The Bristol-based location offers ax-throwing, games, and a private room for parties
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
Sporting matching Southern-inspired flannel shirts, two middle-aged women cheered on a third as she rang a large, silver bell with unbridled, feverish excitement. The chiming sound ricocheted off the walls of 1501 Grundy Lane. But that was the goal.
She wanted everyone to know about the shamrock-shaped bullseye that was just perfectly impaled by the hatchet thrown from her own grasp.
For any readers who have yet to receive the memo, the new trend of ax throwing is sweeping the nation, forcing favorite pastimes like bowling and miniature golf to take a backseat. Not only is it a social activity, it’s an amazing stress reliever, not to mention a killer arm workout.
Now, residents of Bristol and its surrounding areas can jump on the ax-wagon. On Sunday, March 3, community members and representatives from Visit Bucks County and the Bristol Borough Business Association convened at the Grundy Lane property to officially welcome Stumpy’s Hatchet House of Bucks County to town.
During the ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony, which took place from 3 to 6 p.m., attendees enjoyed food catered by Chuck’s BBQ, 20 percent off gift cards and, of course, free hatchet throwing.
Present were Stumpy’s owners, Mike Keeley and Jennifer Runyon, who have already welcomed nearly 1,500 patrons since its soft opening in December 2018.
“When we’re here on a Friday, Saturday night when it’s crowded, it’s just a lot of energy,” Keeley said. “A lot of people throwing and ringing the bull’s-eye bells that we have, getting their three seconds of fame.”
The main space, which is meticulously designed to give off a cozy, log cabin aura, boasts 11 pits, each with two targets to allow guests to throw in pairs. While smaller groups can stick to one pit, Stumpy’s will combine multiple pits for larger groups. It’s recommended that groups of one to four people rent a pit for one hour, and groups beyond four should do so for two hours. According to Keeley, parties can always expect a certain level of privacy, and will never be combined at a pit with strangers.
“It’s laid out so we can have some flexibility to accommodate all party sizes,” he said.
Several days after the grand opening, Stumpy’s unveiled a private room with a 12th pit. The space is catered toward large-scale events, including company team-building meetings, surprise birthday parties, anniversaries and bachelor/bachelorette parties. Keeley and Runyon also host regular events of their own, including the therapeutic “Ax You Ex” and family days.
Upon entering Stumpy’s, all patrons are asked to sign a waiver. Next, they undergo a brief tutorial by an instructor on the various ways to throw the hatchet — either single-handed or over-the-head.
“There’s really two factors. It’s your distance from the target and how much your ax rotates. The other is how firm you are with your release,” Keeley said, landing a perfect bull’s-eye of his own. “We get the whole gamut of people that are in here gung ho, ready to throw that ax through the target, then you get people who are almost afraid to pick it up.”
But even if someone falls into the category of the latter, Keeley promised there’s still hope.
“Very few people stick it right away, but just about everybody sticks it. Bull’s-eye aren’t necessarily guaranteed, but everyone sticks it,” he said. “Once people get the hang of it, they start to graduate to games.”
Similar to darts, hatchet games include implementing a point system, where the center and corner bull’s-eye are worth the most. In addition, Stumpy’s customers can play life-size beer pong, Jenga and cornhole, and bring their own snacks, beer and wine.
In Keeley’s opinion, the hype surrounding ax throwing is only getting started.
“We’re in the age of sitting in front of our smartphones and computers all of the time. This just kind of brings you back to something primal,” he said.
Keeley and Runyon initially encountered Stumpy’s in June 2016 when they visited the original location in Eatontown, New Jersey, which opened in April of that year as the first hatchet throwing facility in the U.S.
“Obviously a lot has happened in those three years,” Keeley said. “It’s kind of exploded.”
The idea for that first Stumpy’s was far from predetermined. Stuart and Kelly Josberger, along with their friends Mark and Trish Oliphant, were about to have a barbecue after a day of boating along Barnegat Bay. While the women were inside preparing the food, the guys were outside chopping wood to build a fire. Stuart and Mark soon found themselves partaking in an impromptu game of ax throwing, utilizing log rounds from a tree that came down during Superstorm Sandy as a bull’s-eye.
“By a stroke of luck, they were on the forefront of a pretty popular trend,” Keeley said.
Currently, there 19 more Stumpy’s in the works across the country. Keeley and Runyon, who signed on with the Stumpy’s franchise in December 2017, approximately a year and a half after an unforgettable Wednesday evening of hatchets, pizza and six packs, are thrilled to bring it to Pennsylvania.
“Bristol Borough has been really great to us, really welcoming,” Keeley said. “At the end of the day, you’re bringing in people to have fun and they leave happy. So what can be bad about that?” ••
Visit buckscountypa.stumpyshh.com for more information.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected]
