A View from the Hill July 30, 2025

Happy Wednesday!

Welcome to this week’s edition of:

A View from the Hill

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the first Penguin paperbacks published in England. Among the titles released on this day in 1935 were Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms and Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles.  It is also the 44^th anniversary of the day MTV began broadcasting and aired its aptly titled first video, “Video Killed the Radio Star.”While A View from the Hill is certainly not a paperback, nor, thankfully, a music video, it does provide insight into the goings-on at our gem of a club here on Park Hill. So here goes:

TENNIS:

There’s a great deal of tennis news this week, starting off with the crowning of this year’s Men’s Singles Champion. William Schmid took the title last night, defeating Artie Liberatore.  The match unfolded before an admiring crowd of fellow members, many of whom were cheering from the porch.  William and Artie face off again next Wednesday (8-6) at 6:00PM when William joins his partner, Pat O'Hanlon, to battle Artie and his son Vinny in the Men's Doubles final.  The Women's Doubles final between Christine Burns & Patty Cecere vs Claire Miko & Vicky Sturner is scheduled to be played on Tuesday (8-5) at 9:00AM.Signups for the Competitive Mixed Doubles Tournament are still ongoing, with the deadline being noon tomorrow (7-31). There are already 13 teams participating! Don't miss the fun! The more the merrier!Our league teams continue their march thru the season with our MITL LOVE 50 squad facing off against Armonk on the road Tuesday (8-5), while our WCTL Senior team faces off against Chestnut Ridge Sunday (8-3) at 11:30AM right here on our  fabulous Red Clay courts.Also don’t forget Sunday is also our Sunday Round Robin Fun Tournament.  No need to reserve a spot, just bring your racquet and your smile to the club on Sunday at 4:00PM to enjoy time with fellow members on the court.  And as always, use the tennis reservation sheet to reserve a court or look for a game.

POOL:

The pool continues to be open EVERY DAY (Sunday–Thursday, 11:00AM to 7:00PM and Friday & Saturday, 11:00AM to 8:00PM).  With the recent heat wave (defined as a period of three or more consecutive days with temperatures reaching 90°F or higher), what better way to “beat the heat” than taking a dip in the pool?  People have been doing it for literally thousands of years!  One of the world’s oldest known swimming pools is the Great Bath in Mohenjo-daro, an ancient city in present-day Pakistan.  It dates back to around 2600 BCE, which is over 4,500 years ago.Back then, as at Park Hill today, only members and their guests were allowed to enjoy the water.  I am sure back then, as is the case today, they were required to sign in themselves and also their guests.  Make sure you continue the 4,500-year-old tradition and sign in each time you visit the pool and register your guests.For more modern traditions, the Pool Committee is looking to bring Water Volleyball to our Thursday night lineup.  While volleyball may not be as old as the Great Bath, it still has been around since William G. Morgan invented the sport back in 1895.  Keep an eye out for an e-mail from the Pool Committee for exact dates and times.

FRIDAY POTLUCK BBQ:

After a one-week hiatus, the Friday Night BBQ is back even bigger and better.  The hosts, Gabby & Sal Cinquemani, will be featuring Pino's custom lamb merguez sausage and chicken skewers as they transform the Club into a modern-day version of Moroccan Nights!  Join us for fun and romance under the stars, where there will be plenty of food for your belly and for belly dancing afterwards (or even during).

MEMBERS’ LOUNGE:

The extended Lounge hours continue with the Members’ Lounge open Monday thru Thursday 3:00PM to 9:00PM, Friday 3:00PM to 11:00PM, Saturday 1:00PM to 9:00PM, and Sunday Noon to 9:00PM.  Come on by to let our Drink Masters, Vinny, Anthony, and Vivian, serve up a refreshing Spritzer (after all, this Friday is National Spritz Day) or other libation to cool you down and slake your thirst.

That is it for this week’s edition of The View from the Hill.  As always, please reach out to PHRCView@gmail.com with any comments, corrections, or suggestions you might have.  I love hearing from you.

Before I go, I want to give a shout-out to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who today celebrates his 78^th birthday.  In his honor, I want to let you know that next week: “I’ll be back!”

Hasta la Vista, Baby,

The ViewMaster

PS for those of you interested, the complete list of Penguin’s first ten paperbacks is: Ariel, A Farewell to Arms, Poet's Pub, Madame Claire, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Twenty-Five, William, Gone to Earth, and Carnival.