Truly a legend of our sport, Tony Vidas was born in Fuzene, a suburb of Rijeka in Yugoslavia in 1901. Following the First World War, Tony emigrated to Canada and literally helped to unify our country as he worked on the Canadian railway system in the Crows Nest Pass area in Alberta.

Like so many immigrants to our country, Tony excelled in bocce in his native land and this skill was an easy transfer to the five pin bowling lanes. Returning to Ontario from his railway experience, Tony originally worked for Swifts and then Canada Packers, where he met his future wife, Marjorie.

While Tony and Marjorie were becoming settled in Toronto's west end, Tony was also becoming an avid bowler. Industrial leagues were extremely popular and Tony bowled for several departments at Canada Packers. Tony enjoyed playing cards and this talent led to a facility with figures which certainly helped Tony adapt to the five pin scoring system. The Roseland Bowling Alley, which was operated by Tilly and Walter Hoskin and located on Dundas Street West at Kelle Street, became his home lanes. Tony built his bowling skills there and ultimately bowled several perfect games at the west end centre. In fact, in the Toronto City Major League, Tony captained the Roseland Saturday Nighters, and the league had thirty-eight men's teams in five sections. His major league career began in the fall of 1938 and his average was 255 and among the highest in the league at that time. Tony first qualified for the singles championship through the major league and, in this initial effort, Tony finished with a twenty five game average of 241 and he rolled a 374 single in the grueling competition. The best bowlers of the day participated including Hall of Famers Eddie Hawkes, George Corbridge and Red McQuaker. In newspaper coverage, he was described as the "Taciturn Roseland Trundler". Tony did win the singles title in 1947 when the league returned in earnest following the Second World War and in 1954, he added the league high average title and, in almost eighty years, only eight bowlers have earned both honours.

Tony and his wife Marjorie had three children, boys Tony and Gerald and a daughter, Linda. Tony Jr. and Gerry set pins for Tony at Roseland during the money sweeps that were popular in the early days of bowling. Tony retired from Canada Packers in 1966 and enjoyed these years of retirement that included a return to Croatia in 1968. As well, he was multi-lingual with fluency in English, Italian, Polish, Czechoslovakian and Yugoslavian.

While Tony passed away in 1993, he has left a legacy with his wife Marjorie, his three children, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.