While Lynne White was born in Meaford, Ontario, her childhood was somewhat nomadic as her father, John Mahoney, an army man, was posted in Germany, Petawawa and Vancouver. However, at age eleven, Lynne, her sister Anne, and her mother, Betty, settled in Collingwood. Living in an upstairs spacious apartment on the main street, Lynne and her mother could see into Crescent Alleys, a local bowling centre situated just across the street. Lynne’s mother had started to bowl in Vancouver and was quite good, winning several high average titles in league play.

Betty introduced Lynne to bowling and she joined a youth program called the Junior Kiddos League. While this was not a registered Youth Bowling Council (YBC) league, the proprietor, Larry Smith, took some of the young bowlers to tournaments in both Borden and Ceylon. Living so close to the bowling centre, Lynne spent hours on the lanes and among other jobs, would also help in posting the league standings on the centre chalk board. Ultimately, Crescent Alleys closed and Lynne took her skills to the larger and more modern Collingwood Lanes.

This centre was owned by Dalton Sampson and he convinced the talented, twenty-four year old Lynne to try the provincial championships, known as the Open. In this event, Lynne’s record is extraordinary, as from 1980 to this year, she has qualified thirty-four times, including a near record of twenty-six appearances in the singles and twelve times as zone champion. While her best team finish is second, Lynne also finished second in the singles in both 1995 and 2004. However, in 2000, she won the Ontario singles title, defeating Hall of Famer, Brenda Pankoff, in the finals. The national championships were also bowled in Hamilton and while Lynne led the qualifying round with a record 273 average for sixteen games, she went on to lose a one game final to Melissa O’Brien of Newfoundland.

Lynne also took her talents to the Master Bowlers’ Association and overall, she bowled for thirteen years with nine in the tournament division and four in the teaching division. Her lifetime average is 251 for over 500 games (4th highest of those bowling more than 500 games) and this mark produced four victories, two in the teaching division and two in the tournament division. In addition, Lynne qualified to represent Ontario on four occasions and each tournament division ladies’ team were gold medalists, bowling in Sudbury, Oshawa, Winnipeg, and Surrey/Langley in British Columbia.

Lynne was also an active coach in the YBC from 1988-2003 and during that time, her three daughters, Andrea, Deanna, and Paige all participated. Moreover, as a Level One coach, Lynne coached several teams in tournaments conducted by the Ontario 5 Pin Bowlers’ Association (O5PBA). Lynne was also a visiting “pro“ to the O5PBA Bowling School from 1995 to 1997 and her oldest daughter, Andrea, was also a student. This coaching experience was also beneficial as Lynne was the Class V bowler in the National Classified tournament as she led the Ontario representatives from Collingwood Lanes to a close fourth place finish in the national finals in 2004 in Kelowna, British Columbia.

For these accomplishments, Lynne has been recognized on several fronts. In 1996, she received a merit award from the town of Collingwood for her overall excellence on the lanes. In addition, she was inducted into the Huronia Hall of Fame in 2000 and that same year, Lynne was ranked number thirty-seven of all female bowlers in Ontario and in the top one hundred in all of Canada.

In her career, Lynne has been an outstanding representative for 5 pin bowling locally, provincially and nationally. Today, Lynne continues to work as a legal secretary and lives in Collingwood with her husband, Allan. She has a granddaughter Keira, who she hopes will soon join the YBC and Lynne, with her daughter Andrea, both enjoy a weekly match play league at Georgian Bowl in her home town.