John Gherashe's love of lawn bowls and Terang Bowling Club first blossomed from a church social day some 30 years ago.
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"I put my first bowl down and I knew straight away I was hooked," he said. "I just started with Chicken Run on a Thursday night, but then Dan Morrison asked me why don't I play pennant? I said to him I was going to wait until I retired to play pennant.
"He looked me in the eye, and said 'John you might be dead by then'. So I started playing pennant straight way."
Gherashe's passion for the sport has now extended to daughter Filumena, 21, who is embarking on her first season of pennant.
"She had nothing to do one afternoon and I was going to practice, so she asked to come along," Gherashe said. "She was hooked straight away too."
Gherashe said his daughter had a lot of potential and was a "very keen" participant.
"She'll go and practice in the morning, and then want to go back in the afternoon," he said.
The retired Warrnambool College electronics teacher wears several caps at Terang, from player to selector along with a decade-long (and counting) stint as secretary.
"When I retired (11 years ago), our secretary at the time stepped down, so Kevin Lee, one of our doyens at the club came to me and said 'John, you can use a computer can't you? Good, you're the new secretary'," he said.
"I've been the secretary ever since. I make sure everything keeps rolling along and answer heaps of questions over email and phone. It's not uncommon for me to spend three or four hours a day doing behind the scenes stuff."
On the greens, health issues have seen Gherashe move into the role of second this season after previous stints as third and skip.
"I'm enjoying that role," he said. "I can put the bowls down and sit down if I need to; there isn't that intense pressure that can be on the skip."
Gherashe said he enjoyed being a part of a "tight knit" group at Terang.
"It's a good little country club," he said. "We're developing well at the moment, we've got new uniforms and built a new barbecue shed. And we've upped our sponsorships; the local community supports us really well."
In division one weekend pennant, City Red defeated Terang Green 63-43 on Saturday, while Warrnambool Gold rose to top spot on the ladder after its 10-shot win over City Gold.
Port Fairy Red hung on for a seven-shot victory over Warrnambool Blue, while Timboon Gold defeated Mortlake Blue 60-49.
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