With the publication of this newsletter, the Board of Directors is attempting to improve its communication with the club membership; hopefully, its contents will serve to answer the questions you may have and to further your understanding of what your Board of Directors is doing to help improve the club. While news items of potential interest to club members will appear on the home page of the newly designed EPTC webpage, they will be brief. Articles presented here will be more lengthy, and, hopefully, provide more detailed information. Any questions, comments or suggestions for future articles may be directed to Jamey Burns at jamey@essexpaddle.com or any memeber of the Board of Directors. Thank you.
Upcoming Calendar of Events for 2006
11/28/05
In an attempt to capitalize on the renewed enthusiasm within the club, a small committee has established a modest calendar of events for the remainder of the season which they hope will be attractive to the membership. While retaining some familiar events, the committee will attempt to resurrect some old favorites. These events are currently in the planning stages; more details will be forthcoming as they become available. We will also attempt to schedule some interclub matches with area clubs throughout the season.
January 21st : Mixed Member-Guest Tournament
February 11th: Gould Cup (Husband-Wife Tournament)
March 11th: Monte Carlo Tournament
April 1st: Men's Club Championships
New Court Reservation Policy
11/23/05
With the addition of a third paddle court, your Board of Directors has adopted a policy regarding court reservations which they hope will be fair to all members. Realizing that one of the arguments in favor of adding the third court focused on the fact it was getting difficult to obtain playing time in prime time hours, the Board has decided at least one of the three courts should always be available for reservations and may not be held by seasonal groups. The current reservation system allows a person to reserve a court up to fourteen days in advance. So, one of the three courts will always be available within that fourteen day reservation window.
Men's Paddle Tennis Clinics
11/12/05
The club is sponsoring a series of men's paddle clinics on Saturday, November 19th and Saturday, December 10th. Interested players need to sign up ahead of time. Space is limited, so reserve your spot now by calling Ed Riley. His cell phone is 203-668-4752; his office telephone is 203-318-3565. Please do not attempt to register for the clinic through the club's e-mail address. Participants will be placed in groups of four players of comparable ability for an hour of instruction and drills with Jamey Burns; this will be followed by an hour of play with the same group. The cost is $10 per person per Saturday.
Court Construction and Improvements
11/12/05
There are a number of structural improvements our new court provides us. Without getting too technical they are discussed here for the benefit of interested members. There are twenty one support columns which results in a firmer playing deck surface. This should be noticeable as you walk across the court. Each plank in the playing surface has three supports, as opposed to the older planks with two. This should equate to longer life for the overall deck. The corner supports of the court walls have an "L" configuration as compared to the old single beam construction; this new design provides more strength. The vertical support members are held in place with four bolts fastened into a plate that has been welded onto the sides of the deck surface. If you look at the older courts, they have only two bolts and are fastened horizontally into the deck frame. The new lights are designed to provide brighter and "whiter" light. The electrician has installed new switches for the light system and heaters which should be much easier to use; he has provided a timer for the heaters. All of the components for both the electrical service and propane gas system have been suspended from underneath the playing deck; nothing is on the ground. This should help keep dirt out of the systems and protect them from dampness.
New Board of Directors
10/16/05
For the 2005-06 season, three new members were elected to the Board of Directors at Sunday's Annual Meeting: Johanna Berry, Roddy Diotalevi, and Martin Griswold. They will be joining Charlie Cobb and Gary MacElhiney who have agreed to serve another term. The four elected officers complete the Board of Directors. Paul Dubey will again serve as treasurer; Henry May will be the new secretary; Rob Coster is the new vice president and Jamey Burns will assume the position of president.
Work Projects
10/16/05
The new court construction has caused us to look at many of the physical aspects of our two existing courts. Several improvement projects were undertaken over the summer months, many utilizing the volunteer labor of club members; others have continued into the fall.
Representatives of Paraco Gas Company met with us, at our request, to offer suggestions to improve the performance of our propane heaters. We began by removing the plywood siding and cleaning out debris from underneath the courts. This allowed everything underneath the courts to dry and provided Paraco Gas Company personnel easier access to work underneath the courts. They installed new piping hung from the under side of the deck (as opposed to laying it on the ground), installed new pressure regulators and changed the settings on them. At their suggestion, we will be changing the foundation of the individual heaters so the heaters do not sit on the ground and are better protected from dampness, dripping water and snow melt. The heaters themselves were removed and cleaned. The side skirting was replaced with new T-111 textured plywood and painted. Because the position of the new court will no longer allow Paraco to access the existing propane gas tank, they have removed it and will be installing two tanks in a new location. When the new court is completed they will return to hook up the system and test it.
The problems of drainage and standing water have been addressed by digging up the existing pipe, repairing a break in that pipe and cleaning out one of the catch basins which had become filled with dirt, stone and debris.
The spectator deck was repaired. Weak and damaged boards were replaced to provide more stability. Premier Platform Tennis will help us with further temporary improvements when they are here to build the new court. The Board of Directors will be addressing the overall condition of the spectator deck area.
Finally, we have retained a licensed electrician, Peter Rivera, to install the electrical service for the new court. Since much of the existing wiring, connections and junction boxes date to the inception of the club, we felt it would be prudent to upgrade those items too, if necessary. He has agreed to examine everything and tell us what, if anything, needs to be upgraded.
EPTC Retirements
10/14/05
This weekend's annual meeting will see the retirement of three long-tenured members of the club's Board of Directors: Jerry Cawley, Jack Savage and Frank Lusk. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their many years of combined service to the paddle club.
Jerry Cawley has served two terms as club president. He began in the fall of 1993, when the club's membership had shrunk to twenty active members, and continued to serve in that position until 1995. It was during that time that the Sunday Social Mixers came into being in an attempt to attract new members to the club. Jerry returned to serve for a second term as president this past year.
Jack Savage served as president from 1995 until 2004. He created our initial website and our very effective electronic reservations system which replaced a cumbersome telephone answering service. This began the EPTC move to an all-electronic (no paper) operation.
Frank and Shirley Lusk moved to Westbrook and joined EPTC in 1985. Originally, they shared the secretarial responsibilities beginning in the mid-90's. Subsequently, Frank took over on his own and has stayed in that position until now. He has done a thoroughly professional job, managing to synthesize an hour or two of discussion into readable and coherent notes and minutes.
New Webpage Design
10/03/05
One of our own club members, Chris Kilbourne, has undertaken the task of redesigning the EPTC website. Chris is Senior Managing Web Editor for Business & Legal Reports Inc. in Old Saybrook, CT, and has a wealth of experience in web design and support. He has attempted to enhance the overall appearance of our website while keeping it relatively simple to navigate. We obviously owe Chris a vote of thanks for his time and talents on this project. We are hopeful that the website will become more useful to club members by promoting the flow of information relative to club functions and the sport of platform tennis. In turn, it is hoped that club members will come to rely on the EPTC website more frequently for that purpose.
Women's Paddle Tennis Clinics Scheduled
10/03/05
A series of women's paddle tennis clinics is scheduled for October 23rd, October 30th, November 13th and November 20th. Players will be placed in groups of four players of comparable ability for an hour of instruction and drills with Jamey Burns; they will be encouraged to stay for another hour of play. The cost is $10 per person per session. A similar program was very well attended last year. If you are interested in participating, please contact Johanna Berry. Her e-mail address is johanna_z_berry@sbcglobal.net; her home telephone number is 203-457-2635.
Men's Play to Begin This Week
10/03/05
The active men's paddle group, which has traditionally played on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, has expanded into Wednesday evenings for this season. It is anticipated that play will begin the week of October 3rd - 7th. If you have not been contacted but would like to participate, please contact Rob Coster. His e-mail address is RRCJR56@aol.com; his cell phone number is 203-915-7828.
Progress on the Third Court
10/01/05
You may recall that the shareholders approved the construction of a third paddle court at a special meeting on June 14th, 2005. Since then, the Board of Directors has been busy moving this project forward. Our construction plans were approved by the Zoning Board of the Town of Essex during the summer. We entertained bids from the three major platform tennis court construction companies. While all three submitted written quotes, two of them visited our courts over the summer months and met with several members of the Board of Directors. The Club has since entered into an agreement with David Dodge of Premier Platform Tennis to build the new court. The remaining permits and necessary paperwork have been obtained from the Town of Essex and work is scheduled to begin soon.
Annual Meeting and Sunday Social Mixer for October
10/01/05
The Annual Meeting and Sunday Social Mixer will be held coincidentally on Sunday, October 16th. Faced with the possibility of construction of the third court in the early part of October, the Board of Directors has decided to deviate from the traditional first Sunday of the month for the date of this month's social mixer. As always, the mixer will be from noon until 4:00 pm. The club will provide some food (hot dogs and hamburgers) and a variety of refreshments (beer, wine and soda); members are asked to bring an hors d'oeuvre. At 2:00 pm, the Annual Meeting will be called to order. A slate of officers and nominations to the Board of Directors will be presented for the member's approval.
Posted Monday, September 24, 2007 at 7:54 AM
