Jack Richards set the stakes high when he bowled his first game in Dauphin, Manitoba.
“I was in the Air Force, and I’ve only bowled one game bigger since. I think I bowled 387 that day,” he said with a laugh.
Richards, who is 89, is part of the West Kootenay bowling team for the upcoming BC Seniors Games.
“I’m not nervous like I used to be for competitions,” he said. “I used to sweat blood pretty much, but now I just take it as it comes more or less.”
Richards hasn’t always bowled, but he’s always been active.
“When I came here I thought there was nothing like badminton. Roger Kerby and I were badminton partners for about 12 years. Then when I was a carpenter for some reason I found it too difficult and my legs wouldn’t work. The doctor solved that, so I could have gone back to it,” he said.
Richard was also involved in square dancing but found that too much.
The promise of work in Castlegar drew Richards from Tappen, B.C. in 1952.
“They were going to build the big sawmill and all that, and all the dams that were put in. It looked like it was going to be really progressive,” he said.
Richards worked for T.H. Waters for a number of years, which meant that he was away from home nearly all the time.
“I couldn’t do any bowling, and as soon as I was home for a while I started bowling. My wife was a good bowler and we did a lot of bowling together,” he said.
This isn’t Richards first time competing in the Seniors Games. He has participated three times in the past.
“My goal is to just bowl as high as I can. I’ve been bowling well in the last few years for some strange reason. My average is way down from what it used to be, it used to be 222, and now it’s 161,” he said.
The five pin bowling will take place in Trail at Glenmerry Bowl on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.