Summer 2022

MID-SUMMER NEWSLETTER

THE RACQUET CLUB ON PARK HILL, INC.

August 23, 2022

A Vibrant Summer at the Club

Almost Back to Normal.

Our community has not quite returned to pre-pandemic normal, and health experts continue to warn us of another likely upsurge in Covid cases this fall and winter. But at Yonkers’ historic Racquet Club on Park Hill, we have been living it up this summer, with the kids and their parents splashing around merrily in the pretty pool, the tennis players making good use of their time on our beautifully-maintained courts (when it doesn’t rain), and the week-end barbecue parties continuing in full swing, as one family after the other steps up to volunteer to host the events and to feed the multitudes.

A Great Social Committee.

Since our last newsletter in late spring, we have enjoyed a non-stop and highly successful summer BBQ season. For that we must thank our hard-working Social Committee led by Directors Justine Henry and Patty Gamba and Governor George Tucker, who together, week after week, recruit hosts for our week end (Friday or holiday) barbecues and help to see that they run smoothly and successfully.

Special thanks to our Master Grillers, Rowan Tucker and Owen Steck, who take turns grilling for our BBQ hosts, thus making the job of hosting much easier than in the past. There’s similar appreciation for our waitstaff of Tilly Steck and Emmett Tucker, who also take turns helping our party hosts by putting out the side dishes, making sure the tables are stocked, clearing tables as needed, and putting things away and cleaning up after the party. It’s all a lot of work surrounding every barbecue party, and Rowan, Owen, Tilly and Emmett have been doing a wonderful job. Thanks, team!

Appreciation to This Summer’s Barbecue Hosts! The club thanks the following hosts, especially first-timers, for stepping up to run the parties this summer starting in early June:

•   Jon Wallen, who on Friday, June 3rd, organized the club’s annual Bowling Awards Dinner, where Jon handed out the end-of-season prizes to teams and bowlers;

•   Justine Henry, who on Friday, June 10th, hosted a truly delicious meal of grilled pork loins for members and guests;

•   the Frisches – Tracey and Michael – who on Friday, June 17th, organized the grilled-chicken barbecue featuring sausage and delectable marinaded chicken;

•   Justine Henry and Patty Gamba, who on Saturday, June 25th, organized our Annual New Member Cocktail Party, the first in two years, for 75 members and guests (and Patty made 75 name tags for the occasion and everyone wore them!);

•   Director Robert Moment and Victor Mason, who on Sunday, July 3rd, organized the annual Independence Day Week End barbecue featuring delicious marinaded chicken;

•   the Tucker family, who on Friday, July 8th, organized a wonderful chicken and shrimp kebob pot-luck barbecue, with all the trimmings;

•   Claire Miko, Patty Cecere, Patty Gamba and Wendy Bodner, who on Sunday, July 10th, organized the first Breakfast at Wimbledon party in two years, featuring Pims, salmon toast, cucumber sandwiches, scones,

  and strawberries and cream, as we watched Serbia’s Novak Djokovic take down Australia’s feisty Nick

  Kyrgios in four very entertaining sets;

•   Loren and Jason McConnell and the Geraldine Mayorga-Matt Mascaluso family, who hosted the

  wonderful Friday, July 15th, souvlaki barbecue of lamb and chicken kebobs for around 65 guests;

•   Patty Gamba, who hosted a delightful taco night on Friday, July 22nd, for members and their guests;

•   Matt and Chrissy Gervais and Gaby Cinquemani, who on Saturday, July 23rd, hosted the fun-for-kids

  “Christmas in July” event, with a Southern-style BBQ catered from the Whole Hog Café (congratulations to

  Chrissy and Matt on the recent arrival of the newest member of the family);

•   Karin White and Matt Krawiec, who put on a great fajita potluck party on Friday, July 29th, for members

  and guests;

•   Gaby and Sal Cinquemani, who on Friday, August 5th, organized a superlative “Ribs Feast Potluck BBQ” for

  nearly 50 members and guests;

•   Victoria Hammond, who on Friday, August 12th, hosted a feast featuring excellent Haitian roasted pork

  gyro sandwiches on fresh French bread; and  the Casey and Ennis families, who on Friday, August 19th, laid out a wonderful spread prepared by Mairead Casey for their Taco Bar barbecue on a perfect mid-August evening.

Especially important is a loud shout-out for all the club members who, week after week, bring the delicious side dishes, typically prepared at home, that help the party hosts fill out the table with green salads, grilled vegetables, mixed vegetables, potato salads, pasta salads, macaroni and cheese, fruit salads, relish plates, and other imaginative and tasty fare. And thanks to members also for all the wonderful desserts – cakes, pies, brownies, fresh fruit, and home-made ice cream.

Upcoming.

The famous annual PHRC cedar-plank salmon BBQ by Jim and Rosemary Beirne is scheduled for this Friday, August 26th, with Patty Gamba a part of the organizing team this year. Don’t miss this highlight of the summer social season!

And on the Labor Day Week End, the club will hold its annual Labor Day Week End Fun Tennis Tournament in the morning of Sunday, September 4th. That will be followed in the afternoon by a pot-luck BBQ and karaoke party hosted by DJ Mercedes Chen between 2 and 6 pm from the club’s front porch. Club members will remember Mercedes, the Juilliard graduate with the beautiful voice, who also did the honors last time during the Memorial Day Week End karaoke party.

Tennis

WCTL Wrap-Up. Tom (“Westy”) Westmoreland, captain of the club’s Westchester County Tennis League (WCTL) team, reports that the Park Hill men, with the help of some ladies, had a very successful season, which has just ended. In the Open League (open to players of any age), the club’s Smooth team (ie, its upper division) ended in second place, with a sparkling 6-1 match record. Against those seven clubs, the Park Hill team won 37 of 49 individual singles and doubles matches, with 17 different PHRC players participating.

In the Open League’s Glossy (ie, lower) division, Park Hill tied for fifth out of nine clubs, with a 3-5 overall record. Our players won 27 of 56 individual singles and doubles matches against the eight other clubs, and 29 different PHRC members took part. Eight of those also sometimes played in Smooth Division matches.

In the six-team Senior League (the over-50s league), Park Hill ended with a fine 4-1 record in the Gunst Division. Our team won 27 out of 30 individual singles and doubles matches, involving 13 different players, all of

whom took part in Smooth and/or Glossy matches. Overall, 38 different Park Hill members participated in the WCTL competition in 2022.

MITL Wrap-Up: Patty Gamba was captain of the PHRC “regular season” team. After a stellar 2021 season, the team was moved up to the C-1 division for 2022 and had another fantastic season, finishing in third place out of eight teams, behind very strong Rye Racquet Club and Apawamis Country Club teams. Susie Moscou captained the “50 Love” team. After a slow start, the PHRC ladies finished quite strong in a tough division. Quite a few new members enhanced our roster of players. The team’s annual season ending dinner and round robin will take place in September.

Coaches Ola and Mike. Asever, our great coaches, are available for individual lessons and for clinics. Ola has added a new wrinkle this season called cardio tennis, which she describes as “a fast-paced, fun, group activity session set to high energetic music.” The goal, she says, is “to get a great workout – very similar to interval training.”

SundayRound-Robins: Thanks as always to members of our Tennis Committee for running the Sunday round- robins starting at 4 pm. The round-robins are as much about being competitive as about becoming better acquainted with our fellow club members and their kids. (And then the adults often enjoy a cold one from the bar outside or in the lounge on a steamy summer evening as the sun slowly goes down.)

July 3rd Fun Tennis Tournament: Thanks to Paul Meissner for again running this year’s Independence Day Week End Fun Tennis Tournament, organizing the 16 players into eight teams and recording the results of every match.

Men’s Competitive Doubles Tennis Tournament. Thanks to Westy for organizing and running this year’s Men’s CompetitiveDoublesTennisTournamentonSaturday,July16th,for18playersgroupedintonineteams. Last year’s champs were Todd Geremia and Peter Scher, and this year they were again in the finals on Sunday, July 31st, defending against Peter Golfman and William Schmid. This year’s final was another spirited affair, with Peter and William prevailing, 6-3, 6-3.

In the end, the champs were the team of Mary Kay Moment and Steve Ross, followed by runners-up Dan

O’Connell and Dana Olin, with Santo Russo and Bobby Tolli coming in third.

Men’s Competitive Singles Tournament: Westy also did the honors in organizing and running this year’s Men’s Competitive Singles Tournament with 18 men competing. On Saturday, August 6th, 14 of the 18 were eliminated, leaving four semi-finalists: Peter Scher versus Peter Golfman and William Schmid versus Artie Liberatore.

In the two highly entertaining semi-final matches played on Saturday, August 13th, Peter Scher defeated Peter Golfman in straight sets and William defeated Artie Liberatore in the best of three sets. On Sunday, August 21st, a sizable crowd watched last year’s runner-up, William, in ideal tennis weather, defeat Peter Scher, the defending champ, in straight sets, so the club has a new men’s singles champ. Congratulations, William. (See the photo of William and Peter taken after the match.)

The Tennis Committee and the whole club are grateful for the efforts made by members of the Tennis Committee who help with the numerous maintenance tasks required to keep the courts open and functioning, especially on week ends and after rainstorms. Those helpers include especially Steve Spiegler, Todd Geremia, Bob Gopalan and Ingrid Krawiec. Roger rolls the courts on week days and Ingrid, Todd and Steve do so on week ends and holidays.

Steve and Todd also do the tough job of spreading calcium and new “red clay” when it gets washed off the courts in heavy rains. Roger is especially diligent in digging out the drains near Court 1, always necessary after a heavy overnight downpour – otherwise, the courts can’t drain in time for the morning players arriving at 9 am.

Thanks to Lyrica Leon for again handling the disposal of old tennis balls, to prevent them from going into the trash or landfills and for taking them for recycling. The box for old tennis balls can be seen on the porch near the left entrance to the lounge.

Thanks also to Lyrica and to Claire Miko for spending a lot of time removing unsightly weeds around the tennis courts and along the fence in front of the club. We appreciate their voluntary efforts to make the club look better, especially on these hot summer days.

Bowling

There was an important oversight in the last newsletter reporting on the results of the 2021-22 Winter Bowling League. Three bowlers, not two, had personal high scores of 221: Jon Wallen, Robert Klein and Steve Savard. Apologies to Robert for the inadvertent omission of his score.

Pool

Heartfelt thanks as always go to the members of the Pool Committee – Kirsten Barbera, Chrissy Gervais, Justine Henry, Robert Moment, Pam Opdyke and Casey Quinn – for their diligence in recruiting our lifeguards (many are the children of club members), and in seeing that all runs smoothly at the pool every day. There are many important details to attend to, from the daily morning cleaning, to the periodic addition of chlorine and the essential support for lifeguards, as they remind swimmers of the basic rules of comportment and safety at the pool. The club has been especially pleased, on extremely hot and humid days, to be able to extend opening time for an extra hour in the evenings.

Andrea Velazquez’s popular water-fitness program is again drawing a devoted following this summer. On Wednesday evenings at 7 pm, Andrea runs her “Aqua Floating Fitness Class.” On Saturday mornings, she organizes the hydro-revolution class between 11 am and 12 noon.

Poolside bingo is held on Saturday afternoons, starting at 2 pm, courtesy of Matt Gervais.

Bar

Members no doubt have noticed how efficiently our bar runs these days, thanks to the conscientious work of our Bar Committee of Patty Gamba (who is also now the club treasurer), Justine Henry, Patty Schumann and Greg Nolen. Thanks also to our great bartenders: Vinny, Sean, Anthony and Kathy. (Don’t forget to tip them.)

And while you’re sitting at the bar, please notice how beautifully Roger repainted the entire lounge and the foyer, as well as the hallways and indoor stairways. When you see Roger, give him a friendly greeting and say how nice and clean the club looks. You’ll make him beam!

Membership Committee

All spring and summer, the Membership Committee has been fielding calls and emails from members of the community expressing an interest in seeing the club and coming for a tour. Thanks to Steve Ross and Claire Miko for fielding those inquiries and passing them along to other members of the Membership Committee: Patty Gamba, Kathryn Buckley and Vic Mason. Special thanks to Claire for giving the lion’s share of tours to visitors expressing an interest in possible club membership.

New Members

The club is pleased to welcome the following new members this summer:

•   The Granda family: Paul, Paola, Nicholas and Andrew

•   Marco Rene

  Dina Deluca, and Karin Skalina

Member News

Sadness came in threes last month at the club, as three much-admired members lost beloved parents. The club’s members express their heartfelt sympathies to Jean Lambert, Ed Schmid and Pat O’Hanlon on their families’ losses.

Jean Lambert was with his ailing father at the end, when his dad passed away on July 5th in Quebec from a lingering illness. Jean says his dad also loved tennis and often went to see Jean play as a child. Jean’s friends express their condolences to him on his loss.

Member Ed Schmid lost his beloved father, Ed Schmid, Sr., and beloved grandfather of William, on July 13th, after a long illness. Ed Sr. was a skilled electrician and mason and, like Ed, was a keen stamp collector. The club expresses its condolences to Ed, Kerry, William and Kevin.

Then on July 14th, Mary D. O’Hanlon passed away in Connecticut, surrounded by her devoted family, including daughter Anne Marie and sons Michael and Patrick. Mary immigrated to New York as a young nurse. Over her career, she worked in Ireland, Scotland, New York and Massachusetts. The club expresses its sympathies to Pat, Eva and Ella and to their whole family on their loss.

Imminent Departures. The club next month will lose two popular member families as they prepare to move out of state. Di and Steve Spiegler have retired from their long-time jobs in New York City and are preparing to resettle in Florida. And Olivia Powell and Lucas Chilczuk will move with son Leo to new jobs in California, where both, as native Californians, will be glad to rejoin their families. They will all be very much missed by the club.