Hall Of Fame Inductee
Dot Britton
Inducted into: Builder Division in 1996
Inducted into: Builder of the Bowling Industry in 1982
Location: Niagara Falls
Deceased: Jul 2, 2021
- Builder
- Industry
Already honoured as a Builder of our Industry, Dot Britton’s efforts to build our sport will receive the ultimate recognition with her induction to the 5 Pin Bowling Hall of Fame.
Originally born in Toronto in 1928, Dorothy Paul began bowling at the Ace Bowl on the Danforth and, in the Toppers Club League, met her husband-to-be, Harry Britton. Following their 1952 wedding, Dot and Harry moved to Niagara, first settling in Grimsby before moving to Beamsvile the following year.
Since arriving in the Niagara Peninsula, Dot’s involvement in 5 pin bowling has included the Youth Bowling Council, the Master Bowlers’ Association and, of course, the formation itself of the Niagara Peninsula 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association.
Bob Falconer, a former president of the Ontario Bowlers Congress, introduced Dot to organized bowling through the Niagara zone as Bob was provincially involved with the controversy surrounding the elimination of the counter pin. Both Bob and Dot bowled at Orchard Lanes in Grimsby and, in 1965, this duo also began a Youth Bowling Council program at the same centre. As well, from this centre, and also in 1965, Dot joined the Master Bowlers Association, the first female to be accepted by the MBAO from the Niagara region.
In the YBC, Dot had initially began a youth program at Beamsville Lanes in 1958 prior to the official start of the YBC in Grimsby, first at Orchard Lanes in 1965, followed by a fifteen year stint at Grand Lanes from 1975-1990. Currently, Dot instructs at Bowl-O-Rama, Welland and since 1981, has been the YBC Zone Representative wearing the prestigious "red jacket" for the Niagara Peninsula.
In the Master Bowlers Association, Dot joined the tournament division in 1965 as her league average reached as high as 253. In all, Dot bowled in the tournament division for fifteen years and she quickly brought her talents to the administrative level as well. She joined the MBAO Board in 1969 and was provincial secretary for two years before being elected president in 1974, a position she held for two years.
In the Niagara zone, Dot was elected president in 1969 and moved to the provincial level in 1971 as both a director and vice-president. For her efforts, she was recognized as Executive of the Year by the Ontario Bowlers Congress in 1973 and her hard work during that season set the stage for the zone to win provincial honours the next year. The bowling industry honoured Dot as a Builder of the Bowling Industry in 1982 and, in addition, the Ontario Government recognized Dot with a provincial award for her volunteer effort in 1984.
While Dot has been one of the best cheerleaders that our sport has ever known, her favourite event has always been the Open. She visited her first provincial final in 1964 in North Bay and has been to every one since. Several times, Dot was closer to the action, as she not only bowled in eight Opens, but she has coached a phenomenal eighteen years. This coaching success was also recognized by the Master Bowlers Association as she was the first coach selected by the teaching ladies in 1980 and this team won a gold medal. She followed that success with five more gold medals with the Ontario tournament lades from 1982-88.
Dot also brought her leadership skills to the league arena as well. Along with Del Pintwala and Ivy Eggleton, Dot began the Niagara travelling league that bowled on Saturdays from Hamilton to Fort Erie for twenty years. Other pioneering efforts included both the Golden Horseshoe Pro League at the old Bar Don Lanes and the Pro League at Pla Mor Lanes in St. Catharines.
Harry Britton passed away in 1990 and, in 38 years of marriage, Dot and Harry raised three children, Leslie, Andy and Jack, as well as four grandchildren have arrived to certainly increase YBC registration. Dot Britton has enjoyed nearly fifty years in 5 pin bowling. With tonight’s induction, Dot, in reality represents every volunteer that has given of their time to promote amateur sport.
If ever she were asked, Dorothy Britton could write the modern history of organized 5 Pin Bowling in Ontario.
She would do it well, because she has been involved in so much of it, with the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association, the Master Bowlers’ Association of Ontario, and the Ontario Division of the National Youth Bowling Council. And she would do it with warmth and humour, because both have always been part of her style.
Friends in the Niagara Peninsula may be surprised to learn that “Dot” was born and raised in Toronto, in Cabbagetown and Willowdale. The former Dorothy Paul only moved to Niagara after marrying Harry Britton in 1952. They met in 1949 while both were bowling in the “Toppers Club” at the former home of Ace Bowling lanes at Jones and Danforth Avenues in Toronto’s east end. On June 21st of this year, they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. Shortly after the wedding, they moved to Grimsby and about a year later to what is still the family home in Beamsville.
Like so many volunteers, Dot’s involvement in organized bowling began with the YBC, first at Orchard Lanes (now Pro Bowling Lanes) and Grand Lanes in Grimsby, and then for the past 17 years at Bowl-O-Rama Lanes in Welland. She’s still deeply involved there, and in 1975, Dot coached a Junior Boys’ Team to the bronze medals in the Provincial finals of the Four Steps to Stardom.
The Master Bowlers’ Association was founded in the 1964-65 season in Ontario, and Dot was its first female member from the Niagara Peninsula the following year. In 1969 she was elected to the Association’s Board of Directors, and in 1970-71 she served the first of four years as Secretary of the MBAO. In 1974 she was elected to a two-year term as President, and still serves as a Past President and Director of the Master Bowlers.
Dot’s contribution to the Master Bowlers’ Association was probably most eloquently expressed by its members in 1982, when three of four teams assembled in Ontario for the 1982 National Championships in Newfoundland, made Dot their first choice for coach. The Ladies’ Tournament Division team won, and Dot steered them to the gold medals. In 1980, with Dot as coach, the Ontario Teaching Division’s Ladies’ Team won national gold at the Masters for the first time ever, just one year after Dot had coached the same team to the bronze medals! That same successful coaching style has served her well as a volunteer administrator for 17 years with the OFPBA and the former Ontario Bowlers Congress.
In 1969-70 Dot served the first of two years as President of the Niagara Peninsula Association, and then in 1971, was elected to what became a five-year term as Director of the OBC, two of them as First Vice-President. Over the course of 12 years, Dot served the Provincial Sport Governing Body as a Vice-President and Director; the Provincial Board of the MBAO as a President, Secretary and Director; and the Niagara Association as President, Tournament Director, Publicity Director, and Fund-Raising Chairperson.
But her most important skills or talents have always been those she has applied so successfully as a “coach”. She has displayed a rare gift for recruiting and motivating volunteer workers, and inspiring them to give 110% of themselves. It was that skill as a leader that prompted the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association to honour her in 1973 as its “Executive of the Year”. The award came in a memorable year for Niagara. Hers and others spoke volumes about the loyalty and effort she commanded from her executives, and the way they all performed.
But for Dot Britton, 1982 has probably been her most memorable year. In April, she coached the Niagara Peninsula Ladies’ team to its first gold medals ever in the Ontario Open 5 Pin Bowling Championships. In June, she coached the Ontario Tournament Division Ladies’ team, and won her second gold medal in National Masters competition. And tonight, in November for those achievements, and for so much more, we salute Dot Britton as a special “Builder of the Bowling Industry”.
But we also say “thank you” for their support of Dot’s efforts on our behalf to the members of her family; to husband Harry and daughter Leslie, to sons Jack in Bolton and Andy in Winnipeg, to granddaughter Carrie, 3, in Winnipeg, and to grandsons Darren, 6, in Winnipeg and David, 1 in Bolton.
They love her only a little more than we do!