Palm Creek Tennis Events 2011/2012

Lots of people are returning to Palm Creek already!  The good news is that all of the tennis courts have been resurfaced and new scoreboards for each court have been ordered and should arrive shortly.  The tennis club schedule of events for 2011/2012 is as follows:

-November 27 - Sunday/Funday - at the tennis courts (sign up sheet will be posted on the tennis club bulletin boards.
December 12 - Sunday/Funday - at the tennis courts (sign up sheet will be posted on teh tennis club bulletin boards
January 8 - Soup and Salad Social - San Tan Room
February 1-3 - Cancer Awareness tennis tournament
February 15-18 - Palm Creek Tennis Tournament
March 10 - Saturday Night at the Courts - Tennis Courts
March 18 - Annual Meeting and BBQ - North Pavilion

See you on the courts.

End of Season Event - Saturday Night at the Courts 3/19/2011

The photos just can't paint the fun and festivities enjoyed by all who attended the Palm Creek Tennis Club's closing event for the season - Saturday Night at the Courts.  But here goes:

Opening ceremonies included the Canadian Choir leading us in the singing of "O Canada"...

...immediately followed by the American Chorus leading us in the singing of "America the Beautiful" as well as the "Pledge of Allegiance."

Steve Allen, Bev Argo, Mark Costello (shown here), Walt Krahl, Pete McGannon, Will Updyke, Richard Weatherall, and Rhoda Zaph put on an excellent exhitibtion singles tournament under the lights on courts 2, 4 and 5.

Richard Weatherall took the gold giving Canada bragging rights.  Rhoda Zaph did an excellent job competing against this top level group that included 6 men and two women as she was the silver medalist!

There were lots of spectators, watching the action on the courts...

...but, the real action was the activity on court 3!  Everyone was greated with a fresh wine glass from our somoliers Carol and Bill Nelson.  The court was set up with 3 appetizer tables, and 5 wine tasting tables: sweet red, dry red, dry white, sweet white and miscellaneous.  Barristas: John and Patti Blessen (shown in the background) and Marg (shown in the foreground) and Gar Wildeman, Wayne and Gwen Black, Frank and Carol Miller and Hank and Gail Verhoeff opened bottles and poured.  Everyone brought an appetizer and a bottle of wine and we went through almost every drop!

The evening ended under the "Super Moon" (the full moon was the closest to Earth) with a pot of StarBucks coffee and a large variety of yummy deserts courtesy of the Palm Creek Tennis Club: carrot cake, assorted cheese cakes, double chocolate cake (Carol Heinz is cutting), tiramisu, apple turn overs, lemon meringue pie, sour cream pudding cake, brownies and chococate chip dunking cookies just to name a few!

The entire Palm Creek tennis club would like to extend  a big thank you to Michael Hill.  Michael provided the large Canadian and US Flags for this event.   He also provided water coolers so we could keep filling the rinse pitchers to keep our "top shelf" plastic wine glasses fresh for the next taste.  But, most of all, a thank you from all of our tennis players for keeping those water coolers filled with icy cold water throughout the season.  Michael, you are the best!

The real show was the creative Black tie attire.   Palm Creek Tennis Club sure knows how to "put on the ritz" so here is a sampling of the "Palm Creek style elegant attire" of some of our attendees.   I apologize in advance to all whose photo is not shown.  Please remember to click on the collage to enlarge the photo.

                                                                                                                                                            

You can't miss Gar's "suave and sophisticated" footware shown directly below the photo of Steve and Gar!

Hope you enjoyed the opportunity to share in the evening if you were not able to make it.  And, for those of you who were there, hope you enjoyed this quick trip down memory lane.

Palm Creek Tennis Club says "Thank you" to our Tennis Instructors

Without a doubt I speak for the entire tennis club in sending a  huge thank you to Skip Nirenberg for serving as the Captain of the Tennis Lessons and his fellow instructors (as see in the center shot from left to right): Skip Nirenberg, Walt Krahl, Mark Costello, Rhoda Zaph and Bob McConnell.  High quality lessons, which are lots of fun, are offered free to anyone who wants to start playing or focus on improving their game.  Thank you all for a great season and we look forward to doing it all again next season!  If you want a better view of the collage - just click on it!

Weekly Update - Sunday 3/6/2011

The tennis tournament awards presentation and pizza happy hour was an outstanding success last Thursday.  A special thanks to Seiny and Bill Kouwenhoven for all their hard work to make it such a wonderful event for all who attended. 

We had 10 teams filling the courts for the first match of our March Session of Club Team Tennis.  From the laughter and applause coming off the courts it was, as usual, a fun day of tennis.  This session, with many of our men players being on the “injured reserve” list, or having left the park, Mark got creative and put together an all women team called “Chicks with Sticks!”  Bev Argo, Rhoda Zaph and Marg Wildeman played in the  men’s slots in the men’s doubles and the mixed matches.  They did not win this week but from my scouting report, they are going to be one tough team to beat!

The Tennis Tournament Medalist Plaque is in production, the medal winners have received their certificates, and, I am proud to announce (put it this way…I am thrilled to get it off my “to do list”) that the blog has been updated with action photos of all of our winning teams.  You can find this on our website www.palmcreektennisclub.blogspot.com.  Just click on this link and it should take you right to the posting!   Please remember that I also post a copy of this weekly update on our blog so you may have to scroll down past the 3/6 update to get to the tennis tournament medalist photos.

Next session of Club team tennis is Thursday, March 11^th.   If you are not playing, please come out to cheer the teams on and then join us for the tennis club weekly happy hour at 4pm.  Just bring your favorite adult beverage and an appetizer to share (can be homemade or store bought) and meet some of the people that make our tennis club so great.

The secret is out and all of our members should have received an invitation in their park mailbox to the March 19^th  “Saturday Night at the Courts”  event.  The invitation has the details of the draw for the singles tournament which has eight of our finest tennis players competing in a single elimination tournament with a single set determining each match.  The festivities start at 6:30 pm on Court 3 with the Opening Ceremonies and the singing of “O Canada” and “America the Beautiful.”    In keeping with the elegance of our members this is a [Silly] Black Tie event.  We are asking for everyone to wear some form of black tie, ribbon, bow, and entertain us with their creativitiy.  A black tie event of this magnitude would not be complete without fine wines to taste.  We have therefore asked for every couple to bring a bottle of their favorite wine to add to the tasting (with a suggested maximum cost of $10/bottle).   In keeping with this sophisticated black tie extravaganza, we are also asking for everyone to bring an appetizer that fits a “Silly” black tie event.  To complete our evening in style, the club will provide dessert and coffee.  This event is open to all members of the tennis club and their guests (who we respectfully ask to also bring a bottle of wine and an appetizer).   If you are not a member and would like to attend, just call  Helen Arnold at 520-876-6877 and, as you are signing up so late in the season, we will count this year’s dues toward’s next season’s dues as well.

Last but not least, I hope to see you at the Tennis Club Annual BBQ on Sunday, March 13^th  at 4pm in the North Pavilion.  The sign up sheet has been counted, but if you forgot to sign up, please give Sieny a call at 6687.  The club provides the hamburgers and the hot dogs and we ask our members to bring either an appetizer, a side dish or a dessert.  And don’t forget to bring your favorite adult beverage.  This is also the election of officers and committee chairs for the 2011/2012 season.  Past Predident, Char Eicher, as her “swan song” before she moves into her new home in Mission Royale, has voluteered to head the nominating committee.  If you got a call from Char I hope you stepped up to be of service to our great club. 

Palm CreekTennis Tournament - February 17th - February 25th

Yes, the dates are correct.  For the third year in a row we managed to get rained out at least one day of our tournament.  Aside from the weather, we had an exceptional tournament with all of the brackets full and great tennis matches. 

Everyone who played in the tournament was a winner! However, here are some action shots of the medal winning teams (all names listed are from left to right):
Gold Men's A - Steve Land and Mark Costello

How's that for "leaning into the shot!

Silver Men's A - Steve Allen and Ken Civiello

Steve's in his ready position and don't be fooled...so is Ken!

Bronze Men's A -  John Smith and Pete McGannon

John just hit the ball and Pete is making sure it lands "in."

Gold Women's A - Bev Argo and Mary Ellen Halm

Bev's got it and those eyes are fixed on that ball.  Mary Ellen's making sure she got it!

Silver Women's A- Penny Jacobsen and Rhoda Zaph

Rhoda has her eye on the service toss (see it almost at the top of the fence) and Penny is ready for that return of serve.

Bronze Women's A
Bonnie Morgan and Connie Emerson

With their fashion conscious team outfits, Bonnie has just hit the ball and she's doing what they taught her in lessons...she's moving in.  Connie's got her eye on the ball and she's holding her position at the net. 

Gold Mixed A - Ken Swanson and Mary Ellen Halm

Mary Ellen's got the racket back as far as it will go so she can crush this serve!

Silver Mixed A - Ken Civiello and Rhoda Zaph

Rhoda just hit the ball (see it passing to Ken's left) and she is into her follow through.  Ken and Rhoda had to retire in the Gold/Silver match but Ken assures me he will be back next year to kick some butt!

Bronze Mixed A - Pete McGannon and Penny Jacobsen

Penny is poised to hit that ball (see it at the top of the fence) and Pete is quite the imposing figure at the net.

Gold Men's B - Manfred Sohni and Brian Younge

Manfred got pulled off the deuce court, hit a great cross court and is rushing back to catch a possible cross court return.  Brian is at the ready.

Silver Men's B - Ron Bates and Gar Wildeman

Ron and Gar are practicing serves "warming up" for the big match.

Bronze Men's B - Dennis Eggert and Herbert McMahon

Dennis just hit the ball (see it at the top of the windscreen) and Herbert is in ready position.  These two players are new to Palm Creek Tennis, were put together as partners by chance and they walk away with a medal.  Way to go and hope to see you back next year to defend your title!

Gold Women's B - Kay Nelson and Carol Heinze

Kay just hit this ball (just above her racket) and Carol is focused and ready for the next shot!  This team was also a last minute change as their original partners could not play so they teamed up at the seeding event and walked away with a Gold Medal.  Way to go ladies!!

Silver Women's B - Jean McConnell and Mary Anderson

Jean and Mary are another of our style conscious teams with these great matching outfits!  Jean is pulled to the alley and Mary is watching in case she needs to call the ball "out."

Bronze Women's B - Carmen Allen and Mary Sullivan-Pondell

Mary just hit this shot  (see the ball by Mary's racquet) and Carmen has her eye on the ball.

Gold Mixed B - Steve Allen and Carmen Allen

Steve's got this ball with his racquet ready to meet the ball in front of him.  Carmen is focused on the action of the opponents.

Silver Mixed B - Dennis Dahlen and Mary Sullivan-Pondell

Dennis is running for this one and Mary's is keeping a close eye on the ball.

Bronze Mixed B - Patti Blessen and John Blessen

John's is back to receive serve and Patti is watching the ball to make sure it lands in the service box.

Congratulations to all of our medal winners and to all who participated, spectated, or worked on the tournament making it the most successful tennis tournament we have ever had!

Weekly update - Sunday 2/27/11

The Tennis Tournament has finally finished with the last match played on Saturday.  We look forward to seeing all of our members and all of the tournament players and their spouses at the Tennis Tournament Awards Presentation and Pizza Happy Hour on Thursday, March 3^rd at 4 pm in the Tennis Pavilion.  This will start immediately after the Club Team Tennis that is scheduled from 2pm-4pm.    Please come out to cheer on the club team tennis teams and then stay for the Awards Presentation and Pizza Happy Hour.  You don’t need to bring an appetizer to this happy hour but you can bring an adult beverage!

Speaking of club team tennis, we are still looking for people to fill out the teams, but we plan to announce the full lineup no later than Tuesday, March 1.   Our March session starts this Thursday, March 3^rd and lasts 4 weeks until March 24^th.   If you are interested in joining this fun event, please let us know as soon as possible.

Annual Meeting and BBQ is scheduled for this coming Sunday, March 13^th at 4 pm in the North Pavilion.    I know you may be tired of hearing it, but please sign up so we have plenty of food and chairs.  This event is open to all tennis club members and the hamburgers and hotdogs being provided by the tennis club with the members bringing either an appetizer, a side dish or a desert.   Please help our social committee by signing up by Thursday, March 10^th.

SAVE THE DATE: MARCH 19^TH 6:30 PM-9:00 PM FOR AN AMAZING “CLOSE OF THE SEASON” TENNIS EVENT.    I can’t share the details but I can tell you to watch your mailbox.  Its shaping up to be quite the evening event.  So, clear those social calendars and block it out for something that will be the talk of the tennis community!!

Ken Civiello does have a ruptured achilles but he is feeling fine with his fiberglass splint.  He and Ginny are scheduled to pull out on Tuesday and has an appointment to see his orthopedic surgeon as soon as he gets home.  He will probably be off the foot for a few weeks and he will not be able to play tennis or pickleball for about 5 or 6 months.  We send our wishes for a speedy recovery and if all goes as planned we expect him back in the park with his tennis racquet in hand, ready to take on the competition…he said it in far more colorful words!!!

Just a reminder the Annual Pickleball Tournament is here at Palm Creek on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 4, 5 and 6.  They will be using courts 1, 4 and 5.  You can still schedule play on courts 2 and 3.  Friday Social Tennis is scheduled on courts 2 and 3.  If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call.    Some of the top pickleball players in the country will be here so feel free to stop by the courts and watch the play.  They will also be serving lunch for $6.   This is going to be a huge event, so lets show them the professionalism and courtesy of our tennis club.

Weekly Update- Sunday, February 20th

The tournament matches postponed due to the rain have been rescheduled as follows:

Monday 8:00 AM – Mixed A – Bronze medal match -  Bob Gibson/Penny Mason vs. Pete McGannon vs Penny Jacobsen Court 5

Monday 9:30 AM – Mixed A – Gold/Silver medal match - Ken Civiello/ Rhoda Zaph vs. Ken Swanson/ Mary Ellen Halm – Cour1 1

Saturday 11:00 – Mixed B – Gold/Silver medal match - Steve Allen/Carmen Allen vs. Dennis Dahlen/Mary Sullivan Pondell – Court 5

Please feel free to go out and cheer on our players. 

The tournament awards presentation and pizza has been moved to Sunday, February 27^th at 4pm, but I still need to confirm the availability of the tennis pavilion with Ann Lykens in activities.  Assume it will be happening as scheduled and if there is a problem, I will let you know.

The 2011 tennis tournament, despite the weather problems, was an outstanding success.  We filled all of our brackets, and everything went very smoothly.   We did have nice weather for the tournament on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning.  The men’s medal matches were played Saturday afternoon but they really had to play some great “wind tennis!”  We had lots of spectators, hot coffee, muffins and banana bread, and lots of fruit not to mention some great tennis matches.  I don’t know how we do it but this now makes three years in a row we have managed to get rain at the tennis tournament…and this is the Arizona desert!!

I spoke to the pickleball club about the problem we had during our tournament when they moved their lessons to the courts next to court 1.  Next year they recommend that we take over the four pickleball courts adjacent to court 1 for our staging area – to post scores, place for refreshements, etc.  They will also put up signs so that the pickleball players do not hang their bags on the tennis court fences during tournament play. 

Save the date – Sunday, March 13^th  starting at 4 PM is the Annual Tennis Club BBQ in the North Pavilion  (that’s the big tented area adjacent to the North Pool).  We cook up loads of hamburgers and hot dogs and we ask our members to bring a dish (appetizer, side, dessert)  of their choice to share.   A sign up sheet will be posted on the tennis club bulletin board tomorrow afternoon (Monday Feb 21^st).  Please sign up if you plan on attending so we know how much to buy and also so we have sufficient tables and chairs.   Even if your not 100% sure you will be able to make it please sign up.  This event is free to all members of the tennis club.  If you have not signed up as a member yet, now is the time to call Helen Arnold 6877.  This is also the last meeting of the tennis club and will include the election of officers.