"I plan to live forever; so far, so good." --Steven Wright--

In 1909, Teddy Roosevelt had just left office and William Howard Taft was starting his term as President of the United States. Barry Goldwater was a New Year's Day baby and the San Francisco area was making good recovery efforts three years after the gigantic earthquake that nearly destroyed the city. On April 15, Red Ames of the NY Giants threw his second no hitter but lost in thirteen innings; on April 18, Joan of Arc was declared a Saint; and amid all these events, on April 17, 1909, Les Casady was born on a farm near the town of Atlantic, Iowa.

While dairy, milk, butter, and ice cream would dominate his life and career, Les remembers first picking up a bowling ball in 1932 at the age of twenty-three in Watertown, South Dakota. (And no, it wasn't a wooden one because I asked him). He remembers working hard and long hours at the Blue Valley Creamery where he made the good salary of $18.00 per week. Times were good then because a triple-scooper cost a nickel and they were one of the two top dairy farms in that part of the country delivering products to a large section of the region.

The highest average Les has ever carried was 195 and he threw his 300 game in Wichita, Kansas sometime in the 1970's. He doesn't remember his highest series because he, "doesn't keep track of those things." His ball was made of rubber and had two holes - a thumb hole and one for the middle finger.

Les served with MacArthur in the Philippines and Japan serving as the "Master Ice Cream Maker" in both countries. Assigned to the General Headquarters, he taught the Filipinos and Japanese how to blend the tasty treat. As he jokingly referred to it, Les was assigned to MacArthur's "Chairborne Division."

After the war, he settled in Wichita, Kansas and eventually bought a Dairy Queen franchise while working for a period of time with Beech Aircraft. He later sold his franchise in the 1980's and moved to Sun City. Being "retired," he participated in several leagues a week, bowled in a lot of tournaments, and participated in a lot of fun bowling activities to keep himself busy. He regularly maintained between a 180 and 190 average. Les was inducted into the Sun City Bowling Association Hall of Fame in March of 1998 for "Outstanding Performance." (What an understatement.)

Les has three sons, born in 1937, 1940, and 1943. He has one sister who is still living who was born in 1921. Allene, his current wife, is an acclaimed local artist working with clay sculptures and she was born in 1920. He has lost track of how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren he has but he expects to see many of them in April, 2009 when he celebrates his 100th birthday.

In the Metro Phoenix USBC Average Book for 2006 - 2007, Les is listed as carrying a 90 game average of 179 in the Friday Senior Men's Classic and an 84 game average of 170 in the Monday Night Senior Men's League. He finished the 2007 - 2008 bowling season with a composite average of 171. He will no doubt be back for the 2008 - 2009 season because, "I don't have any health problems, I'm feeling strong, and I was raised on good food, hard work, and have been blessed with a healthy lifestyle."

During the summer, he "takes a break from bowling" but still practices at least twice-a-week, is a regular in the Saturday No-Tap Sweeper (which he has, on occasion, won and many times, cashed), and enters as many Sun City tournaments as he can.

Heroes and idols are difficult to come by nowadays; but, after sitting down and talking with him, Les has certainly moved to the top of my list. I can only dream and wish that I will be averaging 170 when I am 99 years old.

One more thing I should mention, although he now uses a "normal" 3-finger, fingertip grip and reactive bowling balls, the weight of his ball is 16-lbs. As Les explained to me, "well, I'm big enough and strong enough to carry the weight, so why not?"

I am in awe of this man. And who shouldn't be? Les Casady is just an amazing gentleman and bowler.

A Hui Hou! (See You Again!)