Inventor Gets Patent For His Yard-Play Equipment
By Tom Mitchell, Daily News-Record
Myron Brubaker has an idea that at the very least is a fun and unique way of combining such backyard pursuits as golf and croquet.
And, he’s betting that it may well become a money-making invention.
EMU graduate Myron Brubaker displays his prototype multipurpose backyard game area for miniature golf, croquet and other backyard games he plans to market. (Photo courtesy of Daily News-Record)
Brubaker, 44, recently received a government patent for what he named a "Pi garden." It’s a compressed playing field that accommodates more than 50 indoor and outdoor games.
Although at first blush it would seem the invention’s name has to do with the mathematical term for determining a circle’s circumference. Instead, Brubaker said Pi refers to how the field’s interior sections, triangularly shaped, resemble pieces of a pie.
He’ll display a model of his creation at the 29th annual Shenandoah Valley Builders Association Home and Garden Show. The three-day show starts this Friday at James Madison University’s Convocation Center.
Space Efficiency
One of the product’s main features as a miniature golf course is its space efficiency. The layout of the field makes it possible to repeatedly play some holes, allowing for an 18-hole game.
Other games that would work on the field, said Brubaker, include such traditional children’s games as leap frog, ring toss and flying discs, as well as other activities that involve cooperative learning skills.
Moreover, at 600 to 800 square feet each, Pi gardens cover about a third of the space required by most mini-golf courses, said Brubaker – "about the size of an average driveway."
The cost of his field, about $7,000, along with its versatility, makes it a wise investment, said Brubaker. He says a typical miniature golf course costs anywhere from $25,000 to $175,000.
Brubaker said his background partly groomed him for his new venture.
First, he works as an independent concrete contractor. Second, Brubaker feels that the master’s in fine arts he earned at Vermont College, which included a focus on writing for children, helped him craft the game. "The design is my own," said Brubaker, who also holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Eastern Mennonite University. "It allows for creativity."
Broad Market
Brubaker, who lives in Rockingham County’s Greenmount community, believes his product has residential and commercial use. Along with private homes, such facilities as inns, camps, churches and schools can make use of Pi gardens, he said.
Others familiar with Brubaker’s plan see promise for his product.
"I think it’s a real good idea," said Lou Armentrout, a sales representative for Daniel’s Imprinted Sportsware in Harrisonburg, which made a promotional logo for Brubaker’s business. "We need something like this around here. There’s not enough for young people to do."
Chad Layman, owner of Fine Earth Landscaping, a Harrisonburg company that has worked with Brubaker on other projects, thinks that the latter’s multipurpose field has a "tremendous" upside.
"It can be an affordable way for parents or families to invest time in activities," Layman said. "I can give adults and children something in common they can do."
Brubaker, who has already chosen a Web address for his business – www.play-pi.com – feels that his idea may inspire more than activity. Even in a lean economy, he thinks the public will literally buy into his dream.
"People haven’t just lost money, they’ve lost faith in America," he said, adding that selling quality, he feels, is fading from commerce. "We’re trying to offer great value at half the cost."