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...in 9 States, including The Original Bar That Inspired The TV Show “Cheers”
Following his 12-state Northeastern motorcycle odyssey last June, ADA president Glenn Remick picked up where he left off – literally – in September. From Sept. 1 to Sept. 28, Glenn roared off on the Great American Highway for Part II of the ADA Motorcycle Odyssey. This segment of the trip covered 1,700 miles and nine states (VT, NY, NJ, PA, MD, DE, VA, TN, and KY).
Here is his account of this exciting trip:
 “I flew back to New England to pick up my trusty 1979-edition 750 Honda motorcycle from my brother’s garage. It’s basically a street bike that had been stored for 20 years before I acquired it, but I’ve probably put 25,000 miles on it (I can’t say for sure because the odometer is broken).
“My ‘biker’ brother, Gary, joined me as we headed north to Vermont to start. We began in St. Johnsbury, a small town of 12,000 people located just 38 miles below the Canadian border. It also happens to be the town where I was born. My Anheuser-Busch associates at Farrell Distributing (more on them below) informed me there were no organized darts in my hometown, but we “scouted” some taverns anyway. We found the Black Bear Tavern, the only bar open before 4 PM (and this was Saturday!) and began watching the Red Sox game. No darts in town, says the bartender, Alicia, however a couple overheard our dart talk and mentioned their son was a passionate player.
“Turns out the gentleman is Jack Cummings an administrator for the private school in town, St. Johnsbury Academy, which services most of the local youths and a good number of borders from out of town. Not only that, Jack was looking for recreational options for the school! The ADA is now working with Jack and his colleagues to develop an “Academy Dart League” as a part of their student culture! Talk about turning nothing into something!
“After St. Johnsbury, we found ourselves on the road west, rather late in the evening, trying to find hotel rooms – first in Burlington, located on the shores of beautiful Lake Champlain; no luck (thanks to the Lake Champlain Fair). So we headed south to the state capital, Montpelier. No rooms (despite its political importance, it’s a very small town with few accommodations). Increasingly desperate, we rode through the nighttime rain to Rutland, VT’s second largest city. Again, no rooms! (The VT State Fair was in progress). By now it’s 2:30AM and we finally get a room in Killington, a ski resort area just outside of Rutland.
“The following day we headed southeast to Massachusetts, where we visited some Boston darts taverns. I had the pleasure of once again seeing my old friend & darts colleague, Eddie Doyle. You may not recognize the name but more than likely you know who he  portrays. He is the real-life inspiration for the character of Sam Malone of the old “Cheers” TV sitcom series. The tavern is actually named the Bull N’ Finch Pub and is located in the basement of the Hampshire House in downtown Boston. Eddie and I played in the Minute Man Dart League (MMDL) at the pub way back in 1975. The MMDL remains America’s largest steel tip dart league with over 4,000 members! Later that day I met with president, Tommy Sammarco and introduced my plans to bring an ADA franchise and the Northeast Regional Championship to the greater Boston area.
“Crossing back into Vermont the next weekend, we headed back to Burlington, where we visited Farrell Distributing, the Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, who covers the northern half of the state. We also met with prospects, Dan & Darcie Audette. They have since secured the ADA franchise and the American Dart League will be launched in Burlington before the end of the year.
 “Other trip highlights included meetings with the Anheuser-Busch wholesaler on Long Island where we plan on starting an Express League in early 2005. Next stop was Brooklyn where I met with ADA member Robert Greenfield who he assisted me in promoting an AmberBock Darts Challenge at the Tamaqua Marina. The following day I hit the "Jersey Turnpike" for Philadelphia. There I worked with Joe Quinn at Penn Distributing, another AB wholesaler supporter, to promote the AmberBock Darts Challenge at the Nutty Irishman. While there I met with Mike Broderick, VP of the Quaker City Dart League and officers of the “Woody” American Dart Leagues. They are great darts promoters and look forward to working with the ADA to expand the American Dart League into the "City of Brotherly Love" soon.
“By the way, we’ve set up a new phone communications system that is now up and running in Philly. A toll free phone number, 1-888-DartPlay, takes you to the ADA central office in St. Louis,  MO. Then follow the voice prompts to dial extension PHIL (7445), you get a customized message for the Philadelphia market. Other cities are being developed with their own extensions, for example 7446 in Cincinnati. This toll-free system will help the ADA grow our leagues in new regions. Eventually, league players in each of these new areas will be recruited and trained to take over franchise operations.
“After Philly it was off to Baltimore where I met with amusement operator distributor’s Nick Sarioglou and Larry Wilner at Betson Baltimore, near the beautiful Inner Harbor. I also met with an avid Baltimore biker and ADA agent Peter Bell who provided me a sponsorship update. I brought him up to date on ADA activities and our sport of darts. Later that day I headed southwest to Silver Springs, MD, where ADA League Manager, Frank Gambo arranged a gathering of members at host location, Papa Nicks. As luck would have it, it was league night and following ADL play the location turned it into an instant darts party. 
“The rest of my trip was more personal than business. Floating across Skyline Drive I saw the breathtaking vistas along the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Later, Route 60 took me into the gorgeous rolling hills of West Virginia to the enchanting horizons of Kentucky. Eventually I made my way through Indiana, southern Illinois, and finally back home to ADA Headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri.
“I came back from the ADA Odyssey II with a renewed sense of excitement and an indelible vision of the potential of darts,” says Glenn. “It is encouraging to see our sport in every stop of my travels. Will there be an Odyssey 3 for the Great American Southwest next summer? I don’t know, but let’s just say the map looks awfully tempting!”
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