With tonight’s induction, Betty Reid from Markham joins Al Richardson as one of our Builders from those early formative years, when York Simcoe was just starting to grow and develop as an Association.
Born on July 9, 1930 in Toronto and growing up in Leaside, Betty enjoyed roller-skating as a teenager. It was here where she met Vic and just four months before her 20th birthday, got married. Betty started bowling in an office league at Olympia Edwards, however, after the birth of their first child Stephen, in 1951, they moved to Markham. Shortly after this move, there were two more additions to the Reid family. With the addition of Sandra and David, her bowling career was put on hold for a short time.
It was while working at Emerson Electric in Markham, as Al Richardson’s assistant, that she was persuaded to become the Secretary. At the Annual Meeting of the York Simcoe Bowlers’ Association in May of 1970, it was made official: Betty became Secretary by acclamation. In those days, Allencourt Lanes was home to Jim Hoult, Art Higgins, Al Richardson and many other executives and bowlers. While the Reids bowled on Friday nights, it was these three gentlemen, along with Tom Cowan from Barrie, who would have a great influence on Betty. Back then, the Zone went from Willowdale in the south, to Bracebridge and Huntsville in the north.
No sooner had she accepted the position of Secretary, Al was forced to resign as President for business reasons. Tom Cowan quickly stepped in to fill the vacancy and with Betty’s determination to keep the Association going when it looked like it was about to fall apart, they succeeded in turning things around. As Secretary, she kept detailed and accurate account of the Association’s activities. It was Betty’s motion to make attendance at the Annual Meetings mandatory in order to bowl in the year-end tournament. She was also the keeper of the Constitution and was responsible for making any necessary changes that would come up and for distributing copies to all executives. By now, Vic had been voted in as a Vice-President and the two of them attended all Semi-Annual and Annual Conventions. For her hard work and determination, she was awarded the Secretary of the Year honour at the 1973 Convention. As fate would have it, Tom had to resign as President that same year due to the increased pressures of his job. Being President of such a large Association was not high on the priority list of many bowlers. At the 1973 Annual Meeting of the Zone, Stan Shadoff was acclaimed as President. The following year, however, Betty found herself at the helm. As the Association continued to grow, so did the workload. One of her first recommendations as President was to elect a Recording Secretary at their Annual Meeting to relieve some of the increasing workload in that category.
With Betty in charge, she guided the Association to top honours in 1976, winning the first Association of the Year award for the Zone. As a result, she received the President of the Year award, along with Lionel Gilbert winning for Treasurer, Lois Smith winning for Record Scores and Marg Gilbert receiving an Appreciation Award. That same year she was elected to the Provincial Board of Directors.
Bert Garside, Managing Director of the Ontario Bowlers Congress, always one to know a good thing when he saw it, offered Betty a job. She would be responsible for taking some of the increasing workload off Program Coordinator Ruth Homan.
Vic, a plumber by trade, started his own company in 1979 and with her accounting background, Betty left the OBC and started working in the family business. In 1994, Vic turned the business over to his two sons and a short time afterward, the two started their worldly adventures.
Today, they spend their spare time gardening and travelling the world, from as far north as Alaska, all the way to Hawaii. Let’s not forget the trips to Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, the Mediterranean and Austria as well. In fact they just returned from a Panama Canal cruise last month. They also enjoy family get-togethers with their seven grandchildren.
As we welcome Betty as a Builder of our Association, the old saying, “behind every good man there is a good woman”, can be changed to, “behind every good President there is a good Secretary”. We are fortunate that Betty excelled in both those categories.