Sadly, Paul Cecere announces his ‘retirement’ from his 11 year career as Court Na…I mean Court Master, effective at the end of the season. Speaking seriously, Paul has done a yeoman’s task of taking ownership of our club’s court conditions all these years. Paul was liaison with Oval Tennis. He hired, mentored and managed Janine and Tyler, our court ‘kids’ as well as taking care of other managerial duties. But Paul has never minded getting his own hands dirty – literally. If you’d stop by the club at any time during the tennis season, you would find Paul doing whatever task was required, according to the weather: rolling after a rainstorm, watering (without a sprinkler system) on a dry dog day in August, with shovel-in-hand spreading calcium, or digging clay out of the court drains. Over the last decade, Paul has raised the bar for what we have come to expect – the best clay courts in the county, bar none. He instituted the practice of players’ sweeping courts after use. He developed a better drainage system, which has done wonders to channel water away from the courts during and after heavy downpours, thus adding time to our precious outdoor season. Anyway, we can’t thank him enough for his selfless service to our club. He has saved us all thousands of dollars in dues!
At the Tennis Awards Brunch, Jim Beirne presented Paul with two identical round “plaques” drawn up by our resident muralist, Richard Haas. Each has a black&white rendition of Paul with the title “Court Master” above. There was a hearty applause all around. Paul thanked everyone with a heartfelt speech. We will miss your leadership, Paul!
We put out a call to any members who can help out with court maintenance next year. If you would like to offer your time we would appreciate it! Write to the club (parkhillracquetclub@yahoo.com) or to Paul (paulsword@verizon.net). Thank you!
