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Bowl Canada’s Hall of Fame recognizes the greats of our industry and sport, shining a light on the individuals who have played significant and lasting roles in the Canadian bowling industry. We are proud to introduce the Hall’s newest member…a gentleman who was one of the original founders of our industry associations, and much more. We are delighted to introduce you to…Toronto, Ontario’s, JOHN MARTIN.
Born in 1919 Toronto, just as World War 1 had come to a close, John was just at that age as World War II was coming around. He joined the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) and was deployed overseas.
Upon returning from service, his parents Mary and Michael, who owned a string of thirteen apartment buildings, immediately put John to work as Property Manager at their locations. John’s organizational skills ensured the business ran smoothly and the many tenants were well looked after.
A short while later, however, 1946 found John looking for bigger challenges. With property management experience in his arsenal, he decided to try his hand in the hotel business, purchasing the Clifton Inn in Niagara Falls, and holding on to the hotel for 2 years. By that time he was looking for new challenges once again.
So it was that 1948 saw John return to Toronto. A cousin’s husband by the name of John Euluk was working at a bowling centre in Windsor and impressed John with tales about the bowling business. He convinced John that bowling was the path, and that with his experience he could manage the centre for John.
Successfully convinced, John Martin purchased the southeast corner of O’Connor Drive and Bermondsey Road in Toronto, a plot of land originally used by the community for the gardening of plants and vegetables. Plans were drawn up, and by the fall of 1951 construction was underway and the bowling centre was completed in less than a year.
O’Connor Bowl, originally a split 5pin/10pin house, was state of the art 1951, with pin-boys setting pins, and both the tenpin and fivepin communities enjoying the centre. John reached out to local companies to start his leagues, finding immediate success with his first corporate league, Brown Brothers.
A promotion man at heart, John wanted to make a splash in his introduction of the centre and brought in Tenpin star Buddy Bomar from the United States for his grand opening.
O’Connor Bowl was a classic bowling centre. O5 Hall of Famer Mabel McDowell was an instructor at the centre, and with the support of the daily newspaper, the Telegram, and Brunswick, formed the Canadian Junior Bowlers Congress (CJBC) which was the forerunner of the Youth Bowling Council.
Just as his contemporary Jack Fine did, John Martin saw a need and desire for proprietors to band together for the good of the sport, which means the good of the business. Together they created a network of local proprietors, such as Jim Beeforth and Lou Detsky. Now a group, they approached the Hamilton area proprietors led by Leon Huedecki and Cec Habrosh. This larger, inner circle continued to grow as they formed the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of Ontario, which held its first convention at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto, 1953.
They hired Jim Grant as their first Executive Director with an office on Dundas Street West in Toronto.
By 1962 John became President of BPAO (now Bowl Ontario) and held the title for 2 years, stepping down in 1964 to newly elected Carl Malcolmson. They would work together again shortly at a newly created Bowling Proprietors Association of Canada, or BPAC…Bowl Canada’s original name. As BPAC came into being, bringing the Western proprietors into the fold, John and Carl worked together to grow the network. John’s “do it” personality came through, and in 1966 John was elected President of the Bowling Proprietors Association of Canada…its 4th President, and the last of its one-year terms.
In 1967 John was followed by Fred Rainer of Vancouver, who was first to hold the top seat for 2 years. Fred, in turn, handed the keys over to fellow Hall of Famer Carl Malcolmson in 1969.
Deeply involved as a founder of his industry, John Martin was known as a do-er. The industry’s Guru, especially in Ontario. He pioneered many initiatives which have been key to the development of the business and sport.
He launched the industry’s Annual Lane Certification program, ensuring consistency for the athletes of the game, and preventive maintenance for the proprietor.
John was also Instrumental in having the counter pin rule erased, and was deeply involved in bringing western Canada’s scoring system to Ontario in the East, just as we know it today.
With all of that, perhaps his most significant contributions to the sport were the development and launching of his nationally renowned events.
The first, in 1957, was the launching of the grandest of fivepin tournaments nation-wide…the O’Connor Open. Known as the premiere Singles event for the sport, bowlers from across Canada flocked to O’Connor bowl. Year one had a prize pool of $3,500 with $1,000 to the Champion. The event was so popular that by year 2 John had the prize pool increased to $10,000, with $2,000 to the champion, and 400 other cash prizes won, as well as the addition of a $1,000 Perfect Game prize. The O’Connor Open ran for 21 years, concluding in 1978.
A few years after kicking off the O’Connor Open, John brought the Championship Fivepin Bowling series on CBC to life. At a time when television was still a new thing, John developed a relationship with George Retzlaff at CBC Sports, and together they brought the very popular sport of fivepin bowling on to national television where it belonged. The first of its kind, it was a weekly and nationally broadcast series featuring fivepin.
Qualifying rounds were held at O’Connor to determine finalists who would appear on the CBC Broadcast over the weekend to determine the Champions in front of a national audience. At one such taping, the scores were very bad. Fellow Hall of Famer Oskar Kinzler was the mechanic for the shows, and watched in dismay as CBC captured disappointing games, one after the other. At lunch break, and without telling anyone, Oscar decided to replace the pin bands with the new Blue Bands he had developed…and sure enough, when bowlers returned from lunch and the cameras stared rolling, the scores went through the roof. Series Announcer Fred Sgambati learned what Oscar had done, and mentioned on air that “Oscar’s new blue bands were making a big difference in scorability!”. By Monday morning, Oscar had calls coming in from all over Canada from proprietors looking to get their hands on those magic blue bands.
The Championship series ran on CBC for over 9 years to great acclaim, and was sorely missed by the community afterwards.
By 1978, the O’Connor Open had also run its course, so John turned out other hit events, including The National Invitational Singles (which offered a $10,000 first place prize), and the Rotary 50 Marathon. Both these events were bowled as a 2-ball fivepin game, which John seems to have believed was the way to go. Interesting, as decades later TSN was pushing for Bowl Canada to do the same with the Pins Game series.
John’s many contributions to bowling have seen him previously inducted as a “Builder of the Industry” by O5PBA in 1974, and recognized by them again in their Builders Division in 1986.
Few of us would remember John personally. So, we asked bowling Historian and fellow Hall of Fame member Walter Heeney for his recollections of John Martin.
“John Martin was the “Tom England” of his day. He was the big man in the industry…the guy you’d go to. Great with sponsors and getting things done.”, Walter recalls, continuing, “O’Connor Bowl was the centre of attraction. They were the first to install synthetic lanes (though they did not work well back then).” He laughs.
John Martin passed away in 2010, leaving us grateful for his many contributions, and wanting to ensure his place in our Hall of Fame.
Ladies and gentlemen…please join me as we Welcome to the Bowl Canada Hall of Fame…a builder of our industry and sport…
Toronto, Ontario’s, JOHN MARTIN