There are so many things I want to share, but since I’ve been a husband, and even more so a father, my idle time is elusive. One of the events I’ve wanted to write about is my 40th birthday party which took place at the Pinball Wizard Arcade in Pelham, NH. I’m an evangelist for this place. I often tell people who are around my age about the arcade. If they care, I’ll even pull out a business card from the arcade and hand it to them so there’s no excuse about how to find it.
A few years ago my mom had offered to rent a pinball machine for me on my 40th birthday. When Pinball Wizard Arcade opened opened its doors last year, and then offered party packages, it clicked that I could have my party here, with 70 pinball machines and loads of classic video arcade machines from my youth.
My mom paid for the party and we celebrated both my birthday and my wife’s. Our birthdays are just 3 days apart.
To my surprise, quite a few of the guests who I wouldn’t have guessed would play any games, actually played some pinball and seemed to enjoy it–my mom, my dad, my mother-in-law, my cousin… My cousin Andy White and I had a lot of fun playing a particular game called The Champion Pub, a boxing theme game where you actually aim your ball at a boxer on the playfield and hit him to score points and defeat him. Andy was floored how fun modern era pinball machines were while still maintaining the traditional aspects of pinball.
It also brought me joy to see Misha and her friends having a blast with the Pac Man Battle Royale game.
Thanks to Wayne for thinking to bring his camera and for coming over the next week and letting me copy his photos from his memory card. And thanks to our family and friends who made the drive to spend a couple hours with us. It meant a lot to us.
Here are some pictures from the day:
Thanks again to everyone who came, the Derissaints, my parents, Wayne, Joe, the Gagnons, the Monkes, Max, Tom, Denice, Becca, and the Whites.