Gary Butineau
“IN 2004, ON A BIKE RIDE
Gary was born and raised in Midland and attended Midland Secondary School. He was a well-known local athlete of many sports. He competed in ice hockey, hard-ball, fast-ball, slow-pitch, and golf. Discovering lawn bowling by happenstance, and meeting his future mentors Bruce Finlayson and Bob Armstrong, changed his life. It was at the MDLBC where Gary truly excelled, representing Midland at many championships across the District, Provincial and National levels.
He began his competitive career in singles, competing in District #13 where he made an immediate impact with an impressive 3-Peat at the District Championships from 2006-2008. Gary broke through in 2008 when he followed up his District Championship winning a Provincial Gold.
Gary’s success did not stop there, after his amazing accomplishments in singles he made the transition to the doubles pairing competition. Gary continued to dominate the District Championships with three more victories, followed by two Provincial Silver Medals over the next three years, and represented Midland at the National Championships.
It seemed all but natural for Gary to bring the championship mentality he had in Singles and Doubles to the Men’s Fours Division, which is exactly what he did. He championed his second 3-Peat of District Championships from 2012-2014, with the highest of accomplishments coming in 2013, where he followed up the District Championship with a Provincial Silver and a National Bronze Medal.
In the Summer of 2016, the Ontario 55+ Summer Games were played in Gary’s hometown of Midland, where he proudly represented his town in the Triples Division, bringing home a Gold Medal.
The game of Lawn Bowling took Gary across the entire province of Ontario, from Midland, to nearby cities and towns, the GTA, west to Sarnia and east to Ottawa. Gary didn’t stop there, travelling across Canada to Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, all representing Midland and his elite talents in Lawn Bowling. He represented the MDLBC at 13 Districts, 14 Provincials and 6 Canadian Nationals, winning an impressive number of championships along the way.
