Loralee McClellan is an all-round Uxbridge athlete, who has been mentioned numerous times as being a contributing factor to the success of her teams all throughout elementary and high school. Whether it was with the girls’ basketball or soccer teams from Uxbridge Public School or the Uxbridge Tigers girls’ slo-pitch team in high school, Loralee was given kudos for her outstanding play. Loralee’s artistic side also shone through as a member of the school choir, a tap dancer with the Northeast School of Dance and playing flute in her high school marching band.
Bowling was a way of life in the McClellan family, as both Loralee’s parents Marilyn and Butch were avid bowlers. As a talented youth it was obvious that she would be a natural in the sport. With her older brother David already involved with the YBC in Uxbridge, Loralee started bowling in 1979 at the age of six and the rest, shall we say, is history. Throughout her YBC career the awards and trophies were numerous, from high average and ‘Bowler of the Year’ to Master Bantam and Master Junior qualifier. In team events like the Senior-Mixed, Pepsi Challenge (Youth Challenge) and 4-Steps, Loralee was at the top of her game. In 1991 she captured the 4 Steps Senior Girls singles crown for York Simcoe. Loralee credits most of her YBC success to her coaches Don Chase and her aunt and uncle, Wendy and Al Dingman.
In league play, Loralee continued to be a dominant force in both the Tuesday Pro league and the Wednesday Mt. Albert league in Uxbridge, registering a high average of 242, a high triple of 983 and a high four game total of 1212. As well as qualifying for the TSN Pins Game, Loralee was a member of the National Classified Ladies team that represented Ontario at the National Championships in Saskatchewan.
During her time at Uxbridge Bowl, which ran their own Decentralized Association, Loralee took on the Tournament Director portfolio from 2002 to 2008. In 2004 she was a finalist at the Annual General Meeting for the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association Tournament Director of the Year category.
Influenced by her friends Richard Gravelle and Paul Prebble, Loralee at the age of 19, bowled her first provincial Open on the York Simcoe Mixed team. In total Loralee has qualified for the Ladies teams twelve times and in six of those she bowled in the singles. In 1997, Loralee was a member of the winning Ladies team along with Hall of Fame members, Michelle Canham, Lisa Groombridge, another of tonight’s inductees Sandi Dickson and Hall of Fame coach Jim Preston, that captured the Bronze medal in Calgary. In 2004 Loralee was part of the York Simcoe contingent that won the Aggregate Banner at the Provincial Championships in Hamilton.
Single life ended for Loralee in 2009 when she married Kevin Davis and together they have one son Braedyn, who was born in 2011. Along with Kevin’s three children, Kendall, Emily and Dustin, their family was complete. While Loralee might consider her tournament wins her greatest accomplishments, Braedyn is definitely the icing on the cake,
In 2012 Loralee left the bowling lanes behind and took up another challenge, that of spinning. In memory of her dad, who passed away in 2005 of cancer, she was asked to participate in the 2015 Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer with some of her co-workers. This event was a 200 km bicycle ride from Toronto to Hamilton and then to Niagara Falls. The spinning sure helped in training for this long bike ride. She decided to do the ride a second time on her own. In the two years that Loralee participated in this event, 2015 and 2016 she raised just over $6,000.00 for cancer research.
Loralee has continued to play baseball for the past 23 years in Uxbridge, playing ladies Softball and Slo-Pitch and more recently in the North Durham Ladies Slo-Pitch league out of Greenbank. She played shortstop, second base and pitcher when needed. Due to back and shoulder injuries, she has not played for the last two years, but hopes to return to baseball next season. Braedyn is now following in his dad and brother’s footsteps by playing hockey and also in his mom’s footsteps by playing baseball. Braedon just completed tryouts and made the Rookie Jr Rep baseball team in Uxbridge.
It’s ironic that while all throughout Loralee’s years in the YBC and as an Open participant her nemesis, Sandi Dickson (Horton) and Loralee are both being inducted into the Bowlers’ division of the Hall of Fame together.