Bowling, The Wright Way - December 9, 2000 by Don Wright
Ginger Moore - Bowler Extraordinaire

When the great Willie Nelson wrote the words to On the Road Again I am sure he had no idea that it would become a bowlers theme song. But in the case of Virginia (Ginger) Moore of Killeen it's not only her theme song, but a way of life.

I have written, and much has been written about Ginger and her love for this great sport and on Saturday, December 2, 2000 she was formally inducted into the Killeen-Fort Hood Women's Bowling Association Hall of Fame.

Ginger began bowling in 1953 at Fort Custer, Mich. and has been bowling ever since. "It's just something I love to do and as long as my health holds up I will continue to do it," she said.

While at Fort Custer she met and married her late husband, George, a career soldier and she bowled everywhere the Army took them. Ginger and "Moore" as she affectionately calls George were married for 41 years. They have one son, Burt, who resides in California.

"I bowled in Berlin, Germany before the wall was built," she said. She has also bowled in Singapore, Thailand, Japan and England. She was selected for the Thailand National Team and made the cover of the TV and Entertainment guide of Singapore.

In 1998, the Women's International Bowling Congress (WIBC) held their annual championships in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa and after 91 days of continuous competition and more than 45,000 bowlers from the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Japan, Ginger captured first place honors in Division 1, All-Events with 1,817. To win the all-events title she put together scores of 603 in the team event, 599 in doubles and 615 in singles. Along the way she posted games of 210, 233, 245 and 254 and bested the second place finisher by just six pins. "I'm telling you, I never would have believed it after my first game. I rolled a 125. I'll never forget it," she said.

To understand the significance of that title you must know that Ginger was 73 years of age. She has competed in every WIBC National Tournament for the past 28 years.

Although that was Ginger's first title in the WIBC Nationals, winning is not new to her. In 1975 she captured the Texas Women's Bowling Association state singles championship in Irving, a tournament she has competed in the past 26-years. Twelve years ago on her 63d birthday she rolled games of 213-288-232 for a 733 series at Albee Lanes. The 288 game is a personal best, but she has a high series of 782.

She has picked up the "big-4" split and the 7-10 split twice. Her career high average was 197.

Ginger served on the Killeen-Fort Hood Women's Bowling Association (KFHWBA) for 17 years and to this day is one of their biggest ambassadors. She was honored in the April 1989 issue of Woman Bowler magazine.

You only have to spend a little time with Ginger to realize how much she loves the sport of bowling and what it has meant to her over the years. Among the hundreds of pictures of family and friends that adorn her living room are plaques that reflect her bowling career. Awards from around the world. Photograph albums with pictures of her teams and those she has bowled doubles events with. "I have every WIBC card I was ever issued," she said. Each of them was displayed neatly in her album.

Where ever Ginger travels she is met by her many friends and always has something from the Killeen-Fort Hood WBA to share with them. Her On the Road Again traveling has taken her to most of the continental United States. There are not too many cities in Texas that she has not competed in a tournament of some kind. One of her favorite stomping grounds is San Angelo and competing in the Cindy Luce Tournament. Appropriately enough her teams name was The Travelers.

At age 75, Ginger shows no signs of slowing down and continues to bowl in three leagues including the Travel league and will make the trip to the WIBC Nationals in Fort Lauderdale in May 2001.

Ginger joins Freda Cockrell, Johnnie Orr, and Melba Bennett in the Hall of Fame.The guest speaker for this event was the Texas Women's Bowling Association President, Beverly McLendon.