rapidfire
A Active Duty Spotlight
ir Force Maj. Matt Butler found a great way to spend his downtime while serving over-
seas in Iraq and Afghanistan: He created a lawn game. Rollors (
www.rollors.net) combines aspects of bocce and bowl- ing. It won a Seal of Excellence from Creative Child magazine and was named a 2010 best “ac- tive play” product by the Dr. Toy website. Why did you invent a lawn game? I’m a huge lawn-game fan. I fondly remember our family vacationing at our lakeside cabin in Minnesota. Back then, we didn’t have video games or cable/satel- lite TV, so we played horseshoes and Frisbee. While serving in combat operations in the Middle East, I sketched the pieces, devised the rules, and brainstormed a business plan. How did the game become a success? It didn’t happen
overnight. I developed the concept in 2005 but kept it to myself until I finished the business plan; then I filed for a patent to protect it from being copied. During the housing market crash, I met quite a few
[veterans] in Florida who were out-of-work carpenters, so I hired them to build the game’s wooden pieces. I started selling Rollors online in June of 2009. Later, due to the large demand, I licensed Rollors to another company, which now manufactures, ships, and sells the game to retailers. I would like to do the manufac- turing, distribution, and selling myself one day, but I’m currently too busy with Air Force duties. Where can people buy Rollors? A handful of large retailers like Ama- zon, Meijer, QVC, and Menards carry it. Several specialty retailers carry it as well. Are more inventions on the horizon? Another game is in pro- totype, and I need to do market research to evaluate the viability of a few more ideas. I also have a product-development company in
the works, with the goal of assisting other military inventors. The website is
www.militaryinventor.com. — Maryann Hammers
Attention! Check out these military-related entertainment offerings.
FILM HIGH GROUND (Khumbu Pictures, 2012) In this documentary film, director Michael Brown follows a team of veterans returning from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq as they set out to climb a towering Himalayan peak to overcome challenges
and heal the mental and emotional ravages of war.
BOOK OUT OF UNI- FORM: YOUR GUIDE TO A SUCCESSFUL MILITARY-TO-CIVILIAN CAREER TRANSITION (Potomac Books, 2012) Author Tom Wolfe offers
30 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2012
advice to help servicemem- bers identify their talents and land the right job the first time. Several anec- dotes based on real experi- ence tie together the book’s eight informative sections.
BOOK THE KISSING SAILOR (NAVAL INSTI-
TUTE PRESS, 2012) Authors Lawrence Verria and George Galdorisi track down the nurse and sailor caught kissing in Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous picture V-J Day, 1945, in Times Square. Many cou- ples falsely have claimed the distinction. MO
PHOTO: SKIP PETERSON
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