Doug Miller is a man who has made a major contribution to bowling which will be long remembered and discussed. Doug lives in Scarborough, Ontario with wife Colleen and youngest daughter Anne Marie. The Millers were married in 1950 and have four older children Doug Jr. a Therapeutic Technician, York County Hospital Newmarket; Carol, married with two children and living in Barrie, Dan, a carpenter and athlete who is working towards a career in professional baseball; and David who is Parts Manager for North York Datsun Motors in Newmarket. Doug’s father resides in Largo, Florida and was made a member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1972. Doug Miller was born in Peterborough on November 25, 1927 and went to school there until he apprenticed at the Canadian General Electric Company as a Tool Designer in 1942. He played minor lacrosse and junior, intermediate and senior football and took part in hockey and boxing. He coached a Peterborough Juvenile Lacrosse team to the Ontario Championships in 1952. He, himself played professional lacrosse in 1948 and 1949 in Toledo, Ohio, while working in Windsor as a Tool Designer. Returning to Peterborough in 1950, he worked with his father’s construction business until 1959, when he built Allencourt Lanes in Richmond Hill and stayed on as Manager for three years from 1960-1962.
At Allencourt, he organized a full slate of tournaments and a youth program. He started the World Bantam Bowling Tournament and this and other creative plans, caught the eye of john Martin and Doug moved to O’Connor Bowl.
The position of Executive Director of the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of Ontario, was taken by Doug in 1962 and he started on a course that produced programs that were the basis for the success of the Youth Bowling Council. Doug was active in so many facets of bowling that it is impossible to list them all. It will have to be sufficient to merely note the different things he started: Youth Bowling Council, 4 Steps to Stardom leading to National Championships, Young Adults Bowling Council, Master Bowlers’ Association, Bowling Proprietors’ Association of Canada, Golden Age program, Labatts Northern Ontario Championships, Y.B.C. Ten Pin National Championships, Bowling Writers Association, Five Pin Instruction and Scoring Booklet, the Bowling Festival etc.
Doug took part in meetings that resulted in the elimination of the counter pin, the organization of fund raising campaigns for the Y.B.C., insurance and taxation aids for bowling proprietors, sponsorships tie ins for bowling and promotion and public relations campaigns. No man has had a single greater influence on bowling as it is today than Doug Miller. His contribution to the game will be long remembered and benefits are still being reaped by bowling proprietors and by bowlers, from programs that rose from the fertile mind of Doug Miller.
In 1969, he resigned his position at the B.P.A.C. and B.P.A.O. to join Seaway-Multi Corp. as an Assistant General Manager of the Seaway Hotel Chain. He continued there until 1972 when the hotels were sold and then moved to C.C.M. as Product Manager of hockey and lacrosse equipment. He is actively involved in the introduction of new products to provide protection for hockey players and has arranged for insurance covering head injuries.
In 1969, Doug received the Sports Achievement Certificate from the Ontario Government for his contribution to bowling. He has also been mentioned in Ripley’s Sports Oddities for snapping a football that did not touch the ground, but resulted in a touchdown for the opposing team when it hit the goal post and bounced into the arms of the opposing team member. Doug has played pool with Willie Masconi and led the Canadian Lacrosse League in penalties for two years. He operated Newmarket Jr. “B”. Hockey Club for three years.
In the course of his duties with the B.P.A.C., he visited every province and major city in Canada and has visited most of the U.S.A. At one point, he conducted 22 meetings in 22 cities in 20 days across Canada.
Doug Miller is an exceptional man. With his enterprising ingenuity and foresight, he chartered the course of the bowling industry in Canada. He played a major role in raising bowling to the high esteem in which it is held today. His ideas, plans and thoughts have come to fruition in a healthy, volatile, energetic bowling industry. The game and sport owes much to Doug Miller. It is with great pleasure to honour him this evening as one of the Builders of the Bowling Industry.