Spring 2022

Spring Newsletter

The Racquet Club on Park Hill, Inc

3 June 2022

Almost Out of the Woods

Yonkers’s historic Racquet Club on Park Hill is gradually returning to normal after two years of pandemic restrictions and cautions, while an unusually cool spring has given way to late-May warmth as we prepared for our traditional Memorial Day weekend celebrations. Our four beautiful red-clay tennis courts once again are resounding to the calls of players’ scores and the cries of anguished mis-hits, while the cool waters of the club’s pretty, and uniquely-shaped, pool are receiving their first swimmers. The Park Hill Players have again done themselves proud with another fine comedic production (“The Game’s Afoot”), and our Winter Bowling League has just concluded with one of its most exciting finishes in years.

But we are not letting our individual or collective guard down against the microscopic invader that has been upending everyone’s lives since early 2020. Ever more infectious variants of Covid-19 keep popping up to require new vaccines, and the citizenry continues to be advised by health authorities to observe such tried-and- true mitigation measures as masking in public, getting vaccinated, doing frequent testing and obtaining effective antiviral treatments, when necessary. No one wants to go back to shutdowns, whether at our club or anywhere else. Those of our members who have tested positive in recent weeks report that the latest variant, even among the vaccinated, can sometimes put them in bed for days.

An Exciting Memorial Day Weekend

Directors Justine Henry and Patty Gamba kicked off the Memorial Day weekend on Friday night, May 27th, with a catered Italian supper from Silvio’s, one of the Yonkers restaurants that the club most frequently patronizes. Some 60 members and guests attended and enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

The next day, Saturday, saw heavy rains and thunderstorms, which washed out the planned opening of the beautifully repainted pool. But perfect weather greeted both swimmers and tennis players on a beautiful Sunday morning, May 29th, as 14 teams of doubles partners enthusiastically took part in the club’s popular annual Memorial Day Fun Tournament, which this year was won by the team of Jennifer Ringstad and Evan Kalin.

That afternoon, Tami Vu and Todd Geremia, who kindly run the club’s Evite registration system for our large parties, hosted the holiday barbecue dinner, grilling chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs, while club members brought savory dishes, salads and dessert to complement the meat courses. An estimated 70 adults and children attended the pot-luck barbecue. Thanks, to Tami and Todd for a great BBQ party and to Bob Gopalan for assisting Todd on the grill.

Also on Sunday, the club was able to open the pool. The hard-working Pool Committee spent weeks getting the pretty old tub ready for swimmers. The pool was painted by Karin White, Giana D’Alessio, our houseman, Roger Herrera, Kirsten Barbera and Justine Henry. They and other members of the Pool Committee, including Casey Quinn, Chrissy Gervais, Pam Opdyke and Robert Moment, worked diligently cleaning the pool furniture, power-washing the decks, setting up tables and chairs, and readying the cabanas on the upper level.

Roger rolls the tennis courts – with help from Ingrid Krawiec on weekends – and keeps the interior of the clubhouse clean and the grounds neat. He also completely repainted the foyer and lounge areas ahead of the holidays.

Also, special appreciation goes to the club’s unsurpassed gardener, Kathryn Buckley, who every year leads the efforts to beautify the grounds. Kathryn does the same for the wider Park Hill community. Thanks, Kathryn!

Also on Sunday, Patty Gamba and Tom (Westy) Westmoreland hosted a four-hour karaoke party on the front porch as members ate. Numerous adults and children – either singly or in small groups -- took the mike to croon, or belt out, some of their favorite pop songs, as appreciative onlookers sang along or just listened. The occasion was the impressive debut for Mercedes Chen as karaoke DJ at the Racquet Club; Mercedes, a graduate in voice and piano from the prestigious Juilliard School, also sang a few numbers of her own.

A Very Exciting End of the Bowling Season

League Results. This year’s Winter Bowling League ended a month late due to the pandemic, but the results more than made up for the mid-winter delay with the most exciting ending in many years, as “Pretzel Logic” captained by Ed Schmid crossed the finish line by a nose at 80 points, just two points ahead of “Boom” at 78 points, led by its captain, Paul Meissner. The two teams started the last night of regular play in a dead heat, with Bill Dennison’s “DOA” and Jose Alvarado’s “Hurricanes” – both well out of the running – poised to play spoilers. “Boom” had led the five-team league throughout 2022 – until the very final game of the last night of the season. In the final standings, “Pretzel Logic” and “Boom” were followed by “Brown,” at 71 points; “DOA,” at 63; and the “Hurricanes,” at 58.

Bill Dennison, captain of “DOA,” again finished with the highest individual average at 167.4. He was followed, in the top ten, by Paul Meissner, at 162.5; league president (and “Brown” team captain) Jon Wallen, at 157.4; Jose Alvarado, at 155.9; Robert Klein, at 153.8; Deane Prouty, at 149.4; Pat O’Hanlon, at 147.2; Ed Schmid, at 145.8; Jennifer Ringstad, at 142.1; and Bill Coffey, at 141.6.

Personal high games this season were as follow: Bill Dennison and Paul Meissner: 237; Jon Wallen and Steve Savard, 221; Pat O’Hanlon, 205; Vic Mason, 202; Deane Prouty, 198; Jose Alvarado, 196; Jennifer Ringstad, 184; Annmarie Ennis, 182; Ed Schmid and Bill Coffey, 175; Casey Quinn, 174; Pam Opdyke, 173; Patty Gamba, 170; Joe Garcia, 168; Karen Lorence (“Bowlerina”), 166; Susie Moscou, 164; and John Twomey, 158. The top ten personal high scratch series were by: Bill Dennison, 613; Paul Meissner, 565; Jose Alvarado, 538; Robert Klein, 532; Jon Wallen and Deane Prouty, 531; Steve Savard, 507; Ed Schmid, 505; Pat O’Hanlon, 492; and Annmarie Ennis, 489.

The end-of-season tournament, held on the two Friday evenings of May 13th and May 20th, was won by the team of Jennifer Ringstad and Paul Meissner, who, without benefit of a handicap, scored a total of 2615 pins for their sixteen total games (eight each). In second place were Ed Schmid and Bill Casey, with 2451 pins. They were followed by Pam Opdyke and Susie Moscou, 2405 pins; Bill Dennison and Casey Quinn, 2396 pins; Patty Gamba and Jose Alvarado, 2353 pins; and Joe Garcia and Vic Mason, 2326 pins.

Paul bowled the highest game of the tournament, a 208 for his last game. Paul also had the highest average for the eight games: 172. The second-highest average for the eight games belonged to Bill Dennison, at 166: thanks also to Bill for running the tournament and doing all the statistical calculations. Other personal-high games worthy of honorable mention included: Jennifer, 190; Bill Dennison, 182; Jose, 178; Ed, 177; and Susie, 171.

Finally, thanks again to Jon for running the six-month league and to Steve for diligently doing the weekly calculations of statistics throughout the season. Thanks, too, to Jon, Paul, Bill Dennison, Robert Klein, and Pat O’Hanlon for taking turns all season in oiling the alleys each evening before the competition began.

Social Season

Pizza-and-Bowling Nights.

Early in the spring, the Social Committee resumed scheduling pizza-and-bowling nights for adults on Friday evenings. As in previous (pre-pandemic) years, these occasions proved very popular and were well-attended by members of the Winter Bowling League as well as league non-members.

Karaoke.

The club enjoyed its first permitted indoor karaoke party for adults in two years on Saturday, April 9th. Thanks to Patty Gamba and Tom Westmoreland for organizing the party in the big hall, beautifully decorated for the occasion. Nick Moustakis ran the karaoke machine for the first time at a PHRC karaoke party. In pleasant weather, the club could throw open the windows to blow fresh air through the packed hall, as some 50 members and guests sang their hearts out till the small hours. It was a very successful resumption of the cherished karaoke tradition at the club.

Easter Egg Hunt.

Thanks to Gabriella Cinquemani and Chrissy Gervais for organizing this spring’s PHRC Easter Egg Hunt. Appreciation goes to Chrissy’s brother, Pat, for playing the party’s popular Easter Bunny! Also, the kids enjoyed learning seasonal crafts. Finally, the 50 adults and kids who filled the great hall dined on the wide variety of tasty dishes all prepared by Gaby for the brunch buffet. Everyone expressed appreciation to Gaby for the Herculean task of feeding 50 hungry stomachs on that festive occasion!

Arty Party.

On Tuesday, May 10th, the Racquet Club hosted the Yonkers monthly “Arty Party,” a social affair that brings together people in the community who want to bring more art and culture to Yonkers. ARTY [an acronym for Arts Round Table, Yonkers] meets the second Tuesday of every month at various locations around Yonkers, including the Park Hill Racquet Club.

Tennis

The Coaches.

Our tennis pros, Ola Proca White and Mike Portanova, are back this season to coach both adults and children. Adults wishing to set up appointments for individual or group workouts can text Ola at (914) 291- 6788 and can text Mike at (914) 290-2859. This year, Ola and Mike will run the summer junior camps together.

Update on the Club’s MITL Team. Patty Gamba, captain of our women’s MITL team, reports at mid-season that after the first four weeks of play, and with 3 home matches remaining, “our MITL team is solidly in third place” in

the standings. “Hopefully, with our toughest competition behind us, and a great team of both new and long-time members,” says Patty, “we can continue to inch higher in the rankings! We’ve had a great start in our first season in the C-1 division and winning C-2 last year.” Sounds terrific, Patty. Go, team!

Update on the Club’s WCTL Team.

Tom (Westy) Westmoreland, captain of our WCTL (men’s) team reports that, just past the half-way point of the Open league (“open” to players of all ages), our Smooth Division – i.e., upper level -- team has won all four of its matches thus far, including 23 of 28 individual matches. The PHRC Glossy – i.e., lower-level -- Division team is holding its own, with a 2-3 record overall, with most matches having been very close.

Westy says each team has three remaining matches. The Open league season concludes on the last Saturday in June. The Senior Circuit (i.e., over-50) League is scheduled to begin on the last Sunday in June and will run until the middle of August.

Park Hill Players

The club’s talented theater group, the Park Hill Players, were also able to present their long-delayed production of Ken Ludwig’s delightful comedy, “The Game’s Afoot,” for the five performances during the last two weekends of April. "The Game's Afoot" was the Players' second post-Covid production, after last Fall's production of Neil Simon's "Rumors". Appreciation, as always, goes to Jim Beirne for his energetic leadership of the group and his Master of Ceremonies introductions each evening.

Thanks to Karin White and Loretta Kahn for co-directing the play and to the entire cast for all the tireless rehearsals that ensured a job very well done. Besides Karin and Loretta, cast members included Chris Gallin, Gabriella Cinquemani, Jonathan Kahn, Mary Kay Moment, Matt Gervais and Vivian Savard, who stepped in late in the game and saved the day! And thanks to all who bought ads in the playbill for the production.

Welcome to New Members

The club is happy to welcome the following new members this year:

•   Denny Santos and Isora Bailey and their children, Santiago and Sol

•   Evan and Donna Kalin

•   Larry and Kim Weissman and their children, Landon and David

•   Norma Hunter

•   Nancy Aranow

•   Peter Reiser

•   Laura and Alexander Chilton and their children, Leon and Nash

•   Katalin Kabat-Ryan and Thomas Ryan & their child, Dalma

•   Heather Benson and Dan Dwyer

•   Chris Sawyer and Mercy Wong (rejoining)

•   Victoria Hammond

•   Meredith Lue

  Please welcome these, our newest members, to the club when you have the opportunity to meet and greet them. Also, the New Member Cocktail Party will be held on Saturday, June 25th.

Appreciation goes out to the members of the Membership Committee handling communications with people who reach out to the club and ask for information and for a tour of the club grounds. Members include Patty Gamba, Claire Miko, Steve Ross, Kathryn Buckley and Vic Mason.

Member News

Krysta Harvey.

The club was saddened to learn of the unexpected passing of Krysta Harvey’s beloved mother in England on Tuesday, April 26th. The Board of Governors expressed their sympathy to Krysta and to Tom Wynter over their loss.

Kevin Puts.

Congratulations to PHRC member Kevin Puts on the highly successful premier of his latest opera, “The Hours,” presented by the Philadelphia Orchestra in March 2022 and starring Renee Fleming. New York Times reviewer Zachary Woolfe calls the new work “even prettier and more sumptuous than ‘Silent Night,’ for which Kevin [and his librettist Mark Campbell] received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize.” Kevin’s new work, with libretto by Greg Pierce, was inspired by the novel Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, and will be presented by the New York Metropolitan Opera in the fall of 2022. (The lengthy and highly complementary review by Mr. Woolfe can be found in the 20 March 2022 edition of The New York Times.)

Jon Wallen.

Congratulations also to club member Jon Wallen on his photographic collaboration with the British-American classical-architecture expert, Phillip James Dodd, on the publication of Dodd’s latest book, entitled: An American Renaissance: Beaux-Arts Architecture in New York City. The massive coffee-table volume features 20 of New York City’s most famous architectural landmarks from The Gilded Age, from the 1870s till the 1930s. Designed by some of America’s leading architects – including Cass Gilbert, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Louis Comfort Tiffany and Stanford White – the monumental buildings and their sumptuous interiors were commissioned by such famous millionaires as Henry Clay Frick, Jay Gould, J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and the Astors and the Vanderbilts. These are names that, as Julian Fellowes of “Downton Abbey” fame says in the introduction to the book, “still reek of money.” Jon has done the photographs for about a dozen books on various historical architects. He has also done the photos for numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Rwanda, Uganda and Malawi, including those who dealt with the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Denny Santos.

The club’s Board of Governors greatly appreciated the kind remarks of new member Denny Santos about the Racquet Club published last winter in the Park Hill Reporter of Yonkers’s Park Hill Residents’ Association and entitled: “Why We Are Joining the Racquet Club.” In his one-page tribute, Denny lists numerous reasons why he and his family have joined the club and anticipate enjoying a great year along with its many other members.