Luitzen and Leentje Van Der Wal felt that their family would have a better life in Canada. In 1954 at the age of fourteen and a half, Margaret, along with her four brothers and two sisters immigrated to Canada, landing in Halifax. After a train ride to Toronto, where the Dutch Reform Church met them, they would settle down in the Stouffville/Uxbridge area.
Margaret was born on August 25, 1939 in Lippenhuizen Holland in the Province of Friesland. As a young girl, getting to school in the winter months was easier than in the warmer months. You see in the winter the rivers were frozen, so she would be able to skate to school, while in the warmer months she would have to walk or ride her bike.
After the move to Canada another addition blessed the Van Der Wal household. A younger brother Mike arrived to round out the family. In the Uxbridge area, the boys would work on the farms while Margaret stayed at home to help her mom. When she became old enough, Margaret got a job in one of the local factories.
It was here where she would meet Lorne Hayward, another factory worker. On September 12, 1959 Margaret and Lorne were married and settled in Uxbridge. Margaret left the factory due to a rule that prohibited married couples to work together. With the arrival of their children, Glenn in 1960 and Darlene in 1964, Margaret became a stay at home mom, while volunteering for the local hospital auxiliary.
Looking for a night out and something to do Lorne and Margaret started bowling at Uxbridge Bowl, which at that time, was owned by Primo and Nadia Ognibene. As a bowler Margaret bowled twice a week with the Wednesday Night Mixed league and the Tuesday Ladies league. It was also at this time, in the early 70’s, that the Provincial Organization known as the Ontario Bowlers Congress was looking at ways to generate more membership. They found that by Decentralizing bowling centres, their membership numbers would increase. During this time, the York Simcoe zone took in a large area with Uxbridge Bowl situated in the “grey area” of our boundaries between the Ontario Durham and 1000 Lakes zones. In 1980, not wanting to lose those members, then President Jack Hill, got together with a small group of bowlers from Uxbridge with the idea of forming a Decentralized Association. As the story goes, Jack and Lloyd Parish, who had purchased the bowling centre from Primo, conned Don Chase, Donna Bearden, Karen Walsh and Margaret into starting the Association. With Lloyd owning both Uxbridge Bowl and River Valley restaurant, they decided to call the association Uxbridge Valley.
Since Margaret was the House Rep for Uxbridge Bowl at the monthly York Simcoe meetings, it only made sense that she would continue as the D.C. Rep., a position she would hold for nine years. At the Decentralized level, as Margaret was already writing articles for the Uxbridge Times Journal, she would hold the position as Publicity Chair. Her responsibility was to meet with all the league secretaries on a weekly basis. Margaret felt that this was one of her greatest accomplishments, being able to communicate with all of the leagues to see if there were any problems. In return, not only was Margaret invited to all the leagues’ bowling banquets she was rewarded at the 1983 Annual General Meeting of the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association as the Decentralized Association Publicity Chair of the Year. In 1984, with Margaret at the helm as President, she guided the D.C. to top honours, being awarded the D.C. President and Zone of the Year at the Annual General Meeting. Margaret also has the distinction of being the first person to receive Life Membership in the York Simcoe Association. This was followed up by Life Membership in the Uxbridge D.C. Association in 1991.
While back problems and Muscular Dystrophy had forced Margaret to retire from bowling in the mid 90’s, that hasn’t stopped her from her hobbies of making her own clothes, making jewelry and photography. She has many visitors on a daily basis. As Margaret sits by her bay window, the squirrels, the chipmunks and the blue jays come a callin’ and they are rewarded with a handful of peanuts.
Margaret’s motto in life is “I Intend to live forever…..so far so good”. She just celebrated her seventy-ninth birthday, I would say that she has lived up to her motto. In June of 2005 she received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Uxbridge Hospital Auxiliary. In March of 2014 Margaret received a thirty-year award from the Province of Ontario and in November of the same year was awarded Provincial Life Membership in the Hospital Auxiliaries Association of Ontario for longstanding and reliable service. Tonight, Margaret can add another feather in her cap as she is inducted into the Builders’ Division of the York Simcoe 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association.