Weekly Update - Sunday 12/18/2011

There is a sign up sheet posted for the January 8^th Tennis Club Soup and Salad social.  This has historically been one of our most popular socials.  The food is always delicious and it is a great opportunity to connect with all your tennis friends as well as a great opportunity to meet some of our new members as well as our members who are returning to the park.  Please take the time to sign up.   I can’t stress enough how important it is and how much it helps our volunteers who work very hard to make this a fun event.    

There is also a sign up sheet posted for the very popular Club Team Tennis.  Robson Ranch has two teams and Mission already has one team and may have one more team.  We match the Palm Creek players into teams to ensure everyone has a challenging match.  Each team generally has 3 ladies and 3 men.  Each team member rotates in so no one is playing all of the matches.  The details of how it works can be found on the bulletin board.  We do encourange courteous “trash talk” on the court as well as cheering on your fellow team mates.  You have to experience one of these to get the true feel for this event.  The January session runs on January 12, 19 and 26.  Club team tennis starts at 2pm followed at 4 pm with the tennis club happy hour.  Everyone brings their own “adult” beverage and an appetizer to share.  It is always a lot of fun and  it is so well attended that we at times ran out of chairs.  But, I think I have that taken care of with the additional chairs that have now arrived.   If you are not able to play all three times for this session we do need subs from time to time so please let us know if you would like to be a sub and what weeks you will be available to play.    But, please put these dates on your calendar and if you are not playing, come out to cheer on your friends and mix and mingle during happy hour with this great group of people!  If you want to be certain to get on a team, please get signed up before the January 1^st. 

The water fountain has arrived, but there are some glitches so it is, to the best of my knowledge, not yet operational.  But, they are working on it.

Pickleball club has the layout for their new center and it was presented to their membership at their meeting last week.  They still do not have the final count as to how many pickleball courts will be installed this year but the Pickleball club is pushing very hard to get all 22-24 courts installed.  Right now the construction is not set to start until March.    I will keep you updated.

Remember that the coffee and hot water for hot chocolate and tea supplied by the pickleball club is also offered to our tennis club members.  Please remember to drop some money in the container provided to offset the cost of the coffee and supplies.  Edie Priest (who heads this up for Pickleball) commented that she has not seen any monies in the container so I would like to encourage our tennis players to set a good example and show how much we appreciate their efforts by dropping in some money to help offset the cost.  It is nice to have it available on these cold mornings we have been experiencing!

I got a lot of comments as to how much everyone enjoyed the updates on their tennis friends so I thought I would pass this one along - I recently got an email from Joan and Jack Cashman.  They will not be returning to the park this year but they do expect to come back to the park next year!

Weekly Update - Sunday 12/11/2011

We had a wonderful day for tennis today and everyone appeared to have a great time at our Sunday/Funday December tennis event.  Thanks to Patti Blessen, Social Chair and her helpers: Carol Miller, Sieny Kouwenhoven, Glady Olson and Helen Arnold.  There was lots of tennis with opportunities to hit the ball with club members that you have never played with before.  We did attract an even larger crowd for lunch with plenty of clean plates at the end of the day.  Thanks to all who came out and through their participation made this event such a great success!!

Pickleball Club wants all the tennis players to know that the coffee they have set out is also for the tennis players.  I think they do have cups but they are asking for you to bring a cup and a donation to help offset the cost.  I know that coffee is very welcome on some of the cold mornings we have been experiencing.

Tomorrow, Monday, December 12^th at 10AM  our Court Maintenance Team of Walt Krahl and Glenn Arnold will be putting up the wind screens.  If you have time, please come out to the tennis courts at 10AM and lend a hand.  It is also helpful if you can bring a ladder.    Walt and Glenn have a great process that goes very quickly when they have helpers.

Less than a month away on January 8^th at 4 pm is the famous Palm Creek Tennis Club Soup and Salad Social.  The sign up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board in the Social section  (faces the tennis pavilion).  Please take the time to sign up so our social committee knows how many tables they need to set up!!  This is always an amazing display of great food and a chance to catch up with all the tennis players who are coming into the park in January.

Also coming in January is a return of the very successful Club Team Tennis.  Mark has informed me that he has already heard from our friends at Robson Ranch.  This year we are also expecting a team from Mission Royale.  Club team tennis is played on Thursdays starting at 2 pm followed by the tennis club happy hour at 4pm.  The January session is scheduled for January 12, 19, and 23.  The sign up sheet for this session will be posted on the bulletin board.  So stop by and sign up and we will find you a team.  Club team tennis is for all levels of play and the teams are mixed to give every team a “fighting chance!”  If you are not in the park and want to play club team tennis, please let me know by replying to this email and I will put you on the sign up sheet.  For those of you who did not play Club Team Tennis last year here is a summary of how it works:

1.     Three women and three men per team

2.    All matches are doubles competition, “ad” scoring 

3.    Women will play the first 9-game set

4.    Men will play the second 9-game set

5.    Third set is 12-game Mixed

6.    Divide play equally amongst team members

7.    Only one top male and one top female player per team.  Top players are those that have placed first in A-Division of a tournament or first or second place in league play (or any player that is clearly a top player).

8.    Required to have a great time at the Tennis Happy Hour after the match

 One more item:  Mary Anderson, co-chair of the Palm Creek Tennis Club Cancer Awareness Tournament  scheduled for February 1-3 is requesting donations from all of our “crafty” players for the tennis club’s raffle.  If you were not there last year the raffle provided some great entertainment and the monies all went to fight cancer.   So this is to give you time to start working on your “creation” to donate to the raffle.

Palm Creek Tennis Club Update 12/4/2011

We have a tennis club event scheduled for this coming Sunday, December 11th  starting at 12:30pm.  This includes a free lunch and tennis.  All tennis club members are invited to attend for free.  Everyone who signs up is assigned to play either in the first grouping or the second grouping.  While the first grouping is on the courts, the second grouping can socialize in the tennis pavilion, enjoy some lunch and/or cheer on their favorite players.  After 20-30 minutes of play, the whistle is blown and the first grouping comes off the court to socialize and enjoy lunch and the second grouping goes on the court.  We go through this process twice so you get to play twice with a different group of players each time.  This is a great opportunity to meet some of our new members as well as reconnect with your tennis friends.  Spouses are invited to join us for lunch and to cheer on their favorite players.  The sign up sheet is posted on the bulletin board on the side facing the tennis pavilion.  Remember to stop by and sign up for Sunday/Funday!

I will have some tennis club shirts available for sale at the Sunday/Funday event.    These are still only $25.   Don’t forget to bring cash or a check with you to the event so you can take home one of these high quality Antigua shirts with a Palm Creek Tennis Club logo.

If you have been by the tennis pavilion, you can’t help but notice all the new tables and chairs!!  Hopefully, this year we will have enough to seat everyone at our tennis club happy hours.  The solar lights are in place to light the walkways and are also located by the switch to turn on the court lights.  This should be very helpful on those moonless nights.  And, the new water fountain, next to the tennis shed, is in the process of being installed.

 Social tennis is in full swing so don’t forget to stop by Monday through Friday at 9:30 and get in line to rotate on the courts.  We do ask everyone to respect the queue so that all players have an equal turn to participate.

 Our membership chair, Helen Arnold will be available at the Sunday/Funday on December 11^th.   Please help our tennis club by signing on as a member.  Membership dues of an amazingly reasonable amount of $15 for a couple or $10 for an individual make it possible for us to offer fun events, repair and maintain the ball machines, purchase tennis balls for events like club team tennis as well as provide for some minor communication needs like the bulletin boards and the white board.   Thank you in advance for your support of our tennis club.

 Update – I just wanted to update you on the status of some of our tennis friends:

Kenny Civielo reports that his achilles is healed and his legs are as good as new and he and Ginny will be back at the park in January

Gwen and Wayne Black have had a wonderful vacation in South America.  Wayne had rotator cuff surgery and Gwen had some back problems but they are hoping to be back on the tennis courts when they get back to the park

Ken Babb had a bad motorcycle accident but Leta reports he is recovering quicker than expected.  He was recently released from the hospital 9 weeks from the day of the accident.  Ken thinks he will recover much better in the sun so they are now planning on making it back to the park before the season is over.

Sieny’s wrist has healed and although it is not perfect she is back on the courts.

Carol and Steve Land built a home in the Robsen Community in Denton Texas.  They sold their RV and they are currently on a 70 day cruise of Asia and Australia (where Carol is from).

Skip and Bev will be back in January and the Tuesday tennis lessons will then begin.

Carol Heinze let me know in August that her chemo treatments did not work as planned but they were working on a “new game plan” and they were planning to return to Palm Creek this winter.   Please keep Larry and Carol in your prayers.

Rick Jaccarino is getting a knee replaced this year so he and Susan will not be returning this year, but we hope to see them next year.

Tom and Diana Langstine are still in Florida.  Diana reports that Tom is getting in some tennis.  They are very much missed here, especially when Mark and I start to work on the Tennis Tournament that they did such a good job in initiating.

Palm Creek Tennis Club Update 11/27/2011

We kicked off the 2011/2012 season with a planning meeting.  The officers and committee chairs met to get everything ready for our upcoming season.   

Organized play scheduled start dates:

·         Women’s League – Court Captains Connie 6030 and Bonnie 6900 - (Mondays 12:30-2pm) Will start January 2^nd.  The sign up sheet will be posted on December 4^th.  If you will not be in the park by December 4^th and want to participate in the women’s league, send me an email and I will add your name to the list.  Cost to cover balls is $5 for the season

·         Men’s League – Court Captain Jim Weaver 7284 (Tuesdays 12:30-2pm) Will start December 6^th.  Sign up sheet has been posted on the bulletin board.  Cost to cover balls is $5 for the season.  New lists will be posted each month.

·         Club Team Tennis –Court Captain Mark 6459 – (Thursdays 2pm-4pm) Sign up sheet Will be played in two sessions.  First session will be 3 weeks:  January 12, 19, and 26.  Second session will be 4 weeks:  Feb 23, March 1, 8, and 15.

·         Social Tennis has already started – Drop in - Court Captains: Monday-Ted Knowles, Tuesday- Roger Jensen, Wednesday- Marion Gavin, Thursday- Jack Hardy (Glady Olsen will fill in for Jack until he arrives back in the park), Friday – Mary Sullivan-Pondell.

·         Couples Open – Court Captains Gail and Hank 7246 – Sundays 2:00-3:30 – Sign up sheet Will start in December 11

·         Round Robin Mixed Doubles – Court Captain Glenn 6865 – Sign up sheet Already started – Saturdays 9:30-11

·         Evening couples round robin – Court Captains John and Patti 6967 – Sign up sheet Already started

·         Ball Machine 101 – Court Captains Hank and Glady 6715 -  Mondays 2:00-Already started

·         Ladies Intermediate – Court Captain Sieny 6687  Wednesdays 2:00-3:30 – Sign up sheet Will start January 10

·         Men’s Intermediate – Court Captain Bob McConnell 7033 – Fridays 11-12:30 Sign up sheet Will start December 9

·         Ladie’s Advanced – Court Captain’s Penny 6603 & Marg 6897 – Mondays 8-9:30 – By invitation

·         Advanced – Court Captain Mark 6459 – Fridays 2-4 – By invitation

·         Tennis Lessons – Court Captain Skip 6583 – Drop in – Will start January 9

Schedule for 2011-2012

·         12/11 Sunday/Funday – (free lunch with players assigned to timed session of play for two session with different partners and different opponents in each session) Sign up sheet is posted on the bulletin board. Non playing spouses invited to lunch

·         1/8 – Soup and Salad Social

·         2/1-2/3 Cancer Awareness Tennis Tournament

·         2-16-2/19 – Palm Creek Tennis Tournament

·         3/10 – Saturday Night at the Courts

·         3/18 – Annual Meeting and BBQ

Court Preparation

·         Wind screens and the court separation covers will be installed soon.

·         The white board has been cleaned and we will be posting the organized play as well as any permanent court times on the board.  Please do not use felt makers on this board as it is not longer erasable.

·         Court captain badges are in and will be distributed

·         Tennis balls in the ball machines are in good shape and balls are available for the organized play events that charge for balls.

Changes for the 2011/2012 season

·         Less pot luck socials/meetings – more focus on tennis related events

·         New position of Ball Captain added.  Zuzana has accepted this volunteer position.  Thanks Zuzana

·         Evening session of organized play added – See above

·         Non Prime time has been extended to start at 11:00 AM.   The online reservation system provides us with the ability to review the usage and it was determined that this change will not cause court availability problems.  Permanent court time may be reserved M-F starting at 11 AM and all day Saturday and Sunday.  Call Kate or Mark 6459 to book permanent court time

Budget Status – Palm Creek

·         Tennis club requested the cracks be filled on the courts – Status: The courts have all been resurfaced.  Thanks to Glenn blowing off the courts they are all in excellent shape!

·         Tennis club requested 5 additional tables and 28 chairs to bring the total to 20 tables and 80 chairs in the pavilion.  Status: Some of the tables and chairs from last year are gone.  The new tables and chairs have been delivered

·         Tennis club requested lighting in the walkway.  Status: Solar lights now light the walkway and the area where you turn on the lights on each of the tennis courts

·         Tennis club requested water fountain – Pickleball also requested water fountain in their budget request – Status – Plan is to install water fountain outside tennis shed – Installation is in progress

·         Palm Creek has purchased new score keepers for each of the tennis courts

Open discussion

·         Plan is to build a new pickleball center with build out starting the end of this season.  No decision has been made as to how many courts will be built in the new location and how many pickleball courts they will continue to use at the tennis center. At this time Palm Creek has not allocated any funding to convert any unused pickleball courts to tennis courts.  We understand that the new buildout requires a significant investment in infastructure.  We appreciate the court resurfacing.

·         Last year we had quite a few issues with pickleball players walking onto tennis courts during active play.  Mark Nelson, President of the pickleball club, informed us that pickleball will be installing signage on the pickleball court side as well as the main gate to court one.  Hopefully this will help.  If it continues pickleball will lock the gate.

·         The tennis club’s online reservation system, www.reservemycourt.com,  is being actively updated.  If you forgot your password, call Kate or Mark 6459 and we can reset it.