CARMAN BOWLERS' ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME
JOHN HARRISON
A lifelong passion for sports led John Harrison to 5 pin bowling, and he excelled in every area of the game, as an athlete, a builder, and a proprietor. Early in his career, John bowled in Portage la Prairie, and he quickly became one of the top players in Manitoba. A four time Central Manitoba Bowlers’ Association Singles Champion, John was an integral part of teams at many Western Canadian 5 Pin Bowling Championships, the precursor in many ways to today’s Provincial Championships. While the teams enjoyed much success, the pinnacle of his career came in 1960 when he captured the Western Canadian Men’s Singles title, and then defeated the Eastern Canada champion Hugh Connelly of Toronto, shooting a 356 in the final game to capture the Dominion Men’s Singles title.
Only a couple of years after his National Championship, John moved to Carman to run the newly built Carman 5 Pin Bowl. For many years thereafter, John continued to compete at the Zone, Provincial, and Western Canada Championship level. In 1987, John traveled to Sudbury, Ontario as part of the Provincial Championship National Classified team, along with Randy McFarlane. Locally, he won countless league High Single, High Triple, and High Average awards in Carman and Portage throughout his career, as his basement trophy case can well attest.
As proprietor of the bowling lanes, John brought his enthusiasm for the game to his bowlers, establishing a strong respect for the sport of 5 pin bowling that is still alive today. A founding member of the Central Manitoba Bowling Association, John was presented with a Life Membership in the early 1980’s. He also served on the board of the then Manitoba Bowling Proprietors Association, and was narrowly defeated in his bid to become President of the Canadian Association. It was on one of his junkets to the Canadian Proprietor’s Convention that John called his sweetheart in Scotland, from the Bahamas, to ask if she would become his wife. He says that he must have spent too much time in the Caribbean sun, and as a result was suffering from sunstroke when he proposed. And he figures that the sun must have been real hot in Scotland as well, as Mabel accepted.
Much of Carman’s strong history of bowling success can be attributed to John’s instruction and encouragement, as he left his mark on so many of the bowlers who came through the doors. Carman had youth program success from the very start, as evidenced by the provincial titles won in 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1970. Peggy Soutar and Cyndie-Lynne McKay struck gold at the National Championships in 1967 and 1970 respectively.
The flood of 1970 left John having to rebuild the bowling centre without any flood insurance or government assistance, but through hard work, and the generosity of the bowling community, John’s dream of re-opening became a reality. Sandbags and plastic kept the water at bay in the 1974 flood, and John even managed to get the Carman Girls High School Championship team in over the sandbags to practice. Already the defending National Champions from 1973, John coached them to a second National Championship shortly thereafter. He was also the team coach when Carman bowlers Nettie Adamson and Pete Friesen, on the Central Manitoba team, won the Mixed Closed Title at the 1974 World 5 Pin Championships in Vancouver.
John left the bowling business for good in 1993, but his legacy as the father of the modern game in Carman is still evident today. Please join me in congratulating John Harrison as he enters the Carman Bowlers' Association Hall of Fame.
Welcome to the Online Home of the Carman Bowlers' Association
The Carman Bowlers' Association Hall of Fame was created in 2007 to honor exceptional achievements in the sport of 5 pin bowling in Carman and area. Our three inaugural members were inducted during the Carman Bowlers Association 25th Anniversary banquet, in front of over 200 bowlers and dignitaries from across Manitoba.
