Our Thursday Outing to Peter’s Billiard Distribution Center at 7685 Parklawn Ave, Edina 55435 was a real treat and definitely an educational experience. I believe our club’s knowledgebase in everything regarding antique billiards grew immensely and is currently probably the highest in the “Universe” among Rotarians. We were warmly greeted by Marty, Becci & Mike at the front upon arrival.
It was impressive to see how Steve Slyce’s team runs a tight ship with everything has its place and every place has its thing. We were presented with a well-organized and clean/tidy warehouse environment where the American flag was hung high up on the warehouse shelves. President John Flynn started us into our meeting promptly at 12:00 and welcomed Fred Sylvester to give us a heartfelt invocation. Fred even shared a bit of how the Vietnam War had touched him and his family with his older brothers serving in the war, which gave it a nice personal touch. The Pledge of Allegiance and 4-way test followed and we made it through it with Fred’s calm leadership even though we did not have the 4-way test board up on display.
Before John welcomed Steve Slyce up to the front for the special Vocational Day Presentation we were reminded of the many upcoming events and causes we are involved in the near future, i.e Business Entrepenuer Project, Hearts & Hammers, Breakfast Serving the Homeless with Minneapolis PD, Rotary Picnic and The Car Show.
Steve Slyce kicked off his presentation on his home turf by introducing his fine staff with obvious pride of the history of Peters Billiards Journey that started in 1957 as a billiards materials supply company and that now has evolved to a – one might say – prominent Twin Cities brand that provides entertaining and lifestyle solutions for the entire home when it comes to indoor and outdoor living.
Peters Billiards today is so much more than just billiards as the product range and services has grown. The man behind this direction and vision is Greg Peterson who, with Steve as his right-hand man for some 4 decades has shaped Peters Billiards into what it is today – has not forgotten the company roots and the most impressive part of the Vocational Day was the tour of Greg’s collection of antique pool/billiards tables in the showroom where we learned about the origins of billiards in US and the differences between the different tables and the games of snooker, billiards and pool, the social labels and many insider stories. The amazing craftmanship demonstrated by the in-lay wood work with many different wood species was nothing short of amazing, and the value of these collector items – each with its own story – was very impressive with tables ranging in value from $10,000 up to $64,000.
