Lunar Lanes, LLC

09/05/2026

Good morning y'all, Nick here. I've been pushing this back for as long as possible, because I never wanted to make this announcement. I'm sorry to report that next week will be our last week in business. Our last day will be Sunday, September 13th.

Over the last year, Bobbi and I have put everything we have into our little bowling alley in an attempt to create a place for people of all ages to come together and make memories. I'd say that we've been successful in that regard. Business itself though? Not so much.

When I said we'd keep going until we couldn't anymore, I wasn't kidding. I've put every last dime into our facility, and am now behind across the board. I'm now scrambling to save our home itself. This is the reason we can't wait for the cooler weather or simply add beer - I'm plain out of time and money.

I've been searching for a job in my field of 20 years since late May, and while I've landed a few interviews, I haven't been hired yet. AI has completely disrupted my entire field, making it difficult even for senior engineers like me. Check out the numbers at https://layoffs.fyi if you're interested. It's wild. Thousands of engineers on my linkedin feed are in the same boat for months on-end. That means I'll be taking a job pretty well anywhere I can get one, which in turn leaves no time for bowling.

Long story short, I have to make a choice - the bowling alley or my home. I'm sure y'all can understand, I have to put my family first on this one.

We plan on selling the bowling alley after we close. I'd love for someone to continue our work, but obviously can't guarantee that we'll find such a buyer. In the meantime, I'll be working to make good on our reservations - and helping to find alternatives for anyone we can't accommodate.

It genuinely breaks my heart that we've gotten to this point. I wish we had other options. In business, you're never guaranteed to win, but I can genuinely say we gave it a hell of a run. I've learned how to fix all kinds of things that I myself never thought I could.

Hillsboro has been absolutely fantastic, and I'll forever appreciate the friends we've made along the way. The connections we made, the people that volunteered and donated, and all the words of support - I never expected any of it. I expected we'd have to convince people that bowling was cool, honestly.

Come see us one last time if you can make the time. Our last day of regular business will be Sunday, September 13th. Thank you all for your support and care. We love and adore this community, and I'm incredibly sorry to disappoint you. We'll see you on the other side of all this.

Take care and God bless you all.

09/03/2026

Hey everyone, sad news. We discovered that we have no water, and thus can't operate tonight. Sorry to disappoint everyone again. We'll try to resolve this and be back tomorrow evening at our normal time. I will also be making an announcement shortly regarding our permanent closure, as we haven't had enough traffic to sustain operations beyond this month. I'll be posting more on that as soon as I have all the information.

Send a message to learn more

08/30/2026

I'm so excited to announce this news to our awesome bowling community: We have a new-to-us lane oiling machine!

Our friends at Bowl Mor Streator have generously donated a working lane oiling machine, as well as a second one we can use for spare parts. If you're ever up that way, stop in to bowl a few games with them. They're genuinely amazing people who have been incredibly supportive throughout our journey here in Hillsboro, and they've done an outstanding job with their facility!

Tom Reznicek - AKA The Vinyl Guy out of Raymond (support his business y'all, he's awesome) - drove up to Streator and picked them up for us, unloading them here in Hillsboro yesterday afternoon!

This is a literal game-changer for us, as we've been hand-oiling our lanes for the last year now, which isn't great for your game. With a working lane machine, those troubles can finally be put behind us, and your score will improve as a result.

I'll be working on putting this into service ASAP, so be on the lookout for updates. I'm pumped!

08/29/2026

Two specials running this weekend, y'all! Tonight, 8/29 is our "All-You-Can-Bowl Special" - $15 / person, all the bowling you can handle. Shoes included of course!

Tomorrow is our $3 / person, $20 / hour special from noon to six!

Hope to see you soon on the moon!

Send a message to learn more

08/26/2026

I updated our event calendar - check it out at lunarlanesbowl.com! I also had to repost this, because I messed up and had to fix the dates in september.

08/26/2026

Happy Wednesday folks!

This week is our last week of our casual league. We will try another one for the winter months on Thursdays starting in November. Again this will only be a casual fun league (need to find another name besides league).

That’s this weeks mission… let’s come up with another name to call our casual fun league besides a league so there’s no confusion between the two. It will be a while before we can certify any of our lanes so we need to clarify that we are a casual fun time only facility. No captions this week just help us come up with a new name to call our casual league.

We have been told several times that people didn’t know we were a bowling alley. So Nick is working on making our building look more inviting.

08/21/2026

Hey all! If you're interested in sponsoring a lane or advertising with us this year (and you don't want to wait on us to get your order in), here's a signup sheet for anyone interested!

We've only got 5 lane sweep slots still available, so get yours soon!

08/19/2026

Hi all - we're picking back up from the Summer, so I wanted to post some quick announcements!

Tonight, 8/19 is league night at Lunar Lanes, running from 6PM - 8PM. Open bowling is available tonight between 4-6 and 8-9:30.

We'll be offering lane sponsorships on 7 of our 8 lanes for $250 / year. Digital signage + scoring packages will be available for $200 / year or $20 / month ($40 discount for the year). If you'd like a combination deal with rake sweeps + signage, you can get that for $350 / year.

We'll also be offering vinyl banners as well, price TBD. Sign-up is simple, just give us a call at 217-608-0555, message us on facebook -or- stop in to see us for details.

Your sponsorships will go toward this year's property tax bill, and of course our renovation work. Slots are limited, so get yours soon.

Parties and events are filling up as well, so be sure to schedule yours soon! Our basic package is a flat rate of $100 for 2 lanes / 2 hours, additional lanes are just $25 / lane / hour. I honestly don't know where else you can book a party venue for less!

We typically schedule these before normal business hours, so we can give your party our full attention - though you're welcome to schedule during business hours as well. As with the sponsorships, call or message for details.

Thanks all,
Nick

08/05/2026

Happy Wednesday folks!

This caption game is gonna be slightly different..we used a 12 s clip this time. Let’s see what you guys can come up with this time.

Rules are simple: comment a caption for the clip and like any comments you think should win. Winner is chosen by most liked comment. Winner gets a free game of bowling. 🎳

If anyone has any photos they would like used please send them to us in a message.

In other news: There will be no leagues tonight due to Old Settlers. We will resume next week like normal.