A three-decade involvement with Bonny Hills Tennis Club has seen Joan Evelyn transform the facility from a ramshackle, run-down piece of land with two clay courts into an upgraded complex worthy of its location.
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If that wasn't enough, the 85-year-old also has a clubhouse named after her and now she can add an Order of Australia Medal to her list of achievements.
"Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and I still don't understand why someone would nominate me for it," she said.
"I feel very humbled to receive this award and I don't know who nominated me for it, but I'd like to thank them anyway."
The North Haven resident has been a member at Bonny Hills for 28 years before she was elevated to the president's role 18 years ago.
In that time, she's seen some changes.
"It was very run-down when I took over and I built it up to what we've got now," she sad.
"There were no gardens, it was just a couple of clay tennis courts when I started here. Now [the upgraded facility] is what we've ended up with and it's my home away from home."
It only took her two club meetings to be elevated into the top job at the courts after she received a vote of confidence from other members.
But it wasn't an easy task first-up.
"They never had a president and couldn't get one," she recalled.
"And I never had a lot of confidence, then thought 'hmmm I think I can do this' and it went from there and I grew in confidence.
She saw in the early days the facility needed "a really big makeover", so she made it happen.
"They just said 'get someone in to do the work and we'll pay the bill'," she said.
"I'm a person that if a job needs doing, I do it today. I don't put it off for three months and that's what was happening here.
"I've had a lovely committee and it's wonderful. Everything's rosy."
Evelyn first picked up a racquet at the age of 15 and if not for a knee injury last year, she would still be running around the court.
With her husband employed in the public works department, it meant she did a lot of travelling around the state before she settled in the Hastings in 1973.
She then joined the Bonny Hills Tennis Club in 1995.
Sitting on the front steps of the Joan Evelyn Clubhouse was the highlight of her 28-year involvement with the club.
It's now sitting in second spot.
"I thought the clubhouse naming was really lovely but now to be getting an OAM is unbelievable," she said.
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