V. A. "Frenchy "  LeTOURNEAU

Inducted:  2000 - Meritorious Service

Since his arrival in 1979, Frenchy has been a permanent fixture on the bowling scene.  He came to Las Vegas on a job offer from Northrop  and became a member of the SNBA in the fall of that same year.    During a league organizational meeting in 1983, no one seemed interested in becoming league secretary, so he reluctantly decided to give it a try.   Using his computer skills, he wrote a program to create his own league standings sheet.   In process, he noticed that bringing tournament variables into scratch league play made the league more interesting and competitive.   He initiated the game-to-game moving of pairs into league formats, which was soon adopted by most of the area's top scratch leagues.   Although the concept is not new, Frenchy started the trend in Southern Nevada.   Frenchy is a highly sought after person, providing his reputation, knowledge, and leadership as a league secretary to a number of leagues.  With more than 15 years of exemplary service to league bowlers, he has become the model league secretary with an untarnished record of integrity and trust.    In 1996 Frenchy and his wife Joyce bought the area's bowling newspaper, the TenPin Alley.  Aside from bringing the local and national news to the forefront in Las Vegas, Frenchy has committed a lot of free space to the local bowling associations for the publicizing of events, schedules, and highlights, as well as recognizing area honor scores and youth bowling achievements.  Along the way, he has taken the TenPin Alley to national recognition, with subscribers nationwide and as far away as Canada and New Zealand.   As a bowler, Frenchy has logged three sanctioned 300 games, three 299 games and a high season average of 216.   He has won six gold medals for Lockheed in the Las Vegas Corporate Challenge, and two gold and three silver medals in the Nevada Senior Games.   In 1998, he teamed with the legendary ABC Hall of Famer Joe Norris in the American Bowling Congress National Championship in Reno Nevada during Norris' 69th ABC Tournament.