Six inducted into 5-pin bowling hall of fame

The number of headpin headliners in the Niagara Peninsula 5-Pin Bowlers Association Hall of Fame continues to grow.

It was increased to 40 when four bowlers and two builders were inducted in a ceremony earlier this moth.

Bill Lutes, enshrined in the builders category, spent most of his playing and volunteering career in Dunnville. After honing his skills at what is now Mudcat Bowling Centre, Lutes began sharing them in his capacity as a coach for youth bowlers.

Lutes, who over the years held many positions with the Dunnville 5-Pin Bowlers Association, assisted with Special Olympic bowlers when he wasn’t participating in tournaments with his youth teams.

Also inducted as a builder in the Class of 2018 is Joe Ricci of St. Catharines. Celebrated for working with Special Olympians, he also found time to coach young and adult bowlers, when he wasn’t volunteering behind the scenes to ensure things ran smoothly.

In his heyday in the ’40s,’50s and ’60s, Mike Bash from Fort Erie bowled in a travelling league and helped Niagara teams rack up wins against high-calibre competition.

The member of the Fort Erie Sports Wall of Fame came close to bowling a perfect game with a couple of 400 games over the course of an impressive career.

For many years in his career,

Norm Asselin led his respective leagues in high average. He once competed in a 24-hour marathon.

“I am sure he has his fellow teammates very sore after that,” quipped Brenda Fraser, who compiled brief biographies of the inductees on behalf of the Niagara association.

Heather Kyle of St. Catharines won a gold medal at a national event and competed at open tournaments at a time when as many as 30 games were needed just to qualify.

“Now, it is down to 20,” Fraser said.

Tracy Smith from St. Catharines has more medals than most bowlers and made several trips to nationals. Enshrined as a bowler as part of the fifth induction class, Smith is one of the few women in Niagara with a perfect game on her resume.

She started her winning ways when she was in the youth bowling program and went on to compete at nationals in the masters division.