News

Not your average NERDS

By Lisa Raber

09/05/2012

Usually, when you think of  nerds, you think of  geeky little guys with glasses and  pocket protectors full of pens in their pockets, but recently, four gentlemen in Carson gave the word nerds a whole different meaning.
    NERDS Bar, Bowling and Recreation is the new family hot spot in Carson.
    Owners Danny Clark, Nathan Rodgers, Eric Skrette-berg and Reed Hertz used their initials to come up with the name of one of the newest businesses in Carson.
    NERDS Bar, Bowling and Recreation is located at 218 North Main Street in Carson and provides the area with many options for family fun.
    “This whole project has been two or three years in the making,” said Danny Clark.
    The building that NERDS is housed in belonged to the City of Carson and these four gentlemen made an offer to the city which was accepted, giving them the green light to go ahead and create a family fun spot.
    “A lot of the stuff was already in the building, so basically all we had to do was clean,” said Clark.
    The group set to work replacing ceiling tiles, cleaning carpets, painting and basically giving the place a whole new makeover.
    The carpet, bowling balls, bowling shoes, along with all of the bowling equipment was in the building and just needed to be either cleaned or oiled before the place was operational.
    The facility also offers video games, foosball and pool for the kids – or whoever would like to play them.
    In the bar area, there is an autofry machine which allows them to offer an appetizer menu with items such as chicken gizzards, popcorn shrimp, corn dogs, mini tacos, deep-fried pickles and much, much more.
    They also offer a variety of Pizza Corner pizzas and assorted prepackaged deli sandwiches.
    “We want the public to know that this is a non-smoking environment; the whole building is non-smoking,” said Clark.
    Over Labor Day weekend, NERDS was able to open their bowling lanes for the first time to the public. Bowlers were given the opportunity to bowl for free and the men of NERDS were able to see how the whole operation was going to work.
    “We are hoping to be fully operational by the first week in October, offering a youth league, women’s league, men’s league and a mixed doubles league which will start at a later date,” said Clark.
    The group is very excited to have been approached by PLC and the Carson and Flasher schools who are planning to implement the NERDS bowling alley into their physical education programs.
    At the present time, bowling will be $3.00 a game and $1.00 for shoe rental.
    “There have been rumors that we are incorporated with Mandan and that is not true. We are on our own,” said Clark.
    NERDS wants the people of the area to know that this is family based entertainment and that they will do their best to accommodate everyone. “If you want to rent the place out for a party, we will work with you to make that happen,” said Clark.
    For the time being, the four gentlemen are working their business by themselves. They all have daytime jobs and go from those jobs to NERDS to work after that. “Our plan is to eventually hire people to help us out,” said Clark.
    While this business is still new and just getting off the ground, the NERDS group is very excited about this project and you can sense the enthusiasm when you walk in the front door.
    Business hours are Monday through Thursday, 5:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.; Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. and Saturday, noon to 1:00 a.m. “Our hours are flexible. We will work with you in any way that we can,” added Clark.