A touch over 36 years ago Marisa Belmonte had only ever been to a tenpin bowling alley once.
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She'd only bowled just the one game, too. The sport was largely foreign to her and husband Aldo.
But then, as she puts it, the pair had one of those "light-bulb moments" and now nearly four decades on they live and breathe the sport.
It's their life.
"We were all together in a small house and it was really cold and rainy and windy," Mrs Belmonte reflects.
"There were about 15 of us and thinking what can we do and someone said 'it'd be nice if we had tenpin bowl'.
"We wanted to get into business with Aldo's parents and we investigated it.
"Looking back, we were novices in business and knew nothing about bowling but we never looked back. We put everything on the line when we built it and I look at what it is today and I'm so proud."
Marisa Belmonte was born in Griffith in the NSW Riverina and moved to Orange with her family when she was two, while husband Aldo was born in Italy before migrating to Australia at the age of four.
We have great people in Orange, we have a great town in Orange and we have a strong amount of pride to offer this to them.
- Marisa Belmonte
The pair did all of their schooling in Orange and after marrying and welcoming their son Jason in 1983 opened the centre at the top of Byng Street in September of that year.
The Belmontes have a daughter, Rebecca, as well and juggling family time with running the business has been tough - the family worked 13-hour days, seven days a week to get the centre off the ground in its early days.
But she loves the community-based aspect of running the centre, the interaction with people, or the "bowling family", has driven the family for 36 years.
"We have great people in Orange, we have a great town in Orange and we have a strong amount of pride to offer this to them," she added.
"We love it. We love that it's so community-based. We enjoy having so many locals and people from around the region, and around the world, come here."
Which is little wonder. Aside from the centre being one of the best in Australia, it's also home to the best bowler in the world.
Jason Belmonte has taken the sport by storm after essentially growing up on the lanes.
His two-handed bowling style has changed the sport and when you consider that light-bulb moment nearly 40 years ago Jason's ascension to the top of world bowling is remarkable, but "it was never on the horizon", says Mrs Belmonte.
"He just enjoyed it so much. He was on the lanes all the time, getting better and better. There's no way we thought he'd be the best in the country, and then best in Asia and work out to be best in the world," she added.
"We're just so proud he stuck to his guns and wanted to give it ago."
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