PTC Drop Shot
October  2021
Upcoming Events

---

President’s Message:  Kate Belding
There has been a lot happening at the Club lately.  Our new fitness room is open, and it looks fantastic.  Many, many thanks to Gene Trainor and his committee for spearheading this huge project.  I know members are very excited to get back into working out here at the club.  As a reminder, masks are required in all indoor spaces at the club, including the fitness room.
 
The 2021 Calcutta was a resounding success.  Congratulations to our tennis chair, Reynold Harbin, for leading this wonderful event.  The Friday night fiesta was a a lot of fun and very well attended event.  Many, many thanks to Denee Berliner and her fabulous social committee for putting on this fantastic event.  Thank you to Jeff Tateosian for his outstanding music and emceeing talents.  It was also very nice to see so many of our newer members out there, both at the Friday night fiesta and in the tournament.
 
The Betty Cookson Ladies Doubles Club Championship is coming up October 23rd-24th. Please keep your eyes out for signups for this event, which is always very popular.  In addition, the Men’s Singles Championship is coming up on October 31st.
 
Our selection committee has been working hard to get candidates selected for the 2022 Board so that the candidates can be presented to you for a vote in November.  Keep your eyes open for an email with all the details.  

As always, if you have any ideas or comments, please let me know.  See you on the courts!

---

Editor's Note:  Jeff Tateosian
I’d like to thank everyone who participated in the Men's & Women's Calcutta Tournaments a couple of weeks ago.  The weather was beautiful (including Friday night’s Dinner & Team Draw).  Both the Men’s & the Women’s tournaments were competitive, and the winners not known until the last match concluded each day.  The team auctions received the highest bids in at least fifteen years, and the most ever for the Women’s tournament.  I was very happy to see a record number of new members play, and for the camaraderie shared by everyone throughout.  If the stars align, we’ll bring back the craziness of the member walk-up songs during the Team Draws next year.  Thank you again to Reynold, Denee, and their Tennis and Social Committees for pulling together a fabulous tournament weekend.

---

Manager:  Lona Means
The new fitness room is awesome!  A huge thank you to all of your member volunteers who made this renovation happen.  Please let me know if you would like to purchase a key fob to track your fitness statistics.  The key fob will automatically log you in and track your statistics on each machine.  Also, please remember to wipe down equipment before and after use.  Masks are required indoors if someone else is exercising in the facility.  Please close the skylights if you are the last person to leave.

Please go online to peninsulatennisclub.org to check out the new online membership directory.  Let the office know if you have any changes or would like a printed version.  A huge thank you to Erica Reilly for all her efforts in adding the directory to the website.
 
We are moving the lost and found bin to the unisex locker room foyer. 
 
I have one locker still available in the men's locker room.  Let us know if you are interested.

---

 
Club News:  Jeff Tateosian
 
Club Anniversaries for July - September  (5+ years)
Congratulations to the following members:
 
Erik & Barbara van Dillen - 45 years
Gerry & Oksana Sydorak  - 40 years
Jim & Lani Fregosi  - 25 years
Bob & Lynn Currie  - 25 years
Shari & Dennis Mayer  - 25 years
Blair & Amy Sanford  - 25 years
Ken Cox  - 20 years
Eric & Elise Brand - 15 years
Rob Simonds & Marilyn McEnhill - 15 years
Laura Hesselgren - 15 years
Teddy & Maria Bernardo - 15 years
Marian Fitzgerald - 10 years
Ed & Kathy Kelloff - 5 years
 
Congratulations to Bryan Welsh for winning the 2021 PTC Hold'em Poker Tournament.  Bryan is the first multi-winner in the 13-year history of the tournament.  The other players who cashed in were Rob Kotmel in second place, Stuart Batchelor coming in third and Jim Sobel finishing fourth.  A great time was had by all 23 players - good music, lots of laughter, plenty of bad beats and other unexpected surprises.  It was the first time most of us had even picked up a deck of cards in a year and a half - finally, a bit of normalcy. 
 
Congratulations to two of our most beloved senior members.  Daisy Kwan and Rudy Giannini both celebrated their 90th birthdays in August and September respectively. 
 
Sign of the times - One of our members recently celebrated the birth of his first grandchild.  Instead of handing out cigars as used to be the custom, he was spotted handing out something much more appropriate (and difficult to come by) - cans of tennis balls…..

---

Tennis News:  Reynold Harbin
There has been some fantastic tennis at the PTC over the summer, starting with our Mixed Doubles Summer Swing -  A Taste of Napa Summer Swing event in July.  48 players came together into 8 teams, and every team played 3 other teams across two flights.  The winning team was captained by Mike Ying, and included Denis Murphy, Beth Cody, Shari Mayer, Laura Hesselgren & Bill St. Lawrence.  After the event, Denee Berliner and the Social Committee put on a fun-filled cocktail hour which included some beautiful wines, a nice spread and enjoyable background music.
 
At the beginning of September, PTC hosted its annual Men's & Women's Calcutta Tournament.  Always one of the highlights of the year, the Friday dinner, draw and auction took place.  A fantastic showing of 72 players signed up and divided into teams of similar level. Once completed, the bidding on the twelve teams took place with a rousing auction.  It was a great start to Calcutta weekend.
 
Both tournaments played as a 6 team round robin, with every team competing for points.  In the Men’s event, Team Mulready took first prize and over $1,000 in winnings (Captain Dan Mulready, Denis Murphy, Joe Feeney, Rudy Giannini, Jamie Funk & Gary Francesconi).  Second place went to Team Harbin and third to Team Crawford.
 
The Women competed on Sunday with some very close matches, including a tie for third place that was only broken by looking at a head to head match that was decided by a single game.  The winning team was Team Cresci (Captain Kim Cresci, Val March, Sheila Druskin, Kate Belding, Nina Wang, & Diane Russell).  They were followed in second place by Team Slavet and in third place, Team Grenier.  Be sure to see the team photos later in the newsletter.
 
Congratulations to all on a great summer of tennis and fantastic turnouts!
 
Our next major event is the Betty Cookson Doubles Championships followed by the Men’s Singles Championship.
 
See you on the courts!

---

Treasurer's Report:  Gene Trainor
PTC continues to be in strong financial shape.  The club should end the year with expenses in line with our budget or even slightly favorable.  Financial statements for the nine months ending September 30 should be available by the end of October.  Please reach out to Lona if you would like a copy of them.
 
For the past year or so, PTC has offered its members the ability to pay quarterly dues through ACH.  This service allows PTC to directly charge your bank account for dues and saves members from remembering to write checks.  Currently, only 30%-40% of our members are using this service.  As a small club, we rely on members paying dues in a timely manner.  This saves Lona from quite a bit of unnecessary follow up to collect payment while also ensuring the club has sufficient operating funds to pay its bills during the quarter.  PLEASE consider signing up for ACH payment and reach out to Lona for the simple paperwork.  It really is easy and will help you and PTC stay on top of dues payments!

---

 
Fitness Room Update:  Gene Trainor
The fitness room is open for business!  We are happy to report that the project of renovating and expanding the fitness room with new and additional equipment, relocating the junior room, and creating a new unisex bathroom was all completed under the budgeted amount of $300,000 approved by the PTC membership earlier this year.  There are a few small “odds and ends” to wrap up, including remounting TVs in the fitness and junior rooms and getting the final permit, that will be completed in the next week or so.  In addition, we are in the process of purchasing cubbies for the unisex bathroom and working with a small committee to determine the best way to furnish the junior room.  We hope to have these items completed very soon.
 
Many thanks again to our fitness room committee (Linda Pene Nagare, Cindy Sibley, Lexi Slavet, Jim Sobel, Joe Feeney, and Steve Williams) for putting in many hours reviewing plans and identifying the best equipment to meet the needs of our members; to Mark Pearcy for doing the early floor plan drawings (which we ended up using after many different versions); to Adrienne Schubiner for her early ideas on the redesign (most of which were incorporated); to Stuart Batchelor for all of his cable and Ethernet connection services as well as his vision to incorporate plumbing, electrical and cable into future BBQ needs down the road; to Lona for her steady guidance and daily oversight and input to this project; to the Board for putting up with my many updates and to Steve Meyers, our contractor who managed this project with patience, perseverance (dealing with subcontractors and Covid), a wonderful attitude and a sharp eye toward expenses.
 
Lona will be emailing members a summary of how to log into the various pieces of equipment as well as tips for using some of the new equipment.  As noted in the summary, the easiest way to login and have the "Preva app" save all of your exercise data is to use a token/fob.  These can be purchased from Lona for $3 each.
 
Enjoy working out in your new fitness room!

---

Membership News:  Erica Reilly
The Branon family joined PTC in August.  Trevor was an active, competitive player as a junior and is looking to get back into tennis and play competitively again.  Oriana and their children Gabriela (7) and Micaela (4) are brand new players looking to start.  They also live in the club neighborhood, are active in the community and are looking forward to both the tennis and social opportunities PTC offers.
 
The Palaniappan family joined PTC in July and are excited to become part of our tennis community.  Jyoti plays a few times per week and is an aspiring 3.5 player while Reshma is looking to start playing.  They have two children, Ayaan (12) and Aanya (11) who are intermediate players and are excited to join our junior program.  They have lived in Burlingame for 15 years and are PTC neighbors.

---

Social News:  Denee Berliner
(By Nina Wang)
On a smoky August day, the skies miraculously cleared for a festive evening of Twilight Tennis.  Families and players enjoyed an evening of swimming, Hawaiian-themed food and mostly sober tennis.  Not to anyone’s surprise, the “adults only” cranberry and mango Mai Tais were a huge hit.  A big thank you to Andrea McMahan, Nina Wang, Kim Cresci and Sheila Druskin for spearheading the festivities.  Of course, the evening would not have been a success without Jeff Tateosian as DJ, Steven Oliver as match play organizer, Jeff Tsu and Peter Stevenson as grill masters, and Chris Cooke, Ron Martinucci, Brian Desler, Jeff Schubiner and Bob Wren as the clean-up crew.  As always, a HUGE thank you to Lona, Loel and Tony for set-up and taking care of all loose ends.  Finally, thank you to all who came out and contributed to the positive and upbeat vibe.  PTC is everyone’s happy place because of our wonderful member community!
 
(By Denee Berlinger)
Men's & Women's Calcutta - What an incredible Fiesta Calcutta we had this year.  A Covid-safe poolside location, Jalapeño infused Margaritas, mood lighting, heaters, festive flowers, and La Tapatia fajitas.  The positive comments poured in; a big thank you to the social committee for all their hard work. 
 
Thanks too to the tennis committee lead by Reynold Harbin and his team.  They did an outstanding job all weekend.
 
Flowers/decor/set-up/clean-up/bussing tables, registration - Val March, Kerry, Elizabeth Pratt, Kristin Nisewaner, Lisa Rosenthal, Kim Cresci, Carolyn Dowling, Andrea Moore, Joanne and Carey Welsh.
 
Infused Margaritas, bar set up/service - Marissa Hauselt, Peter Stevenson & Jennifer Ellison
 
Lighting, heaters, set up - Peter Stevenson, Chris Cooke & Jeff Tsu
 
Emcee extraordinaire - Jeff Tateosian
 
Tony, Loel, Steve, and Lona for prep, ordering, set up and cleanup.
 
THANK YOU ALL!!!
 
2021 Holiday Party Update - Due to Covid Safety Guidelines for San Mateo County, the Board decided to postpone the holiday event this year and move it to Saturday, February 5, 2022.  We are revisiting an age-old PTC tradition, The President’s Ball.  This is the Saturday night before the first Board meeting with the new Board.  Hopefully, by that time it will be safe to host 150 guests indoors…stay tuned for more details. 
Cheers, Social Committee

---

Tennis Pro:  Pablo Alvarado
What an amazing summer we had.  With the support and hard work of an amazing staff (13 - between coaches, assistants, and counselors) we have provided 565 hours of coaching over two months to 231 young players of all the skills levels and ages.  I'm so grateful to spend so much time with the kids during this time of the year and to share our passion for tennis with them. 
 
With Fall, a new tennis year is starting for us, and like our players, the tennis program is evolving as well!  I have joined the Evolution Kids Tennis Network and created Evolution Burlingame at PTC.  Evolution Kids Tennis is the most important community focusing on Jr. Development worldwide, and we are glad to announce that Peninsula Tennis Club will be the first club in California to be part of it.  Evolution Kids Tennis is based in the UK and has developed coaching curricula for the ITF, Australia Federation, USTA, Lawn Tennis Association and many other Federations and Clubs around the world. 
 
One of our goals will be to create BETTER PLACES TO PLAY.  For that we understand that lessons are just one piece of your child’s development.  In addition, your young player will have access to weekly practices, five tournaments per year, a Skills Development program to do at home as well as social opportunities. 
 
USTA play is back for adults and for Juniors as well.  This fall we will have a 12 & Under Yellow Ball team.  All these kids are club members who have shown a lot of effort, dedication, respect, and love for the game during their clinics and as a reward they will have the honor to represent the club in this team competition.  Please show them your support when you see them playing at the club.
 
Our adults schedule of private lessons and clinics is back.  We are glad to announce that we are resuming drop-in clinics, and you are able to see them and register on the coaches website.  If you are looking for a regular spot for a weekly lesson, let me know and I will help to get you on the calendar. 
 
Along with Coach Stephanie, we are very excited about all the things that will be happening this new tennis year.  Thanks for your support!
 

---