Brewer’s Milan set to enter Hall Bowler to be inducted Sunday

Charlie Milan hasn’t started bowling against grandsons of past competitors – yet. When he does, he figures it may be finally time to retire from the sport.

For now, however, he is still competing at the age of 69 and that made it hard for him to finally give in to the urging of his wife, Marie, and be inducted into the International Candlepin Bowling Association Hall of Fame during a Sunday ceremony in Haverhill, Mass.

“My career’s not over yet. In my mind, you shouldn’t be going into a bowling hall of fame when you’re still competing,” Brewer’s Milan said. “But my wife said it’s better to do this while you’re still alive.”

Milan is being inducted by the ICBA for his competitive ability along with a 2005 class that includes four Massachusetts bowlers and one from New Hampshire. The ICBA covers the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts and the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Over the last 25 years the ICBA has been in contact with Milan, and more recently, Marie Milan, to gain his induction. His list of accomplishments to enter the Hall include nine 200 games, 23 Maine singles titles, several ICBA titles in singles, doubles, teams, and mixed doubles, and several World team titles.

For Milan, however, his reputation of becoming one of bowling’s best was established in his self-described “heyday from 1954 to 1968” when he competed in many tourneys against New England’s best bowlers, including regular tourneys at Huntington 55 in Boston.

“I’d bowl anyone: 10-string, head-to-head money matches,” Milan said. “Everyone still thinks I’m a great bowler, but my best days were then.”

While Milan faced consistent competition in those years, he also recalls facing some top bowlers in Maine such as Russ Nealey and Chip Carson. It was Carson who Milan beat by one pin 15 years ago for a state title in the match Milan considers the greatest ever in the sport of candlepin bowling.

Milan’s competitive scheduled has decreased considerably over the last several years, but he still loves to compete. He recorded strings of 148 and 172 in a recent Canadian tourney and plans to again compete in the world team tourney in November.

The ICBA’s induction will take place Sunday evening and during the day Milan will be cheering on Maine singles champs Judy Bowden and Shawn Morrison in the ICBA championships at the Pilgrim Lanes in Haverhill. They will be competing against New Hampshire and Massachusetts bowlers.

Bowden bowls out of the 1,7,10 Sports Center in Augusta and holds an average of 117. Morrison competes at Milan’s Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes and has a 122 average.