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| SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | JANUARY 2024 | 57 Table Tennis/Ping Pong Happy New Year! The SLCC Table Tennis/Ping Pong highlights for 2023 were as follows: We participated in two Activities Day presentations, added new players to the mix, and did some round-robin play with our Four Seasons neighbors; we improved in every case, no matter age or beginning skill levels, and some of our competitions became, well, highly competitive, which turbocharged the fun. A couple of us got United States Table Tennis (USTTA) ratings, participated in the Huntsman World Senior Games and brought home a medal. We expect more of us will join in and participate next year. In our group, strong players play with weaker ones, and eventually everyone gets better while having fun. This is key to our mission of becoming a strong and proper active-aging club. We also came together for a summer barbecue and festive Christmas party. Thank you SLCC players each and all, for great times making good memories for our retirement years. Thank you, SLCC Recreation Department for working to accommodate our schedule and supplying our ping pong balls. This month's spotlight player is Vasudevan Devaraj, otherwise known to us as VASU. And he certainly is the one and only man known around here for keeping several conversations in his head while playing for his next best shot, which is usually an unreturnable dink (a softly hit ball that falls just over the net), because of his long- armed wingspan advantage. He is a naturalized U.S. citizen, having lived his "first 50 years" in South India. He identifies himself as a Tamil and has a tendency to speak the "King's English." From that part of the world, he managed the Sri Ramanasram Book stall at Tiruvannamalai, South India (this might imply he is well-read). The city is considered sacred and is the site of many religious pilgrimages. He and wife Gina George lived in Malibu and Simi Valley. They moved to Sun Lakes in 2010. Gina always encouraged him to be active, and after she succumbed to cancer in 2019, Vasu decided to stay and make Sun Lakes his home. He started playing Table Tennis in 2011 on a referral from Dennis Sauer. Ever since, he has enjoyed the ambiance, but is yet to find that "perfect shot." He is a regular attendee at the "Games People Play Group" and occasionally brings his dink shot skills to the "Pop" Tennis courts. He is a FIDE rated Chess player with a USCF membership. He appreciates the efficiency of the Administration and the Recreation Department staff 's handling of the numerous ongoing activities. Here is VASU in all his glory: We usually play Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 4 to 6 pm, and Saturdays,10 am to 12 pm, but it is best to check the SLCC website for updated schedule changes because sometimes we get bumped due to other community activities going on. Hard copies of the schedule are available on game days in the Ballroom. If there are any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please contact Gary Lile at (805) 722-7427, 4lile@yahoo.com, or John Williams at (951) 489- 9737, jgwms.williams@gmail.com.