There were the 44 baton relayers for starters and then Steve Carson gave a speech about some of Mount Isa’s previous Commonwealth Games stars Bill Burton, John Oravainen and Brett Dennis.

But there was only one person in the room clutching an actual Commonwealth Games gold medal and that was Trevor Morris, who won gold in the lawn bowls pairs at Auckland in 1990.

At the time Morris lived in Cairns but these days he is Mount Isa through and through and it was pleasing to see some recognition with loud applause at the relay celebration at Buchanan Park, though Morris modestly plays it down.

“It was a great thrill to represent Australia and win, of course,” Morris said.

It was no mean feat either with Morris teaming up with Ian Schuback to win the men’s pairs round robin tournament with seven wins in their eight games.

They played Canada in the final and the countries’ bowlers knew each other well.

“We were there a week before the games and the club that hosted us also hosted Canada so we played them every day,” Morris said.

“We had the wood on them and it was surprising they got to the final and we were pretty confident we could win.”

Which Morris and Schuback did comfortably 23-15.

“It was a great adventure just to be in the village with all the other athletes,” he said. “I met a lot of good people there.”

It was the highlight of Morris’s bowling career and he could not match those heights in the world championships held every four years.

“I played in England and it was just one thing or the other, a long time ago,” he said.

Like many people he came here to do a building job for a friend and ended up staying two decades later.

“I built a house and long story short I’m still here,” he said.

Sadly Morris no longer bowls. “I was a member of the Eastern Suburbs bowls club and when they went under I sort of lost interest a bit,” he said.

“I don’t really miss it, though I miss the friendships.”