There is always plenty of reason to celebrate come the end of any bowling season.

The wrapup of the YBC (Youth Bowling Council) at Whitewater Lanes in Azilda recently was at a whole other level, however.

Not only did the youngsters receive plenty of hardware recognizing their accomplishment on the lanes, but the crew were also privvy to a very special presentation being made to Arnie Rollins (owner of the Whitewater venue), acknowledging his "50 years of dedication to the youth bowling program and coaching association in Northern Ontario."

Throw in a second presentation, this one coming to Whitewater Lanes YBC graduate Renée Laframboise, commemorating her gold medal performance at the 2023 Canada 5-Pin Bowling Championships (Women's Singles champion) and you have the making of a pretty incredible day for the sport locally.

"I can't think of anything else I would rather do," said Rollins, now 77 years old, a man blessed with 52 years in the bowling industry. "The key to this business is being able to get along with people. This is a bowling family - that's what I call it."

Having opened Garson Bowl a half-century ago or so, Rollins would move on to operate a similar facility in Dryden before returning home and purchasing Whitewater Lanes in 2014.

He and others would withstand the challenges of Covid-19 - though he admitted that coming out the other side of the pandemic has exceeded all of his expectations.

"We were really excited, the bowlers were really excited to get back to bowling," said Rollins, a man with five decades of youth bowling coaching experience and a founding member of the Masters' Bowlers Association of Northern Ontario in 1983.

"With all of that excitement, our last two seasons have been a couple of the best seasons that we've ever had."

The same could be said for Renée Laframboise.

A three-time provincial (Northern Ontario) champion, the local woman broke through on a larger scale last year, climbing to the top of the mountain in Edmonton, recording a 21-game average that exceeded 280.

"It was one of those weeks where I was not going to lose - and it's a surreal feeling when that happens," said Laframboise. "It's something that you dream of but never actually think it's going to happen."

The occasion was made that much more memorable by simple happen-chance, a merging of somewhat unrelated events that forged an incredible moment for Laframboise and Canadian 5 Pin Bowlers' Association Hall of Fame inductee Yvette MacLellan.

"The fact that Yvette was getting inducted into the Hall of Fame that weekend and she happened to be there (for nationals) - that was really special," said Laframboise, who admitted that tears were flowing quite freely as the local tandem embraced following her final game.

"She has been one of the most influential coaches I have had and was sitting in the first row when I won."