Almost Golden Jubilee but little fanfare

[jockey]

On 14th of October this year Tenpin Bowling in Australia turns 50 years old. However as yet their has been little to suggest that any sort of celebration or fanfare will be held to celebrate this great milestone.

If you look at the "Moorabbin Tournament 1963" thread in the Seniors forum you will see that with the help of Pat Thorpe I have posted a couple of attachments from magazines of the early 60's that help give us an idea of the time frames of bowling in this country.

Victoria will celebrate its 50th year on January 14th next year.

I know a lot of you know of the visits of Dave Davis and Earl Anthony to this country but how many of you know that the great Dick Weber held court at the 52 lane Rushcutter centre in 67 or that other pros visited in the early sixties. This was just after the PBA pro tour had just officially started.

After re-reading the greatest bowling thread posted on any forum worlwide "The Billy Hardwick Thread" on the PBA forum (read it five years ago)and it's continuation "The Thread" on the Bowlers journal forum. I agree with it's major premise, "that we need to know what happened in the past to avoid the same mistakes in the future".

I thus think it is about time and not a moment too soon that we endeavour to try to capture and preserve the legacy of this great game of ours. I would like to request all who have any material of theat fledgling era to pm me and I will arrange to get a copy so I can preserve it electronically. It would also be interesting to know if the TBA has any of the material the ATBC, supposedly was storing, before its demise.

 

[jockey]

Further to my original post other pro's to visit Australia in the sixties were:

Buzz Fazio; Harry Smith; Ed Bourdase plus 9 others with them that I will try to identify.

Also some of the leading local bowlers of the day were:

Eric Jang, Bill Cranfield, Luigi Rossen, Max Brennan, John Fitch, Bernie Wilton, George Scranton, Vic Bubniw, George Liebel, Frank Vidorin, Ron Batstone, Carl Harris, Arthur Yee, Brian Burge, Joe Velo, Cyde Green (16yo), Lew Carson, Don Crew, Kevin Bubner, Don Alexander, Judd Moores, John Burgess, Gunther Gsodam, Bob Vachom, Art Smith, Tony Plenca, Bill George.

Tina Hutchinson, Carmel Bonamy, Pearl Sullivan, Ivy Link, Jean Soderlund, Pam Atkinson, Wendy Mitchell, Beryl McCain, Margaret Carthew, Shirley Lilburn, Edwina Kee, Nan Ward, Joan Bourke, Helen Stokes, Sue Scott Fae Goodwin, Beryl Duke, Alma O'Halloran, Maxine Davis, Mary Lake.

 

[AdrianS]

Saw Don Alexander having his annual day out at the nationals a few months back, think he's bowled in every single one.

 

[Ian Nicholls]

Don Atkinson is the only bowler to bowl in the 48 Adult Nationals, he even received a payout at the last one for second place in B grade singles!
http://www.tenpinevents.org.au/2009_Adult_Nationals/champ_singles_b.aspx

 

[jimcross]

I bowled in the first one - 2 or 3 since - next one if my shoulder surgery is successful ( or partially successful }

I hope those old records are preserved and complete. TBA ? Anyone from TBA reading this? If so, can you tell us what the position is?

 

[wchester]

Further to my original post other pro's to visit Australia in the sixties were:

Buzz Fazio; Harry Smith; Ed Bourdase plus 9 others with them that I will try to identify.

I'm sure if you post a picture of the "unidentified nine" I'll be able to name most if not all of them. I have a pretty good knowledge of past pros.

 

[AdrianS]

Saw Don Alexander having his annual day out at the nationals a few months back, think he's bowled in every single one.

ahhh im goin senile, Atkinson it is!!!

 

[steve jones]

Jim, I understand that with the closing of the ATBC offices in Brookvale the history and records were packed up and moved into temporary storage [Kennards I believe to be the facility - where in the Sydney area I'm not sure]. Furthermore, and this of course is all second hand information, sometime after the material and data was relocated to Bankstown or somewhere near Bankstown - to the offices of a Sydney Bowling Association [which association is unclear].

If anyone can help add further to this it would of course be useful. On the other hand the TBA may right now have all the old historical records, papers, documents, awards, medals, movies, literature and much more that the ATBC had acquired and fastidiously maintained in safe storage and available [and ever growing] - and if such is the case then that would be excellent news.

Perhaps someone might care to comment? Perhaps John Coxon, who I believe may well have been an ATBC director at the time of the transition to TBA [also at the time of the closing of the ATBC offices at Brookvale] - and is still now a TBA Director - perhaps Mr Coxon has some first hand knowledge of where all the history of the sport since it's inception might be now? I may of course be mistaken in this reasoning.

In the event it would surely be useful and rewarding to know Jim - very particularly if the material I refer to is all in perfect condition and available for public view - then those who have protected and preserved it should be congratulated and their names made public - because a sizable service has been undertaken by a few to the sport in this it's 50th year.

 

[jimcross]

Steve, I totally endorse and agree with everything you say.
In case nobody from TBA has noticed this discussion, will anyone at all who is reading it, who knows, or is able to contact anyone in TBA, please do so, and ask them to please let us know what the position is. Please?

 

[jockey]

Wayne:

Unfortunately there is no picture just mentions the three I have mentioned (pictures of Ed Bourdase, Buzz Fazio). It just mentions that all up there were 12 pros who made the trip.

Jim / Steve:

I have sent an email directly to John Coxon to try to find out if the TBA do in fact still have all of the material. Although we fear the worst, I hope like everyone else that we do still have this great store intact.

I hope all others will get behind this thread and urge TBA to come clean on what is the situation with the legacy of our great sport.

Please all email the TBA and pose this important question. Also ask them what celebrations they have planned for this the 50th anniversary of the existence of bowling in this country.

As Wayne in the other thread in the seniors forum showed that bowling was showcased at the Sydney show in 1960 so that is when it first raised its head in this country with Hurstville the first centre that was purposely built.

 

[jockey]

I have received a reply via email from John Coxon. Although he requested I not post the contents of it here he did say that I could summarize it's contents in order to convey the answer to the question of old bowling materials and what TBA may or may not have.

In short due to the circumstances of the bankruptcy of the old ATBC their was a need to move a lot of material and very little time or capacity to do so. The people involved attempted to keep as much as possible but unfortunately due to capacity constraints regretably some went to landfill. At a subsequent date some more of what was originally kept also was thrown out due to the lack of available space to store it after another move.

Now this is a vast simplification of the email sent to me by John but is what I believe is appropriate to post here considering that my original intention of this post was to find out what is out there as far as our sports history is concerned. There is no point in holding anyone accountable or blaming anyone for what they had to do due to the constraints they were under at the time. We all know from having budgets that although you would dearly love to do or buy all things (in this case for example keep everything) that is not usually possible.

Now what I would like everyone to do is post to this thread outlining what if anything you have of our sports legacy. What I mean is magazines, publications, tournament results, fliers etc. so we can get an idea of what is out there and then decide the logistics of how if possible could we gather this material into one large collection. What I am suggesting is for people to either lend stuff for scanning / copying. Of course if they are willing to donate material then that would be great to.

I will also reply to pm's if you do not wish to post on the open forum.

I might add one point here that John rightly pointed out. I questioned why there was little fanfare for our sport being 50 years old later in the year. Now fact is our original ruling body the former ATBC was not created until 1962 so TBA as the successor, and the sport itself is effectively 50 years old in 2012 not this year like I posted.

However like John suggested to me it is disappointing that the industry itself appears to be unaware or ignorant of this significant fact for Tenpins of being in existence for 50 years in this country.

 

[jockey]

I'll start the ball rolling by saying that I have:

Almost all the issues of the Tenpin Strikout magazine but not a complete collection; a fair collection of Pin Action magazines but again not a complete collection; some tournaments results; I am also involved in the cataloging of the history of the ECCC through which I have gathered a lot of other bowling related material.

I have an incomplete collection of the Northcote bowls Players Area magazine and also have one issue of the old Southern Cross bowls magazine.

I also have a large amount of the MTBOV newsletters and some of the VGBO results.

 

[jimcross]

Terry, I know you're right about not apportioning blame, holdiong ppl accountable. I KNOW you're right. However, the red mist floating in front of my eyes would not clear, so I counted to 10 - then 100. Then I turned the computer off for a couple of hours. Now it is a pink mist only - dark pink, that is.
I haven't got any material. I will post suitable notices in the centre here in Ballina, and see what I can find.
So pleased you're doing this. I wish that bloody mist would go away, and my eyes would stop straying to that axe in the corner!
:giljotiini:

 

[steve jones]

Terry I respect but can't agree with your generous forgiveness of what was by all accounts little more than a blatant disregard of responsibility by some "nameless" individuals, no matter what the circumstances of the time may or may not have been.

But, as you note it is timely to try and move forward [whilst leaving the door wide open to revisit the past at some future time] so for now I would ask just one important question and perhaps you might be able to find out.

Exactly what historical records, documents, materials and related does the TBA currently have available to it? Knowing what's there might go some way to understanding what's missing....and that in itself would be a reasonable starting point. I'm certain that the current TBA management, staff and members would like nothing more than to have access to a comprehensive history and perhaps it is possible to thread some of it back together as you indicate in your second email above .....and to do so a clear point of reference will be vital.

Thanks for all you have done,

Steve

 

[wchester]

In short due to the circumstances of the bankruptcy of the old ATBC their was a need to move a lot of material and very little time or capacity to do so. The people involved attempted to keep as much as possible but unfortunately due to capacity constraints regretably some went to landfill. At a subsequent date some more of what was originally kept also was thrown out due to the lack of available space to store it after another move.

The people involved....as mentioned above at that time, would be the newly formed TBA. Looks like they started off with a failure, compounded that error again by throwing out even more historical material at a later date, and now today, some 12 years later, still won't take full responsibility for their error.

It is and was their (TBA) responsibility to ensure that our sports historical memorabilai and records were kept and catalogued. At the very least, shouldn't these artifacts have been offered to private collectiors instead of being unceremoniously dumped at some local tip!

 

[Peter Coburn]

All that John has stated through Terry is also my understanding but I can add further to this thread.

There was a significant amount of records stored in boxes in the TBA Beenleigh office in 2002. This is the year that I re-wrote the TBA website and researched past results through the ATBC era through these records.

I had the bulk of these records at my place in Melbourne through my time with TBA while I re-wrote the website. Videos, results booklets, mags and media items were all there.

Although these records were far from complete but all that were available has been scanned and placed on the TBA website. The website has been re-written since so I can not vouch for this though.

Upon my resignation from TBA in 2006, these records were boxed up and returned to the TBA office in Oxenford. TBA only recently relocated their office into Brisbane so one would hope that what is left still exists.

Not all the info and records went on the website but all electronic data has been passed on to TBA in 2006 via a portable HDD. I may still have a copy of these if I dig deep enough into my archives.

 

[steve jones]

Thx Peter a great help relevant to actual records - what also was of course part of the comprehensive historical collection were items such as photographs [thousands of them] trophies, FIQ medals, a sizable collection of gifts given by countries during FIQ events, the Hall of Fame exhibition, uniforms etc, etc - as I have outlined and as many will know, the collection was significant and diverse.

If many of the records are in place - results of sanctioned events, Nationals, Rachuigs, scoring details, films, publications and the like - that is of course excellent news - but where is the rest of the collection? Is it, as it appears to be - in landfill somewhere?

If so why, and suggesting there was no room at the Inn just does not cut it! It appears perhaps someone or a group of someone's failed in their duty of care. In short order I could list 50 people right now who if approached [both now and at that time] and asked each to take care of a segment of the historical records and other items that represent the history of the sport, until a later time when the governing body was better placed, would have put their hands up and undertaken to do so. If that wasn't appropriate those same 50 would have contributed enough to a central fund to secure external storage for whatever period necessary.

The other alternative would have been to contact each of the Local Associations who were still in place at the time of transition - how many were there - 60 or so - and ask these bodies to help with storage.

Perhaps all this was done - I don't know - but it appears more and more likely that the easy way out was taken! It requires little genuine initiative to take a trailer to the tip.

Cheers Peter, Steve

 

[jockey]

Just to be fair to all. I did post a very simplified summary of what John sent me in the email.

In answer to Steve's post yes they attempted to contact the associations of the day but they did not get any reponses or if they did they failed to come in time before they had to vacate the premises.

Now they tried to preserve as much as possible but did not have the means to retain a lot of the bulkier items.

Of course we all don't agree with what transpired but let's face it happened and we can't do much about it now. Hindsight is a great thing but like everyone knows it's always easier to say you are going to do things after the fact.

We all need to look at this as an opportunity to ensure that from this day forward we will not let the history of our sport lapse.

By the way John subsequently pointed out to me that in my post I neglected to mention his suggestion of a proposal to have a committee formed to handle exactly this sort of task. He is going to raise it at the TBA meeting in February. Now I have put up my hand as being interested and so anyone else who is interested should either pm me or send and email to John Coxon or the TBA.

 

[jimcross]

Hi, everyone who's working on this. It really is hard to think of writing some things off ( if that's what is necessary ) like the actual physical things mentioned by Steve. At the same time there is a glimmer of hope, in what Peter has to say. Meantime, Terry is beavering away.
I believe I can contact a person , who for the moment shall be nameless, who, in my view SHOULD have a first hand knowledge of the various moves of the material in the early TBA days. e.g Brookvale to Bankstown ( via the tip or otherwise ) then on to ??? Assn., etc.
I'll see if I can DIG UP - sorry, couldn't resist that!!- anything useful.

I know this is difficult, we're scattered all over Australia, BUT it does seem, that there is a significant amount of " stuff " around. How can we try to, in some proper and official way, work to centralise it, so tht this disaster, or near disaster is not repeated sometime in the future. Any ideas?

 

[jockey]

Jim

I have made some enquiries about how much it would cost to have the materials placed onto microfiche and / or digitised.

It seems we are looking at:

newspaper type publications: 55c per page (includes OCR searchable)
magazine type publications: 45c per page (includes OCR searchable)

I am going to check how many pages of Tenpin Strikeout and Pin Action I have in order to get an idea of how much digitising that would cost.

I could of course simply scan items but I believe having them done by people who deal with this sort of task on a daily basis (i.e they serve the library industry) would be the best way to go.

I will report back on my findings.