Len Attridge was born and raised in Richmond Hill, and while he still calls Richmond Hill his home today, you could say that the local bowling centres have been his second home, his entire life.
Len was born at home on September 26, 1945, youngest child to Charlie and Ethel and brother to Charlie Jr., Bob and Priscilla. The Attridge family moved around town a lot, so it was common for Len to attend a different school frequently. His first school was B.A. McConachie, which is now the home to the town’s Senior Centre and then McKillop and Walter Scott Public School’s.
Len began his bowling career at the age of ten, in a youth league at Richmond Bowl, an eight lane centre ran by Ned Hill, where older brother Bob worked as a pin boy. This centre was located beneath the local movie theatre on Yonge Street. By the late 1950’s, the automatic pinsetter was introduced and new bowling centres were opening all across the province. This proved to be the demise of Richmond Bowl.
Allencourt Lanes premiered, as one of the most modern centres of it’s time, complete with the new automatic pinsetters. A sixteen-lane centre, owned by John Allen, opened in 1960 by none other than Tommy Ryan, the inventor of 5-pin bowling. Doug Miller, who was instrumental in initiating several programs that are used today, was the manager for the first three years. It was his dad’s construction company that had built this masterpiece of a bowling centre. To showcase 5 pin bowling a group of elite bowlers, called Hellewell’s All-Stars, was formed. This group of bowlers included Hall of Famer’s Jake Hellewell, Bert Garside, Bill Hoult and our own Jim Hoult, just to name a few.
It was here at Allencourt, where Len’s bowling career started to flourish. Working part time fixing the machines, Len also assisted with the Bantam bowlers in the Canadian Junior Bowling Congress, which was the forerunner to today’s YBC. Many of the top bowlers of the day bowled at Allencourt. Len bowling four times a week, he got to know most of them. In the youth league there was Jim Hoult, who at the time, besides being one of the top bowlers in the city, was the Chief Instructor. There was Ellen Parrett, Program Director, who was responsible for getting Len involved with the youth and finally Bill & Ev Jones, and Jack & Betty Hill, members of the Master Bowlers Association, who, along with Jim, had a great influence Len’s future.
Without a high school education, jobs were hard to come by, but through Carl Hellmich, a bowler he met in the Eastsiders league at Allencourt, Len landed a job at Oxford Picture Frames and spent thirty-two years there until it closed.
When Allencourt Lanes was destroyed by fire in 1972, Len continued his involvement at ABC Bowl, home of Hall of Fame proprietors, Frank and Pauline Price. After a number of years, a new centre opened up, and while it was hard to compete with ABC, Hilltop Bowl opened their doors. Eventually, Hilltop Bowl was purchased by Professional Bowling Services and changed the name to Newkirk Bowl. It was here at Newkirk, in 1977, where Len finally joined the Master Bowlers Association and continued his winning ways. That same year Len was part of the winning team that represented Ontario at the Carling O’Keefe World 5 Pin Championships in Niagara Falls as a member of the Mixed Team Classic. In the Masters, Len enjoyed success as he represented Newkirk Bowl in the Master Junior Provincial Finals with junior bowlers Bruce Nelson and Jennifer Gibson. For his dedication and commitment a Master Junior trophy was named in his honour. This trophy was presented annually to the Master who won the Regional Finals. Len held the record for the high triple bowled at Newkirk, prior to its closing. On that night, Len was coasting to a 1000 plus triple, when the unthinkable happened. In the tenth frame, what Len thought was a perfect pocket hit, watched the ball glide between the head pin and three pin and not touch either pin, the result, a 999 triple. When Newkirk Bowl closed, Len, wanting to continue working with the YBC and bowling in the Masters, returned to ABC and remained there until it closed in 1986.
While bad knees curtailed his on lane activities, Len still remained actively involved with the YBC, which had moved to Pro Bowl. Len became a Level 2 coach under the National Coaching Certification Program. He coached at various tournaments, including the Youth Challenge and, in the Youth Bowling Council, the 4 Steps to Stardom and the Combo team, both Zone and Provincial Finals. For all his dedication and commitment, Len received an Appreciation Citation from Janet Fantin, Zone Delegate for Zone G and the Kyte Award for Excellence, presented for his outstanding volunteer work with the YBC at Pro Bowl.
Today, Len still volunteers his time, when called upon, with the youth league at Pro Bowl. While remaining a bachelor, Len considers bowling his family and all the youngsters his children. Tonight his bowling family says thank you for his thirty-eight years of volunteering with the Youth Bowling Council and welcomes him into York Simcoe Hall of Fame.