Terry O ’ Hara
Terry O ’ Hara grew up around the bar and coin-op business in St . Cloud , MN . After World War II , his Dad traveled from Long Beach , CA to St . Cloud , MN with $ 300 and before long , he owned a barbershop , bar , and grocery store in town . The youngest of six kids — four brothers and one sister — Terry was five when he started stocking shelves and doing chores around his Dad ’ s businesses .
His two oldest brothers bought a foosball table for their Dad ’ s bar in 1970 and the pair purchased their Dad ’ s bar in 1978 . Terry cooked and bartended there until he was 25 , when he moved about 60 miles away to run a satellite office of Brothers Music and Games for five years .
By that time , the company , T & M Novelty , had become involved during the early evolution of electronic darts in the coin-op industry and signed on as one of NDA ’ s founding charterholder operator members in 1986 .
“ When darts first got going , my brother Chip and I were both played darts three nights
week . We put teams together and played at many locations .” Terry recalled . “ We were actively involved as it started to take hold , and we started to establish strong relationships with those other bars we played at .”
The growing family coin-op business changed its name to Midwest Coin Concepts in 2000 and both he and Chip have served as leaders in state and national industry organizations . Terry has been on the board of MOMA ( Minnesota Operators of Music and Amusements ) for more than 20 years . Currently , he is President of MOMA . He also was a member of the NDA board of directors , serving alongside Paulette ’ s husband , Bernie , Incoming NDA President Stefan Reichert , and NDA head referee Whitey Tolliver .
Married for 28 years , Terry has two grown children , a daughter and son who is now working full-time in Midwest Coin Concepts .
Terry says his Dad never hunted or fished or had hobbies outside of work . He inherited his father ’ s work ethic , with his day starting at 5:30 a . m . These days , the company has strived to stay ahead of the curve by engaging in non-traditional areas such as card systems , unmanned venues and pull tabs .
For his business and himself , Terry credits NDA as being a great resource of information and ideas and camaraderie .
“ I was humbled and shocked when I was informed about the NDA Hall of Fame honor ,” Terry said . “ There are so many deserving folks , especially here in the Midwest , who have done a lot to support and grow the dart business . Here at our company , we have a lot of talented people — route guys and league people , both old and young — who have helped grow our dart program .”
In particular , Terry acknowledged his older brother , Chip , as a key mentor in his career . “ I feel very honored to be elected to the NDA Hall of Fame . I thank everyone at NDA who has helped me along the way and look forward to continuing to push forward and make us better .”
NDA looks forward to welcoming Paulette Marsh and Terry O ’ Hara into its Hall of Fame next April when they are inducted during Team Dart 2022 in Las Vegas .
The O ’ Hara Family
About NDA : The AMOA-National Dart Association ( NDA ) is an international trade association of coin-operated vending companies representing approximately 250 members and 48,000 players worldwide . The NDA was formed by and for coin machine operators to promote the sport of electronic darting exclusively on operator-owned equipment . For more information about NDA , contact Brian Glasgow , Executive Director at 800.808.9884 or brian @ ndadarts . com or visit the NDA website at www . ndadarts . com
20 BULLSHOOTER MAGAZINE - HIGHLIGHTS & OTHER TOURNAMENTS