Remembering Bill Bowers

The Peterborough & District Sports Hall of Fame extend condolences to the family of Bill Bowers.  Bill, a well known local, provincial and national slo-pitch builder and athlete, passed away unexpectedly Wednesday July 12, 2017.  Bower, who was instrumental in raising significant funds required to see four ball diamonds placed at the Fleming College site, saw the ball park named for him in 1996.
He will be missed by his family, community and teammates.

From Bill’s  2003 PDSHOF induction biography:
“Bill Bowers is Mr. Slo-Pitch in Peterborough.

He has been a dynamic builder of slo-pitch at the local, provincial and national levels. A Toronto native, Bill moved to Peterborough and organized the first slo-pitch league in 1976. He has been president of the Peterborough Slo-Pitch Association since 1977 and played a leading role in the development of the local slo-pitch council in 1986.

Bill has organized the annual Slo-Fest tournament for the past 25 years in Peterborough, one of the largest and most successful competitions in Ontario, held each Canada Day weekend. He coordinated the successful slo-pitch tournaments for the 1980 Ontario Summer Games, and the 1989 Co-Ed Provincial Championship held in Peterborough. He spearheaded the building of additional slo-pitch fields at Morrow Park. In 1989 as president of the Slo-Pitch Council, he initiated the successful fundraising campaign of $250,000.00 to build new fields which were opened at Sir Sandford Fleming College in 1991. These ball fields were renamed Bowers Park in 1996 in recognition of Bill’s contribution to the game.

Nationally, Bill played a leading role in Peterborough hosting the 1996 National Slo-Pitch Championship. In 1997, Bill was awarded the prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award by the City of Peterborough.

He received the Wayne Mowry Trophy for his contributions in 1987 and in 1997 was named Peterborough’s Tourism Ambassador of the Year.”

Link to Kawartha Now

Link to Peterborough Examiner