A lifetime of activity in bowling has led to the Manitoba Bowling Hall of Fame for a Dauphin resident.
Ralph Piasta was inducted into the Bowling Hall of Fame of Manitoba for meritorious service, Oct. 27 in Winnipeg.
Piasta, who learned of the honour about a month ago, has been involved in 10-pin for 40 years, serving in various executive positions across multiple leagues. He currently serves as the secretary of the Thursday afternoon Golden Ages League and he has served on the 10-pin tournament committee, currently as treasurer.
In the past, Piasta has served as president of the Dauphin 10-pin Association board, as well as also serving as a director on the provincial board.
When he found out about the honour, Piasta was surprised to even be nominated.
“And then when it got approved, that was kind of neat,” he said.
Being inducted, he said, is good recognition for the years of promoting the sport and being an active bowler.
“I’m on the tournament committee. I’m vice-president of one of the leagues. I’m secretary in another league. I’m on the board for the Dauphin 10-pin association. I chase down sponsors to keep the sport alive in Dauphin. There’s lots of good stuff,” Piasta said.
Piasta and another senior bowler started a league seniors about 29 or 30 years ago.
“So then we had two senior leagues in Dauphin for a while. And the other league folded after a few years, because we like to chase around. We go to Brandon. We go to Minot to bowl. And it was good. Some of the older bowlers didn’t want to travel that much,” he said.
Piasta continues to be active in the sport because he enjoys it.
“If I bowl good, it’s fine. It’s a bonus. If I just plain bowl, that’s good, too. That’s keeps me going in it,” adding he bowls twice a week, Tuesday in the men’s league and Thursday’s with the Golden Age League.
Piasta was unable to attend the ceremony due to illness, but he was represented by his children.
“They had what they called Flat Ralph there. It was a cardboard cutout of head and shoulders and about a full sized face glued onto this thing. And they put a fancy sport shirt on me. I was probably a bigger hit then than it would have been if I was there,” he said.
“And then my son read my acceptance speech.”
