THIRTY years in one job is a long time in anyone’s language.
But when that job is a volunteer role, that takes a special kind of love and dedication for the position.
Which is exactly what can be said about William (Bill) King, the Swan Hill Bowls Club secretary for the past 30 years, with King about to take on his well known role as chief organiser of the club’s May/Autumn Carnival.
This year marks the 59th edition of the annual event, the biggest on the Swan Hill Bowls Club’s calendar, with eight days of competition from some of the region’s best and most dedicated bowlers.
It’s not just bowlers from across the Murray Mallee bowls region that will descend on Swan Hill this week.
Competitors from across Victoria are set to join in the fun, according to Mr King.
“We have bowlers coming from as far away as Melbourne, Warrnambool, Ballarat, Horsham to Swan Hill just for our carnival,” he said.
“There are people that come from everywhere, including across our region and many of them have been coming for years.
“There’s a few that have dropped off; there was a contingent that used to come from Truganina, but because of a couple of them having some health issues they aren’t coming this year unfortunately.
“But otherwise, the numbers are pretty good and the numbers at this stage are on par with last year’s carnival.”
A tournament of this magnitude always requires hours of work behind the scenes, with Mr King telling The Guardian that this year’s edition is no different.
“It takes an enormous amount of work from everyone at our club, entry forms go out to people all over the state, which all go into a book organised by myself,” he said.
“It takes a lot of work from the all the guys at the club, maintaining the greens and areas around them, cutting the greens, marking lines, cleaning windows.
“There are all sorts of jobs that go into running a tournament of this size.
“That’s not to mention the ladies in the kitchen, they have a big job in there keeping everyone fed with afternoon teas, it’s a huge effort from everyone at the club, but it’s all worth it in the end.”
Mr King’s main role however is organising the fixtures for each day of the carnival, a role he has performed for three decades.
With entries closing the day prior to play starting, there isn’t a lot of margin for error.
Mr King said he loves the role too much to even consider handing over the book.
“I’ve never found the time to give it up, I just love it too much to want to stop doing it,” he said.
“It helps keep the mind ticking over and I’ve met so many wonderful people doing it to consider giving it up.
“I’ve met people from Warrnambool, Ballarat and Melbourne that still come up here and are doing so again this year, plus our own locals from all over the place that it’s always great catching up with.
“I love doing it and I’ll do it for as long as I can.
“Next year is our 60th year and I want to see that happen.”
It’s easy to see why Mr King shows no signs of slowing down, with the veteran bowler now as synonymous with the Swan Hill Bowls Club as there famous location is, right on the Curlewis and McCallum Street roundabout.
“I’ve been involved in the club for over 50 years and I’ve been very much involved the whole time,” he said.
“The social aspect of the sport, that’s what got me involved initially.
“When I first took over as secretary of the club, I used to play in the carnival, but I was playing all the way down on the far green one day and somebody needed me in the office and it just got too hard to both play and organise.
“It’s just easier to sit back and make sure everything is running smoothly instead of worrying about trying to play as well.
“I still enjoy having a roll on the weekend and play pennant bowls still, but it’s just easier to concentrate on running the carnival without playing.”
