Howard E. Smith
His involvement with bowling began in 1940, at the Muskegon Bowling Arcade. Interrupted by a stint in the armed forces in WWII, he returned in 1946 and started bowling in the Knights of Pythias league and served as its secretary for five years. In 1950, he worked himself into another secretary's job with the Mercantile league, which he held for ten years. When he started working for Brunswick he became secretary of the shop league and in 1969 took over the secretary's duties of the Red Triangle A, a position he held until 1995. He found time to join the GMBA board of directors in 1973 and became its president in 1983. In 1982, he and Linda Stapp started the West Michigan Seniors Bowling Association Tournament. It is still going and growing and Howard has remained its president, showing no signs of wanting to step down. In 1984, Howard was voted the GMBA's " Man of the Year", and in 1990, received the associations "Secretary of the Year" award. For fifty of the fifty-five years he's been in bowling, he has held some kind of league office. He has competed in 39 state tourneys and 30 ABC national tournaments. He has coordinated the scorekeepers for the Michigan State Tournament and has worked with senior leagues and the 'Good willies" group. He's had some success on the lanes, rolling the high actual series in the city in 1973, with a 730 and also that year, was on the team which rolled the high actual series for the association. He was also active on the Captain-Sponsor committee for many years. He has been a very visible volunteer for the sport of bowling.