"The last of the great ballroom era." That is how Johnny Holm described Medina Entertainment Center in a 2017 Plymouth Magazine profile. Holm had been playing the room a couple of times a year since the 1970s. He gave the credit for its long run to one thing: it had been run as "a classy place."
The ballroom era Holm meant started on Highway 55 in September 1956. On Saturday, October 17, the building at 500 Highway 55 marks 70 years with a free, family-friendly festival that runs all day from 11 a.m. On paper, the program reads like a list of attractions. Read it next to the venue's history and it becomes something else. Nearly every slot on the schedule matches a part of the building that the Raskob family added at some point since 1956. Spend the whole day there and you will have walked through the place in roughly the order it was built.
Eleven O'Clock Belongs to the Original Eight Lanes
Bob Raskob founded the business in September 1956 with his brothers Joe and Cliff. The venue's homepage gives opening day as September 6, 1956. The 2017 Plymouth Magazine account says the Raskobs and family friend Norm VanSloan bought the land for $800. On it they built the original Medina Ballroom and Lanes, with a ballroom, a small restaurant and eight bowling lanes. The venue's own catering materials also list a Raskob brother named Les among the builders. Its About page names three brothers.
So the festival opens with bowling. Starting at 11 a.m., cosmic bowling costs $19.56 per hour, per lane, all day, a price set to match the year it all began. There are 12 lanes now. A full-service pro shop, leagues and weekend cosmic bowling are part of the regular offering.
The lanes have been rebuilt more than once. The venue dates a fire that destroyed the building to 1973. The 2017 local account places it in June 1974 and describes an explosion during lane resurfacing that killed two people. That account says rebuilding was finished by September 1974. Scoring went automated in 1974 and moved to console software in 1985. The lanes were redone in 2000. The lanes you bowl on during the anniversary are the third or fourth version of that original eight-lane room.
The Restaurant Has Changed Its Name. Lunch Has Stayed on the Schedule.
The small restaurant from 1956 has gone by several names. According to the 2017 history, it was the Victorian Room in the 1980s. It then became Rascals, and in the 2000s it was renamed Robert's. Today the venue calls it Robert's Craft Kitchen & Bar and describes the food as fresh American fare for lunch and dinner. Robert's Wings and Robert's Meatloaf are on the posted menu. The catering document says the food is made to order in-house from scratch.
On anniversary day, the festival listing tells guests to come hungry for food from Robert's. These are the regular hours if you're planning around a meal:
| Sunday–Thursday | Friday–Saturday | |
|---|---|---|
| Robert's kitchen | 11 a.m.–9 p.m. | 11 a.m.–9:30 p.m. |
| Robert's Bar | 11 a.m.–10 p.m. | 11 a.m.–11 p.m. |
Since October 17 is a Saturday, the kitchen's 9:30 p.m. close comes right between the two evening sets. Plan dinner for before the first band.
Mid-Afternoon Is Bingo and the Kids
At 2:30 p.m., Big Cash Bingo begins. A $50 packet plays for a $500 payout each game, plus a $2,000 coverall. Bingo is already part of the building's weekly routine. In 2025 the venue listed Monday bingo in Robert's Bar. This past summer it hosted bingo with Wayzata Plymouth Youth Hockey on Thursdays from June through August.
At 3 p.m., the free Kid's Zone opens with a bouncy house, arcade games, yard games, speed pitch, temporary tattoos and a balloon artist. That lines up with the side of the business that has hosted birthday parties next to the arcade for years. Over the course of the day, the program also includes a meat raffle, line-dance lessons, psychic readings and a casino. Bring a non-perishable food item. There is a food drive for Interfaith Outreach, and signing up online in advance enters you for door prizes, which are given out while supplies last.
The Evening Belongs to the Ballroom
The day ends in the room the building was named for. Shane Martin Band plays at 7:30 p.m. and Them Pesky Kids at 9:30 p.m., and both concerts are free.
The venue lists Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Peter Frampton, Alice Cooper and Buddy Guy among the acts that have played the stage. It also says Willie Nelson once stayed after a show signing autographs until 2 a.m. Pollstar reported that Bob Raskob booked Garth Brooks' first Minnesota show there, on July 28, 1990. In the 2017 profile, his son Mark Raskob said Bob booked the country acts while Mark booked rock. Later on, Bob concentrated on the polka bookings he liked best. The ballroom got a new sound and lighting system in 2016.
Them Pesky Kids closing the anniversary night fits that history. When indoor concerts came back in October 2020 with a 250-person cap, the Pioneer Press listed Them Pesky Kids among the acts booked, along with Martin Zellar and Free Fallin'. The band headlining the 70th is one that helped reopen the room six years ago.
The Rest of October Follows the Same Threads
The anniversary falls in the middle of a full month. Several dates on the calendar link back to the history above:
- Friday, October 2. Commotion, a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute, is marked canceled.
- Saturday, October 3. World According to Garth, 21 and up, $25 to $38, 36 years after Brooks's first Minnesota show in the same building.
- Friday, October 9, and Saturday, October 10. Ikons of Rock presents 90's Rock Circus, followed the next night by The Rolling Stoners and Zeppo.
- Friday, October 16. Takin' It to the Limit, an Eagles tribute featuring Fabulous Armadillos and Collective Unconscious, $33 to $50.
- Friday, October 23. NEIL! Martin Zellar's Tribute to Neil Diamond, with The Belfast Cowboys, doors at 6:30 p.m. Zellar was also on the 2020 reopening lineup.
- Saturday, October 24. Little River Band with The 70's Magic Sunshine Band, 21 and up, $59 to $82.
- Friday, October 30. Power Balladz: The Ultimate 80's Sing-A-Long, open to ages 13 and up.
- Saturday, October 31. Rockin' Hollywoods "Halloween Dance," $17 cover, not sold online.
Families should note October 24. Earlier that day, the City of Medina holds Trunk or Treat from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Police Department, 600 Clydesdale Trail, with games, candy and a costume contest. The 21-and-up concert at the Entertainment Center starts at 8 p.m. that night. Them Pesky Kids are back on November 14 as the opening act for Thunderstruck, an AC/DC tribute. With one October show already canceled, check a date's status on the venue's calendar before you head out.
Still a Family Operation
The venue says it is still family-owned and operated. A 2023 Hospitality Minnesota directory listing names Mark Raskob as owner and president and Paul Raskob as vice president. The 2017 profile described Bob's granddaughter, Missy Miller, as the event and catering director, with several family members running different departments. Today the property includes a game room, three private event spaces and the Medina Inn next door. The weddings, proms, polka nights and rock shows the 2017 profile listed all take place under the same roof as the bowling league. An all-day party is the one occasion when all of those uses run on the same day.
Landmarks like this one, open for 70 years under the same family, are part of what a Medina address means to the people who live here. When it's time to put that local story into numbers, Mark Geier brings more than 30 years of work in this corridor and handles your sale personally from start to finish. Request Your Free Home Valuation, and see you on the lanes October 17.
