imagined. They say the community support is what will help make it last and they cherish every bit of it. 

“We’ve had nothing but compliments,” Waylon Manes said. “And people saying the town needed something like this. When I made our Facebook page I shared it to our town neighborhood watch and we went from like 30 people following us to over 1,000 in a couple days.”

The Beatrice bowling alley has seen a lot of turn over throughout the years. Why do Waylon and Michelle think it’s going to work? Affordability and the communities wants and needs for something fun to do. 

“It’s expensive to do anything these days,” Waylon Manes said. 

“And we’ve got it all here right here,” Michelle Manes said. “I love seeing the smiles on families and kids faces. Why I think it’s going to work, I love this town… I love Beatrice, I do. I love the people, I love to work and I’ve worked everywhere so I know a lot of people and I think they’re excited to have a fresh take on everything.”