Image Up Advertising & Design

FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MAY 2019 57 Tennis Club For regular readers who are expecting my usual cringe-worthy puerile prose, you will be pleased to see that this month is "just the facts, ma'am," to quote Sgt. Joe Friday, LAPD. Fact #1. The committee decided to conform the membership year to the calendar year. So, 2019 memberships will last until January, 2020, instead of ending in October. That's an extra three months for the same low price of $20. Accordingly, the annual meeting and dinner of the membership will be Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020, the same day as the January play day. You won't want to miss the meeting, because that will be your opportunity to "throw the bums out" and elect a new committee, which will include a new writer for the Breeze. New blood is welcome, especially if it is not "iron-poor, tired blood" in need of Geritol. (Do they still sell that stuff?) Fact #2. For the remainder of 2019, the committee will hold its meetings on the last Monday of each month at 6 pm. The meetings are held in the RCN Conference Room and are open to anyone with nothing better to do than attend one of these meetings. Fact #3. The next date to put on your calendar is Saturday, May 25, the date for our May play day. We hope to have a dedication ceremony that day for "Irve's Bench." A commemorative plaque will be unveiled to recognize our long-time Committee President and friend for his contributions to our community and The Courts. Preliminary plans are to have club-hosted pizza to conclude the play day. Fact #4. One more date to be sure to get on your calendar is June 29, the regular play day. We will modify the play day to have it be our annual "Red/Blue" team competition. We may even find a way to construct the teams that everyone will think is fair. (Yeah, right, like that's gonna happen!) Fact #5. Free lessons and practice are held at 10 am on Saturdays that are not play days or other planned club events. Play days are open to all residents of Four Seasons Beaumont on the last Saturday of the month starting at 9 am. ~ Steven Hovey, sahovey47@hotmail.com Ping Pong Fun, Fitness, Friendship We welcomed several new members into our table tennis group, as we closed out the first quarter of 2019. This was likely due to our active participation in this year's Club Fair, along with our conscious effort to welcome ALL players, regardless of experience or skill level. Although most folks tend to associate the success of competitive table tennis with countries such as China and Japan, the game actually originated in England in the early days of the 20th century. During that period, the sport was referred to as "ping pong," only to be later adopted as table tennis in the 1920s. The game then expanded into Japan around 1900, and then on to Austria and Hungary, where the seeds were planted for a sport that now enjoys worldwide recognition and popularity. Table tennis was first entered into the Olympics at the 1988 Seoul Games, where the men's singles final was viewed by a worldwide audience of two billion. Since its inception, the Chinese have clearly dominated Olympic competition, winning a total of 53 medals —28 of them gold! Of course, the level of play at the Four Seasons Table Tennis Club doesn't come close to qualifying for the Olympics. However, we are a social and fun-loving group that gathers in the multi-purpose room at The Courts nearly every day of the week for singles or doubles play, or to just knock the ball around. If you are brand new to the game of table tennis, or haven't played since middle-school, please drop by our room at The Courts at any time and jump back in. This would be an excellent opportunity to meet new folks and enjoy some laughs while exercising your brain- power using the quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination that the game of table tennis requires. See you there! ~ Bob Rubenstein, Brube88@gmail.com Alan Chan, playing with his doubles partner Pete Antoine, applying vicious spin on a return shot

• Cover