I just wanted to let everyone know that I attended the Brockton Bowling Association Hall of Fame Dinner last night, and I had a great time at the event. There may not have been many bowlers at the event, but it’s something I hope grows in the future. Ray noted at the start of the festivities that over 400 people annually attend the dinner for the Rochester (NY) bowling association (where Ray is from), and, while we may not have that many, I’m sure Ray shares my wish for Brockton’s event to grow.
I wanted to say that Fred Delfino stole the night, sharing his stories of bowling in the area back in the 60s, especially the open challenge match story about how his crew went to Albany, NY, beat the team there, and the Albany team refusing to come to Boston to complete the challenge. The BBA doesn’t have the link to Fred’s achievements up on the new web site (yet), but Fred is also notable for being a founding member of NEBA, which is the longest-running amateur scratch tournament organization in the nation. To top it, Fred had been the manager of North Bowl for 33 years, and was known there for his work with the youth league, which, at its peak, had 300 youth bowlers participating on Saturdays.
Here is the Brockton USBC Bowling Association Hall of Fame Class of 2009:
Links to the profiles of the three inducted for bowling achievement can be found on the association’s Hall of Fame page. Also, thanks to the Brockton Bowling Association’s officers and board of directors for organizing the night, especially Ray DiSanto Jr. for handling the minutia.
The Tenth Board 