Flashing lights. Metallic clacks. Buzzers. Bumpers. No, what’s being described is not a car accident, but rather a game of pinball.

When you first enter Main Street Amusements, there is an overwhelming cacophony of sound effects and flashing lights. Going past the last few pinball machines and the stray arcade machines, you can see the owner, Dan St. John, at work repairing various pinball machines that may one day be for sale.

Main Street Amusements was opened around last December by St. John.

“I basically just [opened the arcade] as something fun,” said John. “I live just upstairs. When I bought the building I had the extra space, so I decided ‘why not?'”

Main Street Amusements provides an incredible array of many makes and models of pinball machines, from modern times to the dawn of the arcade in the 1940s.

With so many choices, St. John recommends the older machines for beginners. “It goes by age; the older ones tend to play a little bit slower. The new ones are really quick.”

Business for St. John has its ups and its downs.

“There’s been time when it’s been completely full and every game has had more than one person playing it.Then there are times when it’s completely empty,” he said.  There doesn’t appear to be a specific pattern to when St. John receives business.

“It’s pretty random. The weekends are obviously better than the week days, in terms of customers,” he said.

In addition to being an arcade, Main Street Amusements also provides repair services. St. John hopes to have pinball machines for sale in the near future.

“Mainly, we specialize in repairs right now and having [pinball machines] to play,” he said. “I’m just kind of to the point where I’ve almost got enough that I’ll have some for sale, but I’m waiting until we get a couple of extras before we do any sales.”