Jack Fine is a man who well deserves the honour of being the star at this year’s Builders of the Bowling Industry Annual Awards Dinner. No one has been more active than he in the bowling industry over a period of more than thirty years. Jack was born in Toronto on July 28, 1925 as the eldest son of Samuel and Natalie Fine. The family was completed in later years with the arrival of brother George and sister Ruth, both of whom live in Toronto with their spouses today. Sam Fine was involved in B. and F. Theatres, a chain of neighbourhood cinemas in Toronto and Jack’s exposure to the entertainment industry began at an early age. Being brought up in the entertainment business, he well understood the problems of a business that required people to work nights, weekends and holidays. Since no product was sold, the only thing that people went home with was the memory of a good time, and the lessons he learned in the theatre business have stood him well in the bowling game.

He attended Forest Hill Public School and then went on to graduate with an honours B.A. in Political Science and Economics at the University of Toronto in 1947. During his college career he was deeply involved in intramural sports and first began to play squash at Hart House. He was a sportswriter for the Varsity and was the Sports Editor of the U. of T. yearbook Torontonensis. During his time at college he also wrote Varsity Sports for the Globe and Mail. After graduating he went into the family business as a film booker and buyer. In 1949, the family rebuilt a bowling centre, Bowlaway, at Bathurst and St. Clair Avenues in Toronto, and Jack supervised and operated this bowling centre for a number of years. In 1952, the Fines opened another bowling centre in Sudbury but this burned down a few years later.

At this time there were many by-laws restricting bowling in Ontario and many new problems were appearing on the horizon. Nineteen fifty-four saw the founding of the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of Ontario and Jack Fine was at the original meeting and helped form the organization. Almost from its commencement, he served on the Executive Board as he understood the values and importance of a trade association to the bowling industry. He worked with every president, commencing with Leon Hudecki.

Conventions in those days were held at either Prudhomme’s or at the Delawana Inn at Georgian Bay, and Jack Fine was a mover and an instigator. He ran into many problems as he was often well ahead of the thinking of others in the industry. He realized that bowling is both a sport and a recreation and many of his actions were aimed at broadening the appeal of bowling to more people, mainly by adding the entertainment aspect into people’s thinking.

In 1959 the bowling business in Canada was about to enter its boom years and Fine realized that this was the time to get more involved in bowling. His responsibilities in the theatre business were declining as television had driven many of the neighbourhood theatres out of business. An opportunity arose to take over space in a new shopping centre on Jane Street in the west end of Toronto and thus the first Bowlerama centre came into being. Over the years, the name Bowlerama has become one of the best known names in bowling. He found the name on a bowling centre in Miami Beach (which has since gone out of business) and felt that this was a descriptive and interesting name for a new centre. From the day that it opened, Bowlerama was a great success and helped establish new concepts in bowling. Shortly after that, he began to expand his bowling operation. In close cooperation with his partner, Gurston Allen, now deceased, they interested Famous Players, the theatre chain, into coming into business as partners with them.

With this assistance, Nortown, Newtonbrook and Thorncliffe in Metropolitan Toronto and Sportsman’s Bowlerama in Guelph were added to the chain to make them a significant part of the bowling industry in Southern Ontario. Other centres followed and a major step forward was taken with the addition of two former Double Diamond-Philips Electronics bowling centres in Brantford and Kitchener. The 56-lane Plantation Bowl was added to the Bowlerama chain and then purchases were made of operating centres in Woodstock and London. Another 28 lanes were added at Thorncliffe Bowlerama to make it Toronto’s largest bowling centre. During these years Bowlerama prospered and Jack Fine continued to take an active part in the politics of the bowling industry. In 1977 Bowlerama purchased All-Canada Bowling which operated 13 centres in Southern Ontario. With the final addition of Iberville Lanes in Montreal, Bowlerama is now a 23 centre chain, the largest in Canada.

During these years, Fine was active in the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of Ontario and later the Canadian association. He also became a director of the B.P.A. of America and a member of the influential Multi-Unit Bowling Information Group. He served as President of the Ontario Association in 1967 and 1968 and is currently the President of the B.P.A. of Canada after having served terms as Treasurer and Vice-President. He has been influential in arranging promotions that have drawn the attention of the populace to bowling. He serves on various committees and has been active in getting changes made in provincial and municipal legislation. He led the fight regarding realty assessments on bowling centres and was successful in getting these charges reduced. Fine has also fought for lower municipal licence fees for bowling centres and has been successful in getting the hours of operation extended. Lately he has led the struggle to get liquor laws changed regarding bowling centres in Ontario.

Fine has been a director of the B.P.A. of Ontario every year except one since its founding in 1954. This year, when he became President of the Canadian association, he stepped down from the Ontario Board.

He began the Bowlerama Match Play Tournament, which, going into its 22nd year, is now the longest continuously run tournament in Canada. He is proud of Bowlerama’s involvement in both youth bowling and senior citizen programs. He’s developed the concept of participation bowling where senior citizens come out on a regular basis but are not organized in teams, nor do they keep averages. This has enabled many older people to bowl without tying them down to a schedule.

Bowlerama’s Head Office is located on Cecil Street, in the heart of Chinatown and only three minutes from downtown Toronto. It is an attractive, turn-of-the-century home which has been classified as an historical site.

Jack Fine married Valerie Simmonds and they have four children: Janet, Harry (now a Vice-President of Bowlerama), Joanne and Walter. They live on 33 Strathearn Road in Toronto. Fine has been active in a number of organizations, including Variety Club, Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity, the United Jewish Appeal and the Big Brothers Organization.

He is an avid tennis and squash player and enjoys going to baseball games.

He is a member of Oakdale Golf Club and the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club. He has served terms as a director of the Jewish Community Centre of Toronto.