Lorena (Lorry) Bates has used her sports background to be an outstanding athlete throughout her life. A native of Toronto, Lorry was initially a top softball player in Toronto and she became a star at Sunnyside, which was the top ladies softball league of the day.

As a teenager, Lorry played baseball with Ella Pecheluk, who was also Lorry’s Sunday school teacher. Ella and her husband, Fred, also a Hall of Fame member, were involved in bowling and, through them she was introduced to the ladies bowling at the Lucky Strike Lanes on Dundas St. W. In addition, Lorry’s baseball coach, Harry Clarke, ran the Toronto Fuels Bowling Leagues and Lorry’s second sports career was on its way.

Lorry and five pin bowling mixed very well and by 1947, at only 19, Lorry was in the Toronto Ladies Major League bowling with Eileen and Georgina Keough, Doris Luke, Millie Evans, and Helen Clarke.

For the next twenty years, the Toronto ladies ruled the lanes across Ontario and Canada at the all-events tournaments, provincial tournaments, and the Master Bowlers, as well as provincial and Canadian open championships.

The all-events tournaments, in Kitchener, Oshawa and Peterborough were regular events. In Kitchener, the pinboys were George Boxwell, Bill Boettger, golfer Moe Norman and her bowling partners included Lou Hrivnak, the late Claude Leopardi and Arnold Vesik.

In 1958, Lorry entered the national scene with a victory at the Sportsman Show which qualified her to bowl in the Canadian championships scheduled for O’Connor Bowl. The eastern ladies team was victorious over Saskatoon as Lorry rolled the top five game score of 1313 including a 326 single.

Lorry returned to the national scene with four consecutive appearances from 1965 to 1968. In Kitchener in 1965, the Toronto ladies won by a phenomenal 1674 pins over ten games and Lorry posted the highest ten game block of any bowler, male or female, at the championships with a 2685 score.

In 1966, the Toronto ladies scored a second consecutive victory at Calgary and in 1967, they were runners-up in Winnipeg. However, in Niagara Falls in 1968, Lorry won her fourth national title as the Toronto ladies defeated Winnipeg by 297 pins. In all, Lorry bowled at the Open ten times, make her last appearance in 1976.

As well as being a national champion, Lorry’s name appeared in the five pin record books several times. On December 5th, 1967, Lorry bowled an 1132 triple, the highest three games ever recorded. Unfortunately, the score was not recognized, as the league was not bowling with the Canadian Bowlers Congress guidelines. However, later individual records for five games (1593) and ten games (2863) were recognized. In addition, Lorry was a member of the Toronto teams that established four and eight records that still stand today.

When Lorry retired from her bowling in 1980, she joined her husband Don and her sons Don and Bob, to actively pursue a lawn bowling career. In 1989, Lorry once again showed her athletic ability with a victory in the Ontario pairs championships. With her partner Kelli Brands, they traveled to Edmonton, only to finish fourth nationally. Her son Bob was a provincial novice champion last year and obviously there are more championships to be won.

Softball, five pin bowling, lawn bowling and a champion in all three sports, a true Hall of Famer, Lorena (Lorry) Bates.