Winter 2022

END-OF-YEAR NEWSLETTER OF THE PARK HILL RACQUET CLUB

January 8, 2023

RESUMPTION OF THE CLUB’S END-OF-YEAR HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS

A Much Better Holiday Season

This Year. It’s difficult to believe that a year has flown by since the cancellation last December of all of the Park Hill Racquet Club’s holiday celebrations because of the drastic national upsurge in Covid-19 infections at the end of 2021. America’s pharmaceutical industry has since met the challenge by producing the series of vaccines targeted to each variant that have made it possible for swarms of tourists to return to The Big Apple, as commuters again travel safely to work on public transport, diners go back to their favorite restaurants, theater-goers return to Broadway and concert productions – and clubs like ours resume their vigorous athletic and social calendars.

DecorationoftheClubHouse. VolunteerslastyeardecoratedtheclubhouserightafterThanksgiving,but then our holiday social calendar had to be shut down due to Covid, and the decorations came down in early January without members enjoying the usual end-of-year celebrations. This year our volunteers have again decorated the club following the recent Thanksgiving holidays. Thanks go to this year’s band of intrepid decorators: Adrienne D’Alessio, Cheryl Silvera, Claire Miko, Karin White, Lyrica Leon, Matt Krawiec, Patty Cecere, Patty Gamba and Vic Mason.

New Year’s Eve Friends and Family Celebration.

Following the wonderful recent Holiday Cocktail Party (see below), Director Justine Henry organized and hosted a “New Year’s Eve Friends and Family Celebration” potluck on Saturday evening, December 31st, starting at 7:30 pm and going until midnight, to usher in 2023. Around 40 adults and kids crowded into the lounge and foyer, enjoying many tasty appetizers and main dishes, and watching football and popular entertainment programs on TV. Membersandguestssang“AuldLang Sine” as the Times Square Ball dropped at midnight, and they cheerfully wished one another a happy new year.

End of Tennis Season and Start of Pickleball.

The weather has been mild most of the fall, allowing members to play on our tennis courts right up until Oval, at the end of November, came to take down the nets. The club then transitioned seamlessly to indoor pickleball, with thanks to organizers Jim Beirne, Steve Ross and Lyrica Leon and to Tom (Westy) Westmoreland for helping the organizers use the same online reservations system that the club has been employing for tennis for some years now.

A Revamped Winter Bowling League.

Meanwhile, the club’s bowling league under long-time president Jon Wallen is experimenting this winter with its first-ever expansion from 20 to 25 bowlers. While the five-team format continues, teams themselves have been increased from four to five bowlers each. The thinking is that this allows many more bowlers to take part during the six-month season and allows for more end-of-season bowling awards. And it also makes it easier to have teams avoid the frequent absences experienced last season, when sometimes teams had only three or even just two bowlers able to show up due to health or other factors preventing them from coming.

THE CURRENT AND UPCOMING SOCIAL SEASON

Kathryn Buckley’s Annual Wreath-Making Fair.

On Sunday, December 4th, for the first time in two years, the club was happy to again host Kathryn Buckley’s popular holiday wreath-making fair for both club members and the many Park Hill Residents Association (PHRA) members who like to avail themselves of Kathryn’s knowledge and skills in assembling their own wreaths. The big cheerfully decorated hall was full of would-be wreath-makers who turned up to put together their own holiday wreaths with colorful ribbons, balls and berries.

Annual Holiday Cocktail Party.

The popular Annual Holiday Cocktail Party was held on Saturday, December 17th in the big ballroom. The organizer, Director Patty Gamba, estimated that nearly 70 members and guests attended the potluck affair, as they bringing a wide variety of very tasty savory dishes and mouth-watering desserts. To celebrate the season, Brad Crownover invited a very talented choral quartet to sing holiday fare for the membership for the better part of an hour. Thanks to Loren McConnell as the cheerful seller of the raffle tickets.

The Hoopla.

Meanwhile, the Hoopla event that Brad had planned for this month has now been rescheduled for early next year. Club members of all ages will be providing the entertainment for what promises to be an exciting show.

Brunch with Santa.

On Sunday at noon, December 18th, the club held its annual Brunch With Santa party for the club’s small fry, who sat on Santa’s big lap and told him what they wanted. Once again, Gabriella Cinquemani and Chrissy Gervais did the honors as the intrepid organizers and hostesses, with Gabriella laying a scrumptious table that groaned with mouth-watering spiral ham, chicken fingers, waffles, mac and cheese, German-style potato salad, quiche (including a veggie option), and various pastries and desserts. Some 20 adults and 14 kids took part in the cheerfully decorated big hall.

Adults were able to purchase mimosa cocktails at the bar, while cocoa was available for the kids. Thanks again to Pat Szymanski (Chrissy’s father) for again being an outstanding Santa Claus.

Chrissy and Gaby organized fun activities for everyone: cookie decorating, wish lists to give to Santa, a bounce house, and a raffle prize (valued at over $100). Each child got one raffle ticket with admission, and additional ones could be purchased at three for $10. For Santa’s visit, parents brought small labeled and wrapped gifts for their own children. Also, the club always collects toys to donate to the local YWCA. Those are always brought to the club unwrapped.

Commemorating the Rebuilding of the Club. This year is the 60th anniversary of the start of the project to rebuild the club house following the disastrous 1962 fire which completely destroyed the old club house building. The Board is discussing how best to commemorate the occasion.

Vinyl Nights.

At the end of November, Taylor Pierce and Justine Henry resumed “Vinyl Nights,” when they spun LPs (the old-fashioned long-playing records) on Thursday nights in November, for the listening pleasure of patrons in the lounge. They plan to collaboratively resume the Vinyl Nights on Friday evenings in January with Paul Cecere and Joe Harbeson.

SUMMER BARBECUES

Thanks to Families Hosting and contributing to Barbecues!

After our last newsletter, we had a few more barbecues. Special thanks go to Jim and Rosemary Beirne and to Patty Gamba for hosting the terrific Friday, August 26th, cedar-plank salmon potluck BBQ, for which 80 people signed up. This was by far the largest turnout for a summer barbecue this year. Jim and Rosemary have been organizing their legendary cedar-plank salmon feast for many years, and no one wants to miss it. And, as usual, the large number of side dishes and desserts brought by other members were wonderful, and everyone had a great time, as families returned home from summer travels and kids got ready for school.

Labor Day Potluck and Barbecue, Fun Tennis Tournament and Karaoke Party.

One of the club’s biggest and most enjoyable social days of the warm season took place on a beautiful Sunday, September 4th, to celebrate the Labor Day week end. It was all hosted and organized by our indefatiguable Director, Patty Gamba. The day began with the annual fun tennis tournament in the morning.

“Early Oktoberfest Party”.

On Saturday, September 17th, Patty Schumann and Paul Meissner co-hosted an “early Oktoberfest party” featuring a special cake inscribed with a charming message saying goodbye to Diana and Steve Spiegler, as they prepared to depart New York for Florida. Patty and Paul knocked themselves out serving Oktoberfest beer and an authentic and absolutely delicious spread of Bavarian wieners, bratwurst, weisswurst, sauerkraut, German potato salads, cucumber salads, homemade pretzels and much more. The mouth-watering Black Forest cakes, cookies and other treats were to die for. The 50-plus members and guests who attended thoroughly gorged themselves on the wonderful spread.

FALL PARTIES

The Haunt. Matt and Chrissy Gervais again organized their popular three-day Halloween bash called “The Haunt” in the big ballroom and formally designated “The Cult of Park Kill.” As ever, they turned the club into a wonderfully spooky and creepy haunted house sure to frighten the daylights out of the hardiest, most intrepid souls.

As usual, Matt and Chrissy made sure the wider Park Hill community was informed of the event, and again a large part of the mass of humanity flowing through each night was non-club members. And again thanks to the many club members who were the spooks and hobgoblins that volunteered to scare the heck out of visitors.

The Last Karaoke Party of the Year. On Saturday, November 12th, Patty and Westy organized the final karaoke party of the year, with Mercedes Chen as D.J. again. For five hours, some 55 members and guests lustily belted out their favorite songs. A good indicator of the enthusiasm of the occasion was that a full 90 minutes before the party was to end, Mercedes let everyone know her list of requested songs was already completely full and that she could add no more numbers if the club was going to let her leave by the 1 am deadline. No one wanted to stop singing.

TENNIS

The US Open Tennis Finals.

On Sunday, September 11th, club members stopped by to catch the men’s singles final of the US Open Tennis Tournament in Forest Hills, Queens. Spain’s 19-year-old phenomenon, Carlos Alcaraz, overpowered the 23-year-old Norwegian Casper Ruud, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3, as the tennis world saw a new generation of fine young male players rise to replace Europe’s remarkable old guard.

Labor Day Fun Tournament.

Thanks to Patty Gamba for putting together the all-day Labor Day (Sunday, September 4th) celebration at the club, including the fun tennis tournament, the barbecue and the karaoke party outside on the porch with Mercedes Chen as DJ. The well-attended tournament had two sets of winners: (1) Rosemary Beirne and Michael Frisch and (2) Robert Klein and Chris Dolin. It was a very warm, humid day, and the two sets of divisional winners agreed not to have a playoff but to call it a day and enjoy the potluck lunch.

Serious Mixed Doubles Tennis Tournament.

The Mixed Doubles Tennis Tournament began in September but could not be completed. The final will be played next spring at a date to be announced, with Westy Westmoreland and Patty Gamba taking on Guy Leeser and his daughter Blake.

Thanks to the Volunteers Who Helped Maintain the Tennis Courts This Year. Gratitude from the club goes to the crew of volunteers who helped Roger with the demanding task of court maintenance throughout the seven-month tennis season this year. Besides Todd Geremia and Ingrid Krawiec, who helped Roger with the rolling, thanks go to Steve Spiegler, Tami Vu, Jean Lambert, George Tucker, Bob Gopalan and Pat O’Hanlon, all of whom helped with court maintenance like spreading calcium and “red clay” and assisting in many other ways when called on.

The Tennis Awards Brunch.

The annual fall Tennis Awards Brunch will be held early next year.

Recent “Sightings” of Frank “Scotty” McCambridge at the Club.

It was a true delight to see our old friend Scotty McCambridge back at the club this fall, along with some of his relatives and good friends. First, Scotty showed up in the lounge on an NFL Sunday along with his old buddies, Kevin McInerney and Peter and Annmarie Ennis. We even saw Scotty come to the most recent karaoke party and sing along from his perch in the ballroom, while a good friend of his was one of the lustiest singers that night.

NEW MEMBER

Welcome to new member, Ed Mullen, Joe Garcia’s brother-in-law. Ed has jumped right into club activities, including the bowling league!

UPDATE ON THE WINTER BOWLING LEAGUE

Starting the new year, the Strikers lead the club’s winter bowling league with 28 points, followed closely by Green Acres with 27 points, Bowl-A-Rama with 26 points, Brown with 23 points, and the Rolling Stones with 22 points. As of the end of 2022, personal high games are as follow: Paul Meissner, 200; Steve Savard, 194; Robert Klein and Deane Prouty, with 193 each; Bill Coffey, 189; Casey Quinn, 185; Jon Wallen, 182; Patty Gamba, 181; John Maggiotto, 180; and Bowlerina, 175. Personal high scratch series are as follow: Paul Meissner, 555; Robert Klein, 533; Jon Wallen, 496; Bill Dennison, 495; Jennifer Ringstad, 484; Ed Schmid, 483; Pat O’Hanlon, 480; Deane Prouty, 477; Steve Savard, 471; and Bill Coffey, 466.

Top individual averages are as follow: Paul Meissner, 167; Bill Dennison, 156; Robert Klein, 152; Jon Wallen, 150; Ed Schmid, 145; Jennifer Ringstad, 143; Deane Prouty and Pat O’Hanlon, 138; Cathy Mulhern, 136; and Bowlerina,132. Mostimprovedaveragessofarthisseasonarethoseof:(1)CathyMulhern,whoseaverage has risen by nine points over her starting average; (2) and (3) Jason McConnell and Susie Moscou, up by 7 points each; (4) and (5) Casey Quinn and Joe Garcia, up by 6 points each; and (6) and (7) Paul Meissner and Ed Mullen, up by 5 points each. Thanks, as usual, to Steve Savard for calculating team and individual stats each week.

THANK YOU

The club thanks member Carrie Schoen and her brother Eric who last month donated a full-sized electronic keyboard to the club. This is really appreciated and timely as the Board has long been making plans to get rid of the derelict old grand piano that has become an unusable eyesore in the big hall. We will need to do a better job of caring for the keyboard, in order to protect it from the casual abuse that ruined the once-usable grand piano.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to member Kevin Puts on the splendid reception of his new opera, “The Hours,” at its eight- performance run at the New York Metropolitan Opera in November and December 2022. A large contingent of Park Hill Racquet Club (current and former) members and their guests were present on Tuesday, November 22nd, for The Met’s premiere performance of Kevin’s opera, when the 4000-seat facility was packed nearly to capacity to see “The Hours” and its huge cast led by Met stars Renee Fleming, Kelli O’Hara and Joyce Di Donato.

Congratulations are also in order for club members Patty Schumann and Dave Steck who last month observed the tenth anniversary of their Yonkers Film Festival in their new theater near the revitalized Yonkers riverfront district. The much-admired and world-famous YoFiFest has gone from strength to strength, surmounting the significant difficulties presented to all arts organizations and initiatives by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past three years. For those reluctant or unable to attend in person, Dave and Patty created the Virtual Cinema permitting viewing of its films on-line.

Congratulations, too, to club member Masha Turchinsky, director of the Hudson River Museum, for the excellence of the year-round programs presented by the museum for area residents of all backgrounds and all ages. Families can enjoy the planetarium shows, the art gallery, the periodic exhibitions, and tours of the Glenview Historic Home, which dates from the Gilded Age in the late nineteenth century and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Students are encouraged to take part in interactive art and science workshops there. Not to be missed are Masha’s beautifully written HRV newsletters updating county residents on the museum’s seasonal programs.

Also, congratulations to long-time PHRC member Richard Haas, an acclaimed national and international muralist, for having his work entitled: “Gateway to the Waterfront, 1995,” placed by Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano on the city’s just-announced self-guided arts tour. Around 100 works by local artists are included on the tour, which can be located online under “Yonkers Arts Tour.”

IN MEMORIUM

A number of club members lost loved ones this fall. First, the mother of Adam Wardell passed away on September 22nd.

Then Board of Governors member Joe Garcia lost his beloved dad, Joseph F. Garcia, on November 14th in Huntington,LI,NY,atage90. TheclubexpressesitsdeepestsympathytoJoeandNancyandtheirfour children, Brennan, Ryan, Avery and Sabrina. Joe’s dad served on the front lines of the US Army during the Korean War. Later he studied law and became a co-founder of the Long Island firm of Garcia and Stallone, serving clients for 41 years, between 1976 and 2017. Joe’s parents, Joe and Dawn, were married for 60 years and besides Joe had two daughters Cynthia and Stephanie and six grandchildren.

The next day, November 15th, Park Hill Racquet Club lost one of its most beloved, and long-time, members when Mary Liberatore succumbed, also at 90, after a long battle with heart issues. A lifelong resident of Yonkers, Mary was the mother of Dana Olin (son-in-law: Tom Olin) and Arthur Liberatore (daughter-in-law: Robyne Liberatore). Mary had five grandchildren: Thomas, Gregory and Philip Olin; and Vincent and Dannie Liberatore.

Mary was a very active member of the Park Hill Racquet Club for many years, serving as a club officer, taking part in theater productions of the Park Hill Players, taking charge of club rentals, and playing a skillful game of tennis. Mary played tennis regularly for the club’s competitive teams, both within the club and vis-à-vis women’s teams from other clubs in Westchester County. Mary also took a keen ongoing interest in the appearance of the club’s grounds, giving our houseman, Roger Herrera, many much-appreciated tips about what he might do to enhance the beautification of the club.

Mary was born in New York City in 1932, the youngest of three daughters of Antonio and Maristella Trotta, and graduated from Commerce High School. She worked as a private secretary for the H.L. Green Company in Manhattan for six years. In 1953, she married Arthur “Chi Chi” Liberatore, who passed away in 1998. Mary was also predeceased by her older sisters, Julia Zottoli and Ida DiPasquasio.

Besides the Park Hill Racquet Club, Mary was also a member of St. John the Baptist Rosary Altar Society, the Luther Burbank Garden Club, and the Chaminade Music Club, all located in Yonkers. Mary was especially fond of dance, and she fulfilled that passion as a member of The New York Dance Center in Ardsley, where she was a regular participant in their shows.

A few years ago, the club had a ceremony dedicating two new benches in the patio area in honor of two very special people: Mary Liberatore and Daphne Romeo. Members can read their names on the plates affixed to the benches in front of the porch. When we see Mary’s name there, we can remember fondly how Mary never failed to have a smile on her face and love in her heart, and recall that she always treated everyone she knew with the utmost courtesy and kindness. As the obituary column at the funeral home said, Mary was at her happiest when she was surrounded by family. All those whose lives Mary touched are forever better for having known her.