Margaret was the firstborn to parents Lynwell (Pete) and Joan Peterkin on November 20, 1950, in Toronto. Shortly after, two sisters, Donna and Patti and one brother John were a welcome addition to the family.
In an effort for her parents to save money to buy a house, her grandmother Madeline, took Margaret and her siblings to Jamaica. Margaret started her schooling there and became very active and interested in track.
After returning from Jamaica in 1958, the Peterkin family settled down in Richmond Hill and would soon grow by two, as younger brother Jim arrived in 1960 and Craig one year later. While raising a family of six, all under the age of 10, mom dedicated herself as a stay- at-home mom, while dad worked for the Department of Transportation as a Personnel Administrator. Margaret continued her elementary schooling at Beverly Acres and Crosby Elementary Schools, then attended Richmond Hill High, for one year before transferring to Bayview Secondary School, in the Arts and Science program. Her sports involvement increased as she became more active in basketball, volleyball, cheerleading and of course track. It was while attending high school, that Margaret met Bruce French and Mike Kyte, two high school acquaintances who would both have an everlasting influence in her future.
After graduating from high school in 1971, Margaret started working for the Federal Government in the Department of Environment and eventually became Manager of Corporate Services until retiring in 2012. In 1973 she married Bruce and settled down in Richmond Hill. While living in a cozy one-bedroom apartment, things changed in 1975 as they welcomed their first born, Katherine. With the cost of housing in Richmond Hill, and the need for larger accommodations, they moved to Newmarket in 1975 and purchased a house. A second child, Kevin, was born in 1979 to complete the family.
After the closure of ABC Bowl, the Youth Bowling Council (YBC) moved to Richmond Hill Pro Bowl in their normal spot, on Saturday mornings. Bruce, who was Head Coach for 5 Pin Bowling for the York South Special Olympics, spent his Saturday afternoons, at Pro Bowl. Like many husband-and-wife teams, Margaret quickly became involved, first as a scorekeeper and eventually looking after entering the bowlers scores on the weekly stats sheets, or as Margaret likes to call them, Form A’s. However, after a short time, Margaret wanted to
do more. Encouraged by her mother-in-law Marion, who was also involved with the Richmond Hill Strikers, she started the process to become a certified coach. Her first National Championships for the Special Olympics was to be held in Newfoundland in 1994 and in order to participate, all coaches had to be certified as a Level one coach in the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP). After completing this certification, Margaret took her team, the French Connection, to the Championships, and in the stepladder finals, beat her husband’s team. Still wanting to do more, Margaret added basketball, track and field and 10 pin bowling to her coaching credentials. Knowing that there were no competitions in 5 pin outside of Canada, and her desire to travel, she became involved with 10 pin bowling.
With only a few tournaments that her 5 pin athletes could attend with the SOO, Margaret was looking for a way for her athletes to participate in more tournaments and Hall of Famer, Mike Kyte convinced her that her league should join the York Simcoe 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association. Not only did her Richmond Hill Strikers join the Association, in 1993, the Newmarket Strikers followed suit in 1994 and the Markham Bowlers in 1995. With these leagues now part of the 5 Pin Association, Margaret took on the roll of Special Olympics Consultant for York Simcoe.
Margaret proved to be a valuable asset to the board, quickly becoming more and more involved. Not only was she York Simcoe’s SOO Consultant, she assumed various roles over the years as Treasurer, Coaching Coordinator, Average Book Chair, Awards Chair, Vice-President and Secretary. For these efforts Margaret has been rewarded numerous times at the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Associations Annual General Meeting with top honours as Coaching Coordinator of the Year, in 2003 and 2004, Treasurer of the Year in 2014 and Average Book Coordinator of the Year in 2018 and 2019. In 2005 Margaret received the Ernie Roggie Grass Roots Coach of the Year award. She also received many honours from Special Olympics. Awards like, Coach of the Year for Region 6, Presidents Award for Special Olympics, President and Club of the Year for the Progress Club and recipient of the 2002 Golden Jubilee Award are just a few of what Margaret feels are her greatest accomplishments.
On top of everything else, Margaret finds the time to volunteer her services to the Alzheimer’s Association, Canadian Progress Club and is the President of the Newmarket Gaming Association.
In a lifetime as a Volunteer and Builder, not only for the Special Olympics, but to the sport of 5 pin bowling, we are thankful that Margaret accepted the invitation to join the York Simcoe 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association so many years ago and are proud to call her our friend as she takes her rightful place in the Builders division of our Hall of Fame.