Al was first introduced to bowling at the age of twelve in 1939, through his school, at the old Ace Bowl on Danforth Ave. in Toronto. As a young lad, Al worked at various jobs, including CP Express, Fridgedaire and Motorola.
In 1950, Al married Jeanne Leighwood and had four children, Gary, Kim, Jill and Janice. Three years after Al and Jeanne were married, they moved to Guelph and following a two year stay, they moved again, this time relocating in Lindsay. However, their stay in Lindsay only lasted five years before his next move to Richmond Hill in 1960, which turned out to be the one that would ultimately benefit 5 Pin Bowling the most.
On September 10, 1960 one of Ontario’s most luxurious bowling centres, Allencourt Lanes, opened for business. At Allencourt, Al met Jim Hoult, Bert Garside and Doug Miller, three gentlemen that would have a great influence on his career. Prior to this, Al’s bowling ability was, average. However, after watching Jim and Bert bowl, he noticed that their “backup” ball had more effect than his “hook” ball. Al changed his style and not long after, his average rose from 216 to well over 250. Al bowled in the Men’s Majors leagues at Allencourt and ABC, as well as the City Major league in Toronto, where he was crowned the Singles Champ in 1964/65. In “Open” play, Al qualified a total of seven times in team competition, winning provincial honours three times, twice with the mixed team and once with the mens team.
On the executive side, Al was a major influence in the growth and development of our association. He was a charter executive member of York Simcoe, when it was formed in 1967/68, along with Bill Jackson, Jim Hoult, Art Higgins, John Cruse, Les Chidley, Stan Shadoff, Bob Weeks, Bill Patten, Keith Hood and Bill and Ev Jones. Al was the main influence in resolving problems between the north and the south. In the two years that Al was President, Membership numbers more than doubled. It was Al, who came up with the idea of matching a high average bowler with a low average bowler together as a team, and thus, the birth of the high-low doubles tournament. This tournament became so popular in the zone, that, in 1972, the OBC asked if they could use it for their own tournament. For the first time ever, the OBC offered a tournament to its members that required no entry fee or lineage charge. This tournament was a great success, is putting it mildly, as over 20,000 league bowlers participated in this event at the outset. Today, the High-Low Doubles remains the most popular tournament on the O5PBA calendar.
Al served on the OBC board for a number of years, as Treasurer, when Ken Edge was President, and was a charter member of the Master Bowlers’ Association. In 1964, while on their Board of Directors, Al served as their Vice-President. In addition, Al along with Ernie Roggie, proposed a reclassification of members as tournament and teaching masters, which eventually led to the creation of the Teaching Masters division.
In 1978, Al moved to Campbellford and purchased a bowling centre, Trent Valley Lanes, which enabled him to become the Zone President of the BPAO for the Bay of Quinte zone, a position he held for eight years.
Today, at the age of 73, Al still bowls in two leagues in Campbellford, the Mens League, which he is Treasurer, and the Travelling League, which he is President. As well, along with his son, Gary, they run Trent Valley Lanes. In his spare time, he does enjoy a game of golf and his gardening.
Tonight the York Simcoe 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association thanks Al for his tenacity and determination in the formation of our zone.