About Inductee

Jimmy Dickens, who died in 1990 at the age of 67, was one of the most important personalities in the history of the Huntsville bowling community. A native of Huntsville, Dickens first started working at a four-lane bowling facility on Jefferson Street in 1942. After returning from the Army, he began working at the bowling lanes in the basement of The Times Building in 1946, helping organize the City League, the Major League and the VFW League. He had a high game of 279 in the City League. Beginning in the 1950s, Dickens served in the top posts of the Huntsville Mens Bowling Association. In 1961, he helped activate the Huntsville Junior Bowling Association and organized the American Junior Bowling Congress leagues. On May 3, 1961, he became the first Huntsville bowler to roll a sanctioned 300 game and the second Huntsville bowler to bowl a sanctioned 700 series. Dickens became manager of Pin Palace in 1962 and moved over to the Parkway Lanes in 1968. In 1989, he was the Alabama scratch senior citizen singles winner. In 1991, he was inducted posthumously into the Huntsville Bowling Association Hall of Fame.