Play Meter

Applause greets 1st
Pyrek saw silk screen
technical development
Walter L. Pyrek, vice president and
general manager of Advertising
Posters, Inc ., Chicago, retired on
December 31, 1980, after 45 years'
service with the company , a
specialty silk screen design and
printing firm. Pyrek joined the com-
pany in February of 1935 as a helper ,
sanding boards.
He attained steady advancement
as he ran coating machines, worked
as a printer, hand sprayer, and paint
man in charge of color matching. His
first management-level position in
the company was foreman in the
sample department.
In 1944, after having worked in
every production capacity in the
firm, Pyrek was made general
manager and also given respon-
sibility for sales. He was a ppointed
vice president in 1961.
During his years with Ad Posters,
Pyrek has seen the silk screen
printing process develop from hand
work to automation. Among the
more exciting developments during
his career were the introd uction of
ultraviolet ink in 1975 and the
running of the first four-color silk
screen process on glass in 1977. At
first, the four-color work was done in
ethyl cellulose colors; now it is done
in ultraviolet, which offers truer,
brighter color reproduction. Early
artwork was reproduced from hand-
cut stencils, Pyrek remembered;
now most is done photographically.
The native Chicagoan has been
married for 45 years, has one son,
and presently resides in Elmwood
Park. Proud of his Polish heritage, he
says he's glad his father "didn't miss
the boat!"
His retirement plans included
travel with his wife and pursuit of his
hobbies of bowling, gardening, and
golf.
The final round of the first Pacific
Northwest Regional Pinball Champ-
ionships recently climaxed six weeks
of intensive pin competition. The
stage was the Red Lion Motor Inn,
Spokane, Washington where on
November 30, more than 200
contestants, spectators, operators,
and distributors gathered in the
plush setting of the Ponderosa
Ballroom.
The all -clay event was the
culmination of six weeks during
which fifty locations over eastern
Washington, western Idaho, and
parts of Montana and Oregon
hosted more than 250 players who
paid a nominal $2 entry fee to try at
being a "shooting star."
At the location level, first and
second place contestants, besides
winning trophies and official
championships T -shirts, became
eligible to compete in the finals at the
Red Lion Inn. At the finals, all
contestants started on equal ground
and played-off in eight hours of silver
ball action o determine who would
take the honors and the cash. First
prize was $1,000 . Second and third
place winners took $500 and $100
respectively. In addition, many
prizes and trophies, donated by
operators and distributors, were
awarded in special events and
consolation contests.
The entire event was the brain
child of the sponsors, members of
the Coin Machine Industries of
Washington in the Spokane-Couer
d 'Alene area, who termed the
contest "a total success from several
standpoints."
Tournament director and promo-
ter Steve Livingston of Bumpers
Amusements/Spokane had this to
say: "The overall success of this
year's championships stemmed from
an unprecedented level of co-
operation between distributors ,
operators, and their individual
locations. Music-Vend Distributing
Co. and Northwest Sales were both
instrumental and essential in making
the contest run smoothly," providing
many of the machines and special
attractions to appeal to contestants
and the public, he said.
He reported that Jerry Estes,
representing Northwest Sales, with-
held sales in the Spokane area of
Bally's Xenon for more than a month
so that all finalists would be
competing on a machine that no one
had the advantage of practicing on
prior to the tournament itself. "This
was extremely beneficial in insuring
that the results would be equitable.
Circle International, Los Angeles, recently held its new produc t showing for coin
people. Mixing , mingling, refreshing oneself- and playing the new equipment ....