About

Jennifer Rasko- Owner

Jennifer has been working at Lightning Bowl since July of 2013. She started out helping her parents, who managed Houston Bowl in Houston, MO, until the fall of 2007. She started bowling when she was very young, ended up joining a Junior League at age 10, and then started adult League Bowling when she was 15.

Jennifer graduated high school in 2007 and came to MSU-WP for college. She graduated in the fall of 2012 with a Bachelor's Degree in Child and Family Development. She met her husband, Devin Rasko, at the bowling center in the fall of 2018. Jennifer and Devin married in June 2020

Devin Rasko- Owner

Devin is originally from Des Moines, IA.

Other(s)

Brad Mills- Previous Owner

Lightning Bowl has been in operation since September of 1998. The building was constructed by Brad and Jan Mills.

Brad was born in Rolla, MO and raised in Imperial. He moved back into the area after his parents retired. His family has been around the Alton/Thayer area since the 1830s.

Jan was born in Chula Vista, California. Her and her family moved around quite a bit while she was young. After moving to four different states, Jan and her family finally landed in MO.

Brad and Jan met at Cave Springs Lanes in Cave Springs, MO. Jan was bowling on a Tuesday Night Women's league, and Brad was manager at the center at the time. They married in November of 1980. They had 2 boys, Adam and Graham, who went to Fairview school and graduated from West Plains High School.

When Brad found out Imperial Bowl in Imperial Center closed its doors in 1994, he decided the community should not be without a bowling center. It took him 3 years to convince the banks to loan him the money to do it, but they finally gave him the stamp of approval.

Brad broke ground May 30th weekend of 1998. The building was under roof and waiting for scoring by August of 1998. Brunswick sent and installed scoring in September; the bowling alley opened shortly after.

The center has never been renovated but has had a few fresh coats of paint since that first year. The parking lot was paved in the summer of 2015. The scoring system was also upgraded that fall. The center is a wood lane house; nothing is synthetic. The lanes and approach are sanded and refinished every year.