LEWIS COUNTY, N.Y. -- The sound of a strike - a unique sound for one of New York's most unique companies.
"There's no other sound like it in the world. No other sound," Qubica AMF Lowville Plant Manager Wayne White said.
The only plant in the nation that makes United States Bowling Congress-approved bowling pins is in Lowville, Lewis County. QubicaAMF first started in Lowville in the 1950s. It's moved locations once, but only from one side of town to the other.
"Our plant is located here due to its proximity to hard maple, which is the main component of a bowling pin," White said.
White says the harsh North Country winters make for a perfect piece of wood. He harvests from farms in the Northeast, including one right in Lowville.
"The slow growth maple makes for very tight growth rings. That makes the pin stronger and more durable," He said.
The plant in Lowville has 85 employees that churn out 7,500 pins a day. They're sold direct to alleys in the U.S. and through distributers around the world. When you're the only one, you never know where that next call will be coming from.
"We've sold pins out of here for years," White said. "We have very close ties with our customers. On any given day, you could get a call from anywhere in the United States placing an order for bowling pins."
White says it's QubicaAMF's United States Bowling Congress quality that keeps those customers coming back for more and keeps this plant in Lowville, but he says without those dedicated employees, including some that have been there for 45 years, it wouldn't work.
"They care about it. They know that their livelyhood depends on putting a good quality product in the field so that customer buys every year," He said.
A few months ago, the legacy owners of the Qubica company took over sole ownership. White says that's a good thing, because the plan is to change just about nothing.
"It's good for the company. We're glad to be where we are."