Resch Lanes gives back to the community

When businesses were ordered to shut down in March due to the pandemic, many business owners wondered how to survive what would become an eight-week ordeal.

Jenny and Jason Resch, owners of Resch Lanes, got some generous checks from three separate friends who sent them money in case they needed it. The Resches were blown away by the generosity of their friends and wanted to do something to pay it forward; thus “Operation Give Back” was born.

The couple decided to offer 10 free dinners a week for 10 weeks with the purpose of serving people who might not be able to get out and enjoy a dinner like they used to.

“If you have a parent or grandparent that is worried about going out or isn’t capable, or you just want to treat someone because you love them, dinner is on us,” said Jason Resch.

The Friday night choice is a two-piece haddock dinner with fries or a hamburger with fries and is ready for pick up at 4:30 p.m. The program will run until Oct. 2 and is on a first come, first served basis. Area residents who want to reserve an “Operation Give Back” dinner for a friend or family member should call 715-253-2605 right away to reserve the meal.

Jason Resch said their intention is to serve 100 different people in the area.

“We were super blessed to get that money and wanted to pay it forward,” said Jenny Resch, who also noted that so many people are still staying in their houses and just don’t feel safe to come out.

For Jason and Jenny Resch, the timing of the March shutdown couldn’t have been worse. It was the height of the bowling season, and they had leagues five nights a week serving about 200 people weekly.

All of the leagues were canceled and, since they were just six weeks away from the end of the season, they also missed out on revenue that the tournaments bring in.

About a week after the shutdown, the Resches were allowed to start selling food to go. They decided to offer supper service on Friday and Saturday nights. The income from that business helped keep them on top of their expenses, such as mortgages and utilities.

“Our food sales went up for those eight weeks by almost 50%,” said Jason Resch. “That really made me feel good.”

He noted that some customers over-tipped, and that money went to the one employee they could afford to keep on during that time. Resch said he was humbled by all the support he received from his regular customers and was amazed at the number of people whom he had never seen before.

By setting up a reservation system with timed pickups, they knew they could keep wait times to a minimum. Being able to complete eight meals in 10 minutes, the Resches were able to keep the wait time for their customers to about two minutes.

“If you have to wait outside in your car for 15 minutes for food, that can seem like an eternity,” said Jason Resch.

Business in the summertime always runs in the red for the bowling business. To help with that, the Resches started an eight-team corn hole competition five years ago, and the game has expanded in popularity each year. This year, the beanbag game got a boost when ESPN started covering the sport, as all other athletic endeavors were canceled. Tossing beanbags is easy to do outside while maintaining social distancing; the Resches now have 40 corn hole teams participating in the 12-week season.

Like other business owners, the Resches are concerned about what fall might bring. With only eight bowling lanes and an influx of bowlers, it will be hard to develop the kind of social distancing protocol adopted by bowling centers that have more lanes and fewer teams. By the end of August, the Resches hope to hear that they will be able to offer league bowling again.

Resch Lanes is located at 407 S. Howard St., Wittenberg, and is open at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

mnelson@newmedia-wi.com