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George's Story
I was born January 28, 1971. In the 70’s the U.S was all about family, you took long car rides , and spent a lot of time with your parents , playing with your siblings and the time with my grandparents. Grandparents that is where it all started. I only had my fathers side , so every Saturday and Sunday my family and I were there for dinner and to just spend time. SO take a wild guess what my grandfather had in the basement beside tools and the pantry? Yep a 4x8 pool table and that was all she wrote. The 12 grandchildren and great grandchildren were not aloud to play on the table until the age of 8. January 28, 1979 I couldn't get to my grand parents house fast enough. When I was able to play on the table my father and I would play on that table for hours. My. Father taught me most of the basic fundamentals of the game and then I took that knowledge to the next level. I played pool off and on for many years at friends , family and pool halls. Pool halls such as Running out billiards , Stroker Ace , Baltimore billiards and the list goes on. I bought my first cue from Cigar Tom from Running Out Billiards which I still own to this day. When I turned 15 my parents bought their house and because of my love of pool came the pool table. The table was a Brunswick 3-1/2 x 7 with ¾” Italian slate. I played on that table for years until I moved out and got married to my beautiful wife Angela Lowery. Angela and I bought our home in 1996, settled on Wednesday and Saturday the pool table that was at my parents house was installed. In 1999 when my daughter Jade was born. I had an offer to play on a straight 8 pool league. With some coaxing from Angela I started playing league. Playing on pool leagues didn't come cheap. I needed a new shooting cue and a larger case to hold 2 cues instead of 1. From 2 cues I had seen a guy from the opposing team beat me with a jump shot so guess what , I now needed a jump cue. Next thing I knew I was in 500 plus for a JOSS , had my Mali ( first cue ) and 200 plus for a new case oh and the bungee jumper. Next came a better break cue. I feel like I am singing the 12 days of Christmas lol. After purchasing all the cues and cases , the pro shop where I was spending all of our money started talking me in to the expensive Tips , cleanings and Turndowns. Now it was you will shoot better with a Moori then you will an Elk Master. Next thing you know here comes the the 45.00 Kamui tips. It was my fault of course cause I let him talk me into those higher priced products. In January 2007 I came up with a wild idea. I am going to build and repair pool cues . I bought my first lathe from eBay ( junk ) then I bought a lathe from Bassel from customcuelathe.com ( better) then I bought my baby through my friend and teacher , Cue Maker Ben Greene from West Ocean City. Ben helps a lot knows the frustrations of starting in the business. After I got comfortable I went ahead and did the same and “ paid it forward “ Now today I make a small amount of cues per year most custom orders . I did forget to mention one thing , since 1989 I have been in the meat business and since the age of 23 I have been a Meat Manager as my full time job. However I am now getting many return customers that bring new customers to where my client base is growing. I have cues that I have made in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and many more . "I just want to do great work at a reasonable price to keep the love of the game strong!" -George Lowery |
