Tonight, the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association is pleased to formally enter Evelyn Wood’s name on the players list of the 5 Pin Hall of Fame.

For her countless years of service, Ev was inducted to the Hall of Fame as a Builder in 1987. But, be assured, little Miss Bowling was a tiger on the lanes. Ev won five MBA events and also rolled a 1063 triple, the second highest ever bowled in Hamilton. Ev has qualified for the Open 10 times and three consecutive years, from 1976 to 1978, she was a member of both provincial and Canadian championship teams.

Ev Wood, both builder and player, and she joins an elite club of Bert Garside and Mabel McDowell as double inductees to the 5 Pin Bowling Hall of Fame.

Some people call her Ev, some Evy and her really close friends may even call her Sam. But in Hamilton and all across Ontario, she has become known as “Miss Bowling”.
Evelyn Anne Wood was born on November 16, 1925 in the city of Hamilton. Following graduation from the Central High School of Commerce, Ev joined the Steel Company of Canada, where she has been employed over these past 37 years. However, it was from her base of operation as secretary in the Steel Company, that Ev was able to use her exceptional administrative talents to fill the job as secretary of the Hamilton Bowlers’ Association when it began in 1963 and also to advance to the board of Directors of the Ontario Bowlers’ Congress as its’ secretary in 1969. She still holds both these offices today.
The Ontario Bowlers’ Congress has recognized the contribution of Ev Wood to bowling and has given her every possible award through its’ incentive program. On three different occasions, she has been named “Secretary of the Year”, twice she was chosen “Treasurer of the Year” and once “Membership Chairperson of the Year”. In 1977, the Ontario Bowlers Congress introduced “ Executive of the Decade” award and Ev was the unanimous selection. Both the Hamilton Bowlers’ Association and the Ontario Bowlers’ Congress, recognized her with an honorary life membership in 1973.
On the lanes, Ev has also proven her abilities. From her home base, of Mountain Lanes in Hamilton, where she has been co-director of the Youth Bowling Council for the past 13 years, Ev has won five Master Bowlers’ Association tournaments and also holds the record for the highest triple ever bowled in Hamilton & District for a woman at 1063. In 1976//77//78, she was a member of the Ladies Open Provincial Championship Team that also went on to win three world titles to tie a record set by the powerful Toronto Ladies Teams in the early 1960’s. For her achievements at the World Championships in 1976, Ev was selected by the Canadian Presswriters for the “Championship Dream Team”.
Everyone who knows Ev, is not fooled by her diminutive frame and is aware that she is a battler, as her Scorpio background indicates. Perhaps the biggest battle she is fighting and winning is against cancer, and to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. For the past two years, she has participated in a “Cancer Bowl” in Hamilton and has bowled against the Mayor of Hamilton and other outstanding bowlers, raising over $7,500.00. In both instances, she has been on the winning side and she hopes that her successes are an encouragement to others as well as herself.