Merry Christmas!

Hi all,

Yes, this is very early for my weekly update but I have an early flight on Thursday to go visit with my two beautiful granddaughters in San Francisco.  Instead of trying to get an update out when I will be in California, on Sunday, my usual day, I decided to just send this out early.

A surprise in the tennis pavillion

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, there are three patio heaters sitting under the tennis pavilion   When the Murrays and the Carters used the Palm Creek Tennis Friends and Family coupon that I sent them they wrote my name as the recommender.   When they registered to stay here for three months, Palm Creek put a credit on my account for $600!   That’s $100 a month for up to 3 months times two – one from the Carter’s and one from the Murray’s.  I was just the person who Activities referred Glenn to when he came in to check out our park.   Upon seeing the credit, Mark and I immediately decided that we could not keep these funds.  We decided to buy something for the tennis club that would be fun to have but we would probably never put in the budget – three patio heaters for the tennis pavilion   Now, if we have a cold chill we can still enjoy whatever event we have scheduled.  We put the heaters together this evening (Tuesday) and Mark will buy the tanks and fill them with propane so that they are ready to go.

Club Team Tennis – Thursdays at 2pm

The sign up sheets will be posted on the bulletin board – see the “Social” section in the board facing the pavilion   You just sign up and we put together the teams to make sure that they are as balanced as possible.   The dates for this session are Thursday, January 10, 17 and 24.  We start play at 2pm followed by a wonderful tennis club happy hour in the tennis pavilion   For those of you who have never experienced Team Tennis – Palm Creek Style – we play Ladies Doubles,  Mixed Doubles and end with Men’s Doubles.  With 8 courts we are planning on 4 person teams instead of the 6 person teams we did last season.  This is a lot of fun and coaching, cheering and gracious trash talking  is encouraged.

People Update

Bill and Sieny Kouwenhoven have a special occasion – they celebrate their 50^th wedding anniversary.  Congratulations from the tennis club!

Pete McGannon has sold his Park model so we say farewell to Rhoda and Pete – you guys will be missed!!  

Desert Cactus League

I have had some people tell me that they would like to be on a team.  I love the tennis club and I want to help everyone have a wonderful experience playing tennis at Palm Creek.  But, I hope you understand that I cannot pick up yet another responsibility.  If you are interested, you can take the step that David Pratt so graciously did, and form a team and work with Orly to schedule play on another day of the week.   Or, you can register for one of the current Desert Cactus leagues:  Ladies play on Mondays at 2pm  and Men play on Tuesdays at 2pm.  David set up a Men’s team that plays on Wednesdays at 1pm.  I’d love to have more Desert Cactus teams but I need to look to you, our membership, to make it happen.

Men’s League – January

The sign up sheet is also going up for the January Men’s League.  If you will not be in the park prior to January, let me know by replying to this email and I will get your name posted to the sign up sheet.  The first Tuesday in January is January 1^st.  Let Jim Weaver (520-876-7284) know if you will not be able to play on 1/1 and you will need a sub.  It may be very difficult to find subs but we will do our best.

Ladies League

There are lots of ladies signed up for ladies league, but with 8 courts we still have plenty of space.  Make sure you get down to the tennis center and get your name on the list.  If you don’t want to commit to playing every week, sign up as a sub and you will still have lots of opportunity to play.  One thing that I thought was very creative is two ladies signed up for one slot and they split the responsibility for playing or can cover when the other is away.

Mixed Doubles League

The sign up sheet is posted and there are already two courts filled.  But, we really want to see all of our courts full.  Its going to be a lot of fun so don’t forget to sign up for this, our newest addition to our organized play.

To all of our Palm Creek Friends this email comes with warm wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year,

Kate   

Court News

Tennis Center

The new court numbers are posted above the door to each court.  Palm Creek did a great job making up our signs.  They are white signs with the Palm Creek Logo, similar to the circle logo on our badges and the Court number listed right below that.  They are very noticeable and look very classy.  The white board has been reprinted so we have more space to post the organized play and permanent court times on our 8 courts.  We had to change the time slots to include 2 hour slots starting with the 11 AM slot.  And, we needed to take out the red taped slots as we no longer have prime time.  Mark and I have posted the info of all of the organized play as well as the permanent court times.    Our tennis center has a nice, clean, resort style appearance and we are all very proud of it.

Permanent Court Time

We are scheduling permanent court time in all time slots.  If you have a foursome who wants to play at the same time every week, give me a call x6459 or reply to this email and if there are slots available we will get it scheduled in www.reservemycourt.com.

Mixed League – Wednesdays 11:00-1:00

The sign up sheet will be on the bulletin board on Monday for this newest addition to our organized play schedule.  There will be 16 slots for men and 16 slots for women.   We will also have places where you can sign up as a sub.   The session will run from January 2^nd through the end of March.   We are looking for people who can play the entire session.  However, if there are dates when you cannot make it, there will be a sub list and it is expected that you will find a sub.  The mixed league will work just like the ladies’ and men’s leagues with the two players who win the most games moving up a court.  This will quickly bring the level of play to competitive levels on all the courts.  If you have any questions, please feel call the court captain, Jim Weaver x7284.  If you are not in the park, but would like to sign up, please reply to this email and I will get your name on the sign up sheet.  If you will not be here until later in January but would like to play let us know and we will see if we can find subs to fill in until you arrive.  The cost for the entire session is $5 per player to cover the new balls provided each week.

Desert Cactus League – Men’s 3.0-3.5 Wednesdays 1pm-3pm

Dave Pratt has worked very hard and has one team ready to represent Palm Creek.  Play will rotate between Robson Ranch, Mission Royale and Palm Creek.  Play will begin on January and we expect the session to run for 8 weeks.   The fee for this league is $15 per player.  Please feel free to give Dave a call x 7891 if you have any questions.

Desert Cactus League

If anyone else is interested in forming a team to get some good inter-park competition, let me know and I will be glad to help you.  There are teams in both Men’s and Women’s in the following levels: 2.5-3.0, 3.0-3.5, and 3.50-4.0.  There is also an evening league that will be playing mixed on Thursday evenings.

Grand Re-opening!

The cool and wet weather did not dampen the spirit of the Tennis Club members on Saturday, December 15.  Over 50 people gathered for the scheduled lunch for tennis club members and guests in the Saguaro Room because of rain and cold. It was great to see so many new faces among our "old" tennis friends.  We're looking forward to seeing them on the courts as well.

President Kate Perrie introduced visitors, Ann Lykens, Palm Creek Activities Director; Sue Hepler, Palm Creek Update Blog writer; and Charlotte Eicher, former club president, and thanked them for all their help in supporting the club and keeping us informed of the progress on renovating our courts.

The new club banner made its debut at the luncheon and was hung at the courts the next day by Glen Arnold and Wayne Black.

Thanks, guys!

Members were asked to wear US Open colors of navy blue and white.  As always, Gar Wildeman made sure that he followed directions!

We topped off the afternoon with some delicious cake, made special for the occasion.

Thanks to all the volunteers who made the day a special one!

See you on the courts!

Sunday Update

Hi all,

The new courts look just amazing.   While they may not be perfect, the cracks have been filled and there are nice new nets on all three courts.  We all know the  cracks will eventually pop back, but we can enjoy those nice smooth surfaces while we can!!!  Marion ordered the scorekeepers and Glenn put them up so they are ready for play! The windscreens for the new courts are on order and we will install them as soon as they arrive.  If you have been to the tennis center you can see all the work that was done in getting it cleaned up and ready for play.   There are still some things belonging to the pickleball club at the courts.  They are awaiting their storage and we just have to be patient and it will eventually be removed.  Its going to be one great tennis season and that is thanks to all of our players who make our tennis club a fun place to enjoy the game.

Court numbering and www.reservemycourt.com

The courts have not yet been physically renumbered as we are waiting for the Park to do it.  But in order to be able to reserve all 8 courts we have renumbered the courts as follows:  The existing court 1 will remain as court 1 with 2-4 going down that side to the tennis shed.  The courts from the tennis pavillion to the tennis shed will be numbered 5 – 8.  (Not to confuse you but this means court 2 will now be court 5, court 3 will be 6, court 4 will be 7 and court 5 will be 8). Mark and I have updated this online court reservation system to reflect the new courts.  There is still a glitch in the system as we could not remove the “pavillion column” so, court 8 is on the next page.  You have to scroll down to see court 8.  Hopefully on Monday we will find out how to remove pavillion from the list and all 8 courts will show on one page.  Mark and I have cleaned off all the print on the tennis club white board (located beside court 1).  We will soon have it reprinted so there is enough space in each block for us to post magnetic strips detailing the organized play and permanent court times for our courts.  The best resource to find available courts will continue to be reservemycourt.com.  Also, please note that only the first two time slots: 8AM – 9:30 and 9:30-11:00 are 1 ½ hour time slots.  After that all time slots are for 2 hours. 

December 15^th Celebration Lunch and Tennis – 12 noon – Be there!

Just a reminder to stop at the bulletin board (side facing the tennis pavillion) and sign up to attend the Celebration lunch on Saturday December 15^th starting at 12 noon.  Lunch is free for all members and Helen Arnold will be there to sign you up as a club member if you haven’t done so already.  Remember: Bring your tennis racquet  as we are going to play some fun tennis and we want to fill those 8 wonderful courts.   If you can, please wear Navy Blue and or White tennis attire.  Also, we have some new players so please wear your name tag.  We will start at 12 noon.   We already have a lot of people signed up, and you don’t want to miss this one!  So, please stop by the bulletin board and sign up.  Or, just reply to this email and I will get you added to the list.  I can’t stress enough how much your signing up helps our volunteers.  We won’t turn anyone away, even if you have not signed up, but help us out and let us know you plan to attend.  It is much appreciated!!  And, non-members remember we welcome you and the cost for  lunch, including Marilyn’s Arnold Palmer Iced Tea and dessert is a reasonable $5 charge.   I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a sunny day,  but should it be raining on the 15^th we are asking our volunteers to go to the Saguaro room (the old sewing room) at their scheduled time and for everyone signed up to arrive at the Suguaro room at 12 noon as we are going to have our celebration lunch rain or shine!!

Permanent Court Time

With 8 courts available we are opening permanent court time to all time slots.  Individuals can only book a court 7 days in advance.  Mark and I can book permanent court times.  If you would like to reserve a court for the remainder of the season, let me or Mark know and we will get your permanent court time posted on the reservemycourt.com scheduler.  If you have never used reservemycourt.com, let me know and I will be more than happy to send you instructions on how to use the system.  If you have any problems, please feel free to call us x 6459 and we will help you, or book it for you.

Mixed Doubles League

Jim Weaver has stepped up to take on yet one more activity.  He is not only court captain for Men’s League, he has taken on forming a Mixed Doubles League.  The plan is to play on Wednesdays in the 11:00 – 1:00 time slot.  Jim feels certain he can get 16 men to sign up and he puts out the challenge to the ladies to get 16 ladies.  For those of you who did the math – yup, that fills all 8 courts!!  This league will start in January and run to at least mid March.  The cost like all of the other leagues is $5 for the season.  Play will be similar to Men’s and Ladies leagues with the winners moving up and the losers moving down so that everyone is getting a competitive match.  I will let you know when the sign up sheet will be posted and the actual start and end dates.  If you are not in the park I will give you fair warning so you can let me know and I can get your name on the sign up sheet.

Palm Creek Tennis Club shirts

We still have some of the Antigua tennis shirts in stock.  If there is sufficient demand I will place another order.  But, for right now, here is what we have in stock:

Men – Large in White and XL in Red

Ladies – Medium in White, Large in Red

If anyone is interested, please contact Marion Gavin at 7708.  We will also have them available at the December 15^th celebration lunch.  To clear out this inventory, the charge for these shirts has been reduced $5 to $20 a shirt.  If these sizes do not fit you, and you are interested in ordering a shirt, let me know and I can see if we can get enough demand to place an order.  I will need to order about 25 shirts to place an order.

Desert Cactus League

A quick history - .  I went to the Captain’s meeting and informed them Monday, the date they selected for Women’s play, conflicts directly with our Women’s league.  Tuesday, the day selected for Men’s conflicts directly with our Men’s league.  They took the info and stated these were the days selected.  Then Dave Pratt sent an email to Orly, the person running the league.  She finally looked at the number of players from Robson and the number of players from Mission and I think she finally figured out that we have more players than the other two clubs combined.  I told her that the one date that worked for Robson Ranch and Mission Royale and Palm Creek was at 2pm on Thursdays as we all played Club Team Tennis at that time. She tried to change from Monday for Ladies’ and change from Tuesday for Mens but was not successful.   Dave being one to never give up has volunteered (thank you Dave) to put together a Men’s 3.0-3.5 team of 6 men who will be here from Mid-January to Mid-March.   The day of the week and the time slot are to be determined.  If you would be interested, please call Dave at 7891.

If anyone else is interested in putting together a team of 4-6 players for any of the other divisions 2.5-3.0 or 3.5-4.0 in Men’s or 2.5-3.0 or 3.0-3.5 or 3.5-4.0 in Women’s, please let me know.  I think it would be great for Palm Creek to participate in this league!

Saturday – Open Play

On Saturday’s at 9:30 Glenn Arnold and Marion Gavin court captain organized play.  With the new courts, this session will have 4 courts.   There will be a sign up sheet for 2.5-3.0 as well as a sign up sheet for 3.5 +.  This way you can get in some good competitive play.   Glenn shared with me that years ago this was such a popular session and all the courts were filled.    With the addition of the 3 new courts we need to use them!!! 

Ladies 2.5-3.0 – Organized Play

On the tennis club handout I put this organized play in the schedule on Thursdays at 11AM.  I am however in need of court captains for this play.  I was orginally going to do it but, I hope you understand that reality has set in and I just cannot take on one more thing.  I know we have a lot of new ladies who would love to have an organized play slot for them just like we have for all the other skill levels.  Here is a great opportunity to volunteer and play some fun tennis.  Please call me at x6459.  I will be more than happy to help you put this together.

Bulletin Board

A huge thank you to Mary and John Pondell for the excellent job on the bulletin boards.  The silver paper lasted more than one season, but it had seen its day.  Mary and John put up new paper, added some great special effects and even hung the Tennis Tournament Plaques that Mark and I have been meaning to get to.  Our tennis club bulletin board is a critcal component in communications.  Hats off to the Pondell’s for doing a great job.  Also, the roster is posted on the bulletin board, so if someone in your group is missing you can go over to the bulletin board and find their phone number.

Roster

Speaking of the roster, a huge thanks to Sandy Hurlbert and Mary Williams.  Sandy has done an outstanding job of keeping our roster up to date.  Sandy is not yet in the park but she still managed to support us by putting together this very important information.  Mary has been updating our blog: www.palmcreektennisclub.blogspot.com.  She has also posted the current roster on the blog.  You will find in the right hand corner the 2012-2013 tennis roster.  You can print it and have a handy list of tennis players or you can just go online and get it when you need it.  Hats off to these two ladies for a job well done!

People Update

-      I recently heard that Jack Hardy will be returning to the park.  You can expect to see Jack back on the tennis courts in mid January! 

-      On a sad note I heard that Jack Metzler, Yukon Jack, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  Jack’s condition has made it impossible for him to travel so Elizabeth is going up to Alaska to be with him.   The tennis club sends our thoughts and prayers to Jack and Elizabeth.

Used tennis balls

We have a new tennis ball can for gently used tennis balls.  The foot pedal on the old one was broken so we have replaced it.  If you have a can of balls that still has some life in them, please dump the balls in this can.  Please do not put any Dunlop balls in the can as they do not work well with our ball machines.  Last I heard, Tennis ball plastic cans are not recyclable due to the metal band around the top.  So throw away the plastic can.  Also, please do not put your used balls in the social tennis bin.  The circulation of balls into the social tennis bin is being handled by our tennis ball captain, Bob Gibson.  We appreciate your contribution of these gently used balls to keep our tennis instructor bins and our balls machines filled with tennis balls.

Its another long update so thanks for reading it all!

See you on Saturday, December 15^th!

Kate

Sunday update from Kate

Hi all,

Lots to report so I’ll get right to it!

One big Palm Creek Tennis Club Thank You

A big thanks to Walt Krahl, Glenn Arnold, Bob Gibson, Jim Weaver, Pete McGannon, Rhoda Zaph, Hank Olson, Manfred Sohni, Wayne Black, Larry Marik, Brian Younge, Roger Jensen and Mark Costello for working so hard to get the windscreens installed and the clean up work.  If I missed, your name, let me know and I will get definitely thank you next time around.  The worn out windscreens walkway covers, installed by the pickleball club were taken down, all the pickleball signs were removed, the white baskets attached to the courts were taken down, the paddle rack used in the morning pickleball games was taken down.  In general the walkway is now pretty much cleaned up.  The First Aid kit is going to be placed on the wall behind the door in the tennis shed, and the water cooler and the stand will be removed by the park on Monday.  It is a lot to ask for a volunteer to fill that cooler twice a day, and these coolers are heavy.  Instead, we all bring water with us to the courts and attached to the tennis shed there is a nice water fountain that filters and cools the water.   We are ordering windscreens for the three new courts as well as to fill in for the windscreens that have gone missing.  Our tennis center is shaping up! 

Christmas Party

On Saturday, December 15^th We are having a Christmas luncheon and a celebration of our 3 new tennis courts!  Lunch is being served from 12-1 and is provided by the tennis club and is free to all tennis club members.  Non-members are definitely welcome and the charge for their lunch is a reasonable $5 – that is even cheaper than the Palm Creek Bistro!!  For all of our players who have a non playing spouse – here’s a great deal – join as a couple for the additional $5 and not only does your spouse get a free lunch, they also get to enjoy all of the other great tennis events through out the season.  We have a BYOB but you should also know that we will have some of Marilyn’s famous Arnold Palmer Iced Tea available!!  The notice is on the bulletin board and the sign up sheets are posted as well.  Following lunch we will have some fun tennis so please remember to bring your tennis racquet.  Please sign up on the sheet posted on the bulletin board if you plan on coming so we can make sure we have enough food for everyone.  Even if you are not absolutely sure you will make it, please sign up!!  We are asking (not requiring) all attendee to wear US Open blue ( a navy blue) and/or white tennis attire.  If you don’t have those colors, don’t fret – we’ll welcome you anyway!   Its going to be a great day at the tennis center and this is one of the tennis events you don’t want to miss!  Please know that just in case of rain the luncheon will be held in the Saguaro room – the old sewing room.  We tried to think of everything!

Sunday Couples Open

With the tennis play scheduled on Saturday at the Christmas celebration, the weekly Sunday Couples Open on December 16^th has been cancelled.  This is so that you don’t have to play tennis two days in a row!

Note from our good friend Jack Hardy

“The donation and support we have received from the Palm Creek Tennis Club in memory of Lois is much appreciated. Please pass on my thanks to everyone.

Jack and the Hardy Family

PS. It is still a long shot but I am considering the possibility coming to Palm  Creek in late January or February if it can be worked out.”

We sure hope Jack finds a way to make it down to Palm Creek.   We miss you Jack!!

Tennis Court Conversion

Don’t forget, you can go to Sandy and Don Hepler’s blog at www.PalmCreekUpdate.blogspot.com  Included in her blog are photos of the conversion process of the 12 pickleball courts back to three tennis courts.  You will have to scroll through quite a few park happenings but eventually you will see photos of them working on the conversion to tennis courts.   John, who resurfaced our courts last year and also installed the new pickleball center,  and his crew have already got a lot accomplished on our courts!!    Right now all the pickleball nets and net posts are gone, the fences that split their courts are gone and the new tennis posts have been set on the three courts and they have filled the cracks.  They are in the processes of sanding down the areas where the old pickleball posts were.  It should not be long and we will be playing on these courts J!

Ladies League

The sign up sheet for ladies league will be on the bulletin board this Monday!  The ladies play on Mondays from 11:00-1:00.  Play starts on January 7th.  Ladies league is open to players of all levels from 2.5 up to our very best players.  Every week the players who win the most games move up a court and the players who lose the most games move down a court.  This way everyone is playing with players at their level.  So don’t hesitate, even if you don’t think you are good enough.  And, with eight courts it’s a great opportunity for some of our better players to play with the rest of us – you’ll end up on Court 1 pretty quickly!!!  The cost is $5 for the season to cover the tennis balls.  The season runs from January 7^th through the end of March.  If you don’t think you can play every week, sign up as a substitute.  Its lots of fun and you will get to play tennis with a lot of wonderful Palm Creek Ladies.  If you have any questions, please feel free to call Connie Emerson at 6030 or Bonita Morgan at 6900, the court captains for ladies league.

Social Tennis

Just a reminder that social tennis is available 5 days a week.  Gwen Black reminds me that years ago social tennis was only available on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  So, please remember that you can head out to the tennis courts on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well.

Mixed Doubles Tennis Ladder

Jim Weaver is working on a mixed doubles type of league where you are assigned a court and the winners move up and the losers move down.  It is similar to our Men’s and our Ladies Leagues.  We will start it mid January and it will run through mid March.  As we iron out the details I will get them out to you.  I think this will be a lot of fun and a great chance to get to meet some more of the people in the tennis club.

Lost and Found

Found on Saturday was a Men’s (size Large) Patagonia vest and a nice metal water bottle.  These have been taken to the activities lost and found.  I am bringing this up once again in hopes that after you are done playing your tennis match, someone in the foursome will take the time to make sure that everyone has removed all of their belongings from the tennis courts. 

See you on the courts,

Kate