09/26/2026
Jim here, and I want to share a special story for everyone in hopes to bring a little joy to the crazy world we live in today. Long read but a heartwarming story everyone should enjoy.
For me, the single most rewarding thing about being a business owner is the people you meet along the way. Some become lifelong friends and extended family during the journey that forever hold a place in our heart.
This story goes back to the Jim's Wheelhouse days in the small community of East Wakefield NH. When I opened the Wheelhouse in 2015, I had a group of retirees that fell in love with Pizza, B**r, and Pinball , quickly claiming the Wheelhouse as a home away from home and becoming regulars that played in every pinball league, tournament, or party that I hosted.
Rita Martin was the eldest in the group and brought a sense of joy, and happiness to everyone she came in contact with. All of the group was new to competitive pinball and their determination to stick with it and have fun while learning the ropes was commendable.
Seeing their eagerness and determination combined with the love of the silver ball, returning every week, inspired me to help them out as much as possible so they could improve their game for competition. Every Friday I opened the doors 2 hours early, just for them, to come in and practice while I prepped for the busy Friday night pizza rush. I would pick a few games, go over rules and strategies, then explain or demonstrate different techniques before I threw some credits on the machines and turned them loose to practice and improve.
Well...improve they did! All of them took home hardware at one point or another over the 3 years they played at the Wheelhouse, and it was a joy to witness! These photos were taken at the last pinball league finals tournament before I closed Jim's Wheelhouse. Rita was on top of the world when she won 1st Place in C Division and her smile tells it all!
She was so proud of that Pizza Peel Trophy, it was one of the things she hung onto and took with her after downsizing and moving to her son's, so she could hang it on the wall in her new place.
Fast forward the clock to Tuesday of this week. Ronda and I were going to see a movie and stopped by Goodwill in Gorham ME to browse, and she spots the Wakefield Wizards Last Freeze Pinball League trophy and tells me about it. For some reason, I immediately thought about Rita, so I went to check it out, and sure enough it was Rita's. I bought it wondering if Rita was ok and how it wound back up in my hands after being hours away in another state after so many years. After reaching out to one of the old crew, Linda Murphy, she informed me that Rita passed a few months ago š„.
Our time is short on this spinning blue marble, and what we all hold as treasures today, eventually become nothing more than the next thrift store bargain or someone else's temporary treasure attached to another time table. Never forget the important things in life and remember everything in life is temporary. We enter with nothing and leave with the same, but the one thing we can leave behind that can't be taken away is the memories.
Thank you Rita for being a light that shined upon everyone you knew or came in contact with. Your trophy now hangs in the Tavern as a tribute to your fun bubly personality that always made competitive pinball fun and entertaing no matter how young or old you were. šRIP Ritaš, you were loved by so many and will be missed by all!
