Sam and Marcia in the ISA HOF,
Sam Allen, Mr. Shuffle Receives The Lifetime Achievement Award.
Posted on 2013-10-28 by stanistheman
Malcolm Crowder, Australian President, offered the supporting remarks for Sam Allen’s Lifetime Achievement Award.Some of the highlights from Malcolm’s speech:Sam took over the Allen R Shuffleboard Co from his father in 1968.Sam was in the first ISA meeting in 1979 and attended the first ISA event in 1981 in Michigan.
In 2000 he helped raise the money to open the ISA Hall of Fame building in Clearwater, and in 2009 redesigned the Hall of Fame into a modern museum.On more than one occasion, during Malcolm’s remarks, the audience stood in respect and responded with extended resounding applause. Click on the link below to be taken to a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSwaajXAYPw (Presentation made on Friday, 2013 10 25)Stan McCormack. 2013 10 28.
Sam Allen was at the front desk of Allen R Shuffleboard Company in 1994 when I walked in and asked how the heck do you build a court? What equipment do I need? Can I have a copy of the official rules? And how can I play in an international tournament? I told him I had just retired from the Air Force and was a new professor down in Sao Paulo, Brazil. First three he helped me with but said last question depended when I had a team of 12 Men to bring to an international tournament. He gave me John Barnett’s phone number to call when I had a team put together and I left with cues, disks, court schematics, scoreboard, chalk and plastic beads. Sam surely thought that would be the last of me but low and behold I appeared with a bunch of half trained Brazilians to compete in Hendersonville, NC in 1996. We became an official ISA member that year and held our first ISA World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2005 and Sam Allen was the first off the plane as players and guests arrived.
Thank you Sam for believing!
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We love this couple and their dedication to all things shuffleboard! The sport we love would not be what it is today without Mr. Allen, Mr. Barnett & their lovely wives. They hosted several inaugural trips to other countries and were instrumental in the success of the ISA. We were blessed to be a part of a couple of those trips and along with being so friendly and kind, Sam and Marcia are a lot of fun!
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