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Ping Pong Club Guess who's coming to our town… Racquet Club If you'd known $11 million was at stake, would you have rearranged your life to become a tennis champion? That's the prize pool available for this year's BNP Paribas to be played less than an hour from your home and now just five weeks away. The FSBRC invites you to attend this 'Disneyland for Tennis Aficionados' on March 5, the second day of qualifications, and its FREE! You only need to email hwlyon@yahoo.com to say "I'm going" and then come to the Lodge that Tuesday at 9 am for a carpooled drive to the warm and sunny Indian Wells Tennis Garden. There you'll harbor all the excitement of worldclass players competing in a world-class venue so bring your sunblock, water, comfortable shoes and camera to maximize your experience. We'll likely re-group for lunch in the Food Court where there's a ton of medium-priced selections sure to satisfy your palate. Hopefully, we'll run into one of our Four Seasons volunteers — Sonya Tamplin, Padoo Peralta, Louise Lyon or new this year, Tina Soeten and Arlene Malkin or Cheryl Smith who for years has volunteered in the Scorekeeper's Group. At 3 pm we'll reassemble for the return to the Lodge. Keep watching for email announcements on Club events or check out the website www.FSBRC.org as we wind down the last of winter. We sponsored an impromptu mixed doubles event in December and welcomed Irve, Jo, Tina, Steve, Tom D., Larry, Ray, Ledia, Ken, Barbara and Bob R. This isn't just about tennis as we gathered at the Lodge for lunch and bragging rights at the conclusion of play. We just learned that Developmental Coach Cheryl Smith is stepping down after having served as our on-site pro, teacher, drillmaster, trivia master, mentor, friend and an absolute ambassador for tennis everywhere. She also served the FSBRC as a board member and advisor since the Club's beginning in 2005. She was firm and resolute in guiding the policy that allowed our Club to receive member dues and still remain within the HOA activities guidelines, a process that took many months to resolve. She also spearheaded the effort to build a facility adjacent to the courts for safely storing the ball machine plus other teaching equipment. There are many among our 60+ members who, until moving here, hadn't held a racquet in years who benefited from Cheryl's instructional moxie and warm, engaging and colorful tutelage. We will miss you, Cheryl, and wish you every success in your teaching and tournament endeavors. It's February folks, Happy Valentines! ~ Ken Elliott The game of ping pong is full of surprises. Usually the surprises come from your opponent when they slip in an unexpected slam or a new serve that throws you off your game. Last December the surprise came when a big, jolly man in a red suit showed up to hand out gifts and to play a little ping pong. Imagine the surprise we had when Santa Claus, arriving in his big red 55 pick-up, walked into the Ping Pong Room. This brought laughs and stares from everyone in the room. Just to prove that this Santa was the real deal, he opened up his satchel and passed out gifts of miniature ping pong paddles to everyone. Then, picking up a real paddle, Santa played a little table tennis before heading back to his red pick-up to deliver toys to good little boys and girls all around the world. For those who didn't believe in Santa before, this was a life changing experience. Even the most cynical people like Don Fant is now a true believer. Aren't you Santa… I mean aren't you Don? This month a few of our players will be going to the Palm Desert International Sports Festival and Senior Games to compete against some of the best players in and outside of our area. Hopefully, we will come home with some medals. Look for an update on this event in the April issue of the Breeze. On a very sad note, two members of our Ping Pong Club recently passed away. Tom Prophet died of a heart attack around Christmas. Tom was an original member of our club. Everyone who knew Tom will remember him as just a wonderful human being who made friends out of complete strangers. On Jan. 4, we learned that our beloved friend, Bob Travlee, passed away. You couldn't know Bob without loving him. He was a quiet man, but a man of great character and courage. When he did speak, he usually had something significant to say and usually accompanied by a subtle but very funny quip. Both of these outstanding people will be sorely missed. For information on the Ping Pong Club, playing times, etc., contact Niles Sundstrom at (951) 572-5119, or Alan Chan at (951) 769-4202). ~ Niles Sundstrom Santa visits the Ping Pong Club Do you have a Macintosh™? I can help with all your Apple needs! SV Brian S. Sheafer Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist 909-795-3918 svmac.com • brian@svmac.com Macintosh™ Consulting 38 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2013 | sports Activities Apple Consultants Network SPORTS ACTIVITIES | FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2013 39