In October, Northern Kentucky Classic LaRu Bowling Center underwent an ownership change after Glenn Schmidt retired and sold the bowling alley after 35 years of ownership.
LaRu has been a part of the Northern Kentucky community since it first opened its doors in 1958. The bowling alley was forced to close in March 2020 due to COVID-19; when things began to reopen, Schmidt said it was no longer feasible for him to operate.
The doors remained closed until October 2021, when Kati Manning and her husband, John Manning, took over.
Since 1958 the bowling alley has only undergone four ownership changes. Bud Tedesco and John Langenbahn built LaRu and were the original owners from 1958 until the late 70s, when they retired and sold it to Charlie Goldfuss. Goldfuss owned the business for about five years before selling to Schmidt in the late 80s.
Schmidt had been in the bowling business his entire life. Before owning LaRu, he worked for his father’s bowling business Glen Schmidt’s Bowling Lanes, which was in Newport, where the Syndicate is now.
The bowling industry connections around the Northern Kentucky area don’t stop there. The owner of Southern Lanes in Alexandria, Don Litten, used to work for Schmidt at Glen Schmidt’s Bowling Lanes.
Kati Manning said Bud Tedesco’s daughter bowls in the Wednesday morning leagues at LaRu.
Manning’s history with LaRu Bowling Center began when she was a little kid, bowling there with her grandma. Starting in second grade, Manning started to bowl through her elementary school and was coached by Schmidt at LaRu.
When Manning was in high school at Newport Central Catholic, she was on the first all-girls high school bowling team that started in 2002 by Schmidt, and their practices were held at LaRu.
“A weird story is after we had gone through with Glenn and got all his belongings and helped him move stuff around, it was in October, we found a random box in one of the locker rooms, and I had no idea because we went through everything with him, like what he wanted to keep and what he wanted to stay,” Manning said. “And we found this old box of pictures, and they were pictures of a bowling ceremony, and I was in all of the pictures. I have them in my desk at LaRu right now.”
“The two original owners, John and Bud, were from Bellevue, and that’s where my husband John is from, and he shares the same first name,” Manning said. “It’s just weird coincidences.”
Manning quit her job, and she and her husband sold their construction company to run LaRu full time.
“It’s such a hidden gem in Campbell County and has such a large history of people who have come there,” Manning said. “In the late 80s, they used to have a show called King of TV bowling, and it was on channel nine, in the morning. I mean, there’s just a lot of history with that building that people don’t realize.”
In fact, Manning said if you search for “King of TV Bowling” on Youtube, you’ll see how LaRu used to look back in the 80s and 90s.
When the Manning’s took over LaRu, they updated the bar area and made the bowling alley nonsmoking.
“We’ve done a lot of updating because just bits and pieces have changed through the years,” Manning said.
Manning has also created a new league called Women Bowling with Wine.
“It’s more like a woman social,” Manning said. “It’s a night out for six weeks for women to come out and have that women camaraderie. It’s just women having fun supporting each other and then bowling. So, I am partnering with local wineries. So, I purchase their wine, and then they come in, and they’ll tell a little bit about it and will be able to answer questions. It is also another way that we support another business.”
On Thursday’s LaRu has live music and happy hour all day.
“That’s another way to support the local artists. We have a band called In Reverse, and they are actually high school seniors from Bishop Brossart,” Manning said. “It’s fun partnering especially with these young kids and giving them the chance to play in front of a larger crowd; it’s exciting for them too.”
Manning said she loves the community and has felt very supported during the process.
“Me and my husband are from Campbell County, and everybody is just so good to small businesses. It’s just a very, very good community to live in,” Manning said.
